Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-03-14

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Il ~ it is estimated that
there al least one caller for every min
ute in the twenty-four hours. 1t runs this
way for every minute of the year, rain or
shine. warm cold.
The callers of day would make in num-
bers respectable army-composed Of all
classes and characters, persons in all sta
lions of life. from the millionaire all the
way up or down the line to the poorest beg
gar. OF course, man prelominates in the
procession of callers, but there are enough
women and children to break the monotony.
1t is peculiar procession in every respect.
The average person. who has given but lit
tie or no consideration to the subject, would
naturally suppose that the small army of
letter carriers would deliver every letter
which comes to the city But such is by
no means the fact, for there are thousands
of persons who only receive their letters at
the general delivery windows, and who will
not have them delivered in any other way.
They offer all kinds OF reasons-some good
and many not SO good-for their prefer
ence. To illustrate:
When Star reporter called at the gen.
eral delivery window the other evening he
met well-hnown politician. who explained
his personal call for letters as follows: II
have resided in Washington for twenty-five
years. and though I receive more than the
ordinary number of letters, rot one has
gone astray during that time. Did have
my letters come to my hotel, boarding
house or where have roomed, the chances
of their going aStray would be increased.
Then. again, do not want my letters seen.
handled CT paved over by others. This I
can prevent by having them come to the
general delivery. In this / suppose am
Ike a great many others. for during the
years of my residence in this city 1 have
become acquainted with many others who
call here in preference to having their mail
delivered by carriers"
Don't Use the Carrier System.
Others arr actuated by different reasons,
and many. no doubt, call for letters because
they do not desire all letters to be left at
their residences, offices or business places.
THE man who spoke to you," said the
delivery clerk, gave you the reason that
Is generally given. We have simply nothing
to do with reasons, and content ourselves
with delivering everything that comes along
TO those who are entitled to 1t, and who
call for it. If it suits them, 1t suits u.s. and
that Is all there is of it. Handling letters
by the thousands, often automatically,
there is no such thing as curiosity on our
part That all wears off in time
The Star reporter spent a considerable
part Of an evening at the post office. AS
the night advanced the demand for letters
fell off, and after 10 O'Clock the callers
were few. and, at times, far between, but
the calling never stopped at any time for
more than a few minutes. The rush gen.
orally takes place between 4 and o'clock
in the evening, and from to about II 30
In the morning. AS the theaters and places
of public amusement closed there was a
marked Increase IN the number of callers,
hut from then to midnight there was a fall
ing off again. After midnight only the
regular night owls appeared. People are
creatures of habit in many respects, and
come people seem to have acquired the
habit of only calling for letters between
midnight and daybreak. Others call dur
ing those hours only because circumstances
force them to do
This window" said the clerk. els of con-
yenience to many persons in many ways.
Frequently the police use it to locate those
they are looking after. Parents use it to
locate their children, and children use it to
locate their parents. 1t was only few
weeks since a man called here and asked
If his brother-he gave me his name-got
his mail here I told him he did. and that
At was his custom to call about 10 o'clock
a. night for his letters.
q" If you will allow me- he said, I will
wait fer him. He then told me that he had
not seen his brother for eighteen years, and
that he was not sure he would recognize
him. as he was but a boy when he had last
seen him. He added that he had just ar
rived il the city, and had not the slightest
idea where his brother resided. as he had
always had his letters addressed to the
general delivery. At the regular hour the
brother called, and would you believe 1t,
I had the pleasure of Introducing that man
to his brother. for neither recognized the
other. A similar case happened the same
week.
Family Reunited.
"a lady and her son resided in Philadel-
fhia. Her husband and another son lived
here 1t appears the husband and wife
could not agree, and lived separately for
many years. For reasons Of their own they
had never interchanged letters. Finally a
correspondence began between them, and
the lady and her son came on. It did not
strike either of them that they did not
have the city address of the husband and
father until they arrived here. They then
saw the fix they were In and applied to
the police. Officer Lamb, at the B. and p.
depot, who knows everything, helped them
out OF their difficulty by sending them
here.
The man Is a commercial traveller. and
ne seldom gets lis name In the city direc-
tory. 1 happened to know him. however.
Pleasantly reunited. Had there been no
general delivery window 1t might have
taken days for them to find each other"
Strange experiences: Oh. plenty of
them. Many people of cranky and queer
notions are among our callers. Here comes
one now. Listen to him."
A queer-looking old man approached the
window. Nothing tonight" said the
clerk. as the old man peeped into the win
dow Il am sorry for that" the old man
marked:"FSind of draughty tonight. And. nv
the way. 1 wish you would tell Mr. Wiilett
that have little continuance that I can
put on the steam radiators In this build
Ing that will increase the heat double what
1t Is now without any increase whatever
in coal: 1t is perfectly practical, based on
scientific principles. I haven't given the
continuance as much attention as should.
for 1 am terribly busy just now on INV
new pro5ectile by which I can pierce any
armor; 1t matters not how thick II Is. or
OF what 1t is composed. Just now I have
two big wars on hand. the Cuban and Ital-
Ian. and one or two promised. I am pray
ing for war with England on the Vepez-
ueian dispute Provide me with wars. the
more the merrier. and I'll crack every ar
mored ship that floats on the high seas"
Nov, that man." said the clerk ais an
inventor only In his mind. He calls every
hight: has a new invention almost every
time he comes, and though he says he ex-
pects letter. he has not got one for many
months. He Is a sample-though an exag-
gerated sample-of some of our most regular
callers"
Ktenness of Disappointment.
I'VE can generally tell by the looks of
persons when they really expect a letter.
Their faces and manner indicate it. Lots of
people call who have no idea of receiving
anything. They call just because they like