The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-02-27
FACTS ABOUT DEAD Letters.
Their Number Decreasing In Late Eears, ana
More Returned to senders.

Their Number Decreasing In Late Tears, an,
More Returned TO senders.
IRON the Washington EVENING Star.
Visitors to the Dead Letter Office who turn tn
leaves OF tho immense photograph albums 4
examine the soldiers pictures saved during tn
war and geo down at the long table where
dozen men arc opening letters never realize tn
amount of work 1t takes to produce order in tn,
chaos OF letters and parcels gone astray
Ranged along the sides OF the great room wher'
the openers are, and also in several roome noai
by. are the bookkcerers or recorders. Thei
labor is seldom appreciated, because Its results
only are seen. Without them It would be i'm
| possible TO answer the many inquiries for miss
ing: mail, or to locate any article which he Of
flee has received. Uncle Sans business moth
DDS are often criticised as intricate ard labort
GUS, but the necessity of a system Of records Of
this Kind cannot be doubted.
About Is per cent. of the 100000 pieces re
ceived yearly contain valuables. An accurate
record of each article is made, giving its ad'
dress and disposition. Six sets Of books are used
for this purpose, ono for money, one for papers
which have a money value, as notes and mort.
cages; one for other valuable papers, such as re.
ceipts and certificates; one for stamps, one sor
photographs. and one for property and misccl-
laneous articles received in packages. III
These arc all returned to the sender II the
address is given. If there is no address, but a
legible postmark, they are sent 10 tao Postmas
ter at the mailing Office for delivery to the send.
err. II there is no address and no postmark, or
IL tho Postmaster fails to deliver the article and
returns it to the DEPARTING mt, 1t is filed.
In the case of property the articles filed are
kept two years and then sold at public auc-
ton. excepting such books as are selected for
books are added each year to the library, which
is for the use of tho officials and clerks exclu.
and aixfi poetry rpf inte eO%ef' for ' sifts.y WORKS OF h'''on
The money which cannot be returned to the
owner Is kept for three months and then de-
be: reclaimed within four years. In these books
one cent. receives as much attention as $50, a
TeSeipt b seins it s, nassds by Ne each tsa s clerk - through
on account of small values.
The stamps are the most numerous of all valu-
ables received. Every time the denartmen;
issues a fraud order against any swindling con.
Germ that concern is not allowed to receive its
sent to the dead letter office. Thousands of
iollars yearly are thus saved by the department
alone. The stamps which cannot be delivered
are destroyed each month.
The photographs and valuable papers which
had been kept on file were allowed to accumu-
late until the summer of 1898. when the oldest
files were destroyed. excepting only such papers
graphs and papers filed within the last three
se Thu are rh heERs i ss@, with the Yankee Test are er dssitsSGIied.
utilities everything that comes in his way. He
realizes a neat little sum each year from the
lost money and also from the destroyed matter
sold as waste paper.
gives the postal history of lost manuscripts,
which number about 900 yearly.
mail and a record of resistered matte miSs Thse
articles received are not distributed
among, the six desks named. but a separate rec.
ord is Kpnt nf them an thar fhaGa n p n fha n--.n
OF the record books and the articles kept on flo
hero are miscellaneous in character.
astray in the mails and reached the dead letter
office arc distributed among the charitable in
ment missionaries that cheer the sick and bless
the lonely.
it is expected that the recent order to Post.
masters In regard to the palmer stamping of let
ters will facilitate the work of this oldce to a
degree, Postmaster are now ordered to
the mailing ,orice., 1t sometimes requires half
2 dozen clerks with magnifying lens and every
p Iss'iias 1GF This E FSafie 81 s to apflPh IS a ns sInfIIs
CITIES almost always have a lcgibie post.
of matter returned will be increased.
The amount of matter, received at the dead
is probably due to the efficiency Of the
Don't circulars, which arc sent to all Post
to be observed by patrons of the mails,
This oftce might be called the headquarters
d santa 'iaus. A any rate, IL Is where his
mail is received. Every autumn his letter.
,ome in BY hundreds. and later by thousands. |
There is every variety of spelling and childish
'hiroRraphy: There is also a variety of places
assigned as his abiding place. such as the North
Pole. Fairyland, and other places not within |
each Of the postal service.
But the little folks are not tho only ones who |
send, indefinitely addressed. letters. Two ex-
'mples will serve to show the rare discriminat- |
ng powers assigned to the postal employee by
Please deliver to O physician who ia n ma.
i've Of either Nova Scotia, New Brunswick. or
Prince Edward Island"
Evidently, the area involved was too wide,
ind the authorities gave I'M the search.
Forward or give to a widow, ago 80 or over.
With dark brown hair and eyes; height. 5 feet =
nchos; name unknown"
AT q glance this would seem an easier task.
10 mo widow Is simple enough. To ind
me with dark hair and eyes would be a more
pecihc task. but still not Objectionable. per.
APPS: But making II palmer by using the age
i'm tput things in a different light. It was
90 delicate, "A task for a postman. He wss
and loved life. He gave up the job.