The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-03-25
HOW TO RECLAIM A LETTER
ONE MAY BE RECALLED EVEN
AFTER 1T HAS BEEN MAILED.
The Methods Whereby One May Re
ceive Back His Correspondence
No Cost If Still In Town.
(Kansas CITY Starr

From one to half a dozen anxious
visitors who have bad memories CT
changeable feelings call at the postoffce
every day to reclaim letters which they
have mailed. Approaching human
weakness, the postoffice department has
provided a way by which any letter
that has been posted may be returned
to the writer. if application for it is
made before the message is delivered to
the. addreSsee.
Every large postoffice has its reclaim
ing department, which is fortified by.
rigid rules laid down by the powers at
Washington. Methods of conducting
this end of the postal service differ
slightly in different offices, but in all
places, to reclaim q letter, the writer
must call in person for it; and the gov
eminent provides a. blank receipt which
must be filled out and signed.
In Kansas City the retaining de-
partment is under the superintendent
of mails. The man or woman who has
mailed a letter and wishes to recover
it before it is delivered calls on Super
intendent Schaumleoffel in person. The
superintendent presents a slip of pa
per and the applicant writes thereon
the address that is written on the let
ter to be reclaimed. If that letter has
dent Of mails finds it and compares the
address on The envelope with that ON
the written slip. If the writing and
address are identical he delivers the let
ter to the sender and files the slip as
receipt.
OUT OF TOWN LETTERS
To reclaim a letter that has been sent
out of the office, the writer must not
only write out the address ON a blank
slip of paper, but he is required to de-
post 81 to pay for kilograms. The su-
perntendeHt of mails telegraphs to the
postmaster of the postofice to which
the letter is sent and asks him to re-
turn the wanted letter. When the let
ter reaches the superintendent of mails
he compares its address and if they are
alike the letter is returned and the ex-
pense of telegraphing deducted from
the 81 that was deposited.
The retaining department of the
postoffice involves a close study of
handwriting. If there is a noticeable
difference between the written slip and
the address of the letter the letter is not
returned to the person who has asked
for it.
About o'clock one evening a woman
called at the postoffice and asked for a
letter that had been mailed that day
She wrote the address on a slip of pa
per, and the name was that of another
woman. The superintendent found the
desired letter, but when he compared it
to the written slip he hesitated. The
addresses were at the first glance ex-
actly alike, but on closer examination
it was found that there was a difference
between the relative proportion of cap
itals and small letters of the address
on the letter and that on the written
slip.
NO BREAKING THE RULES.
The superintendent told the woman
who had applied that he could not give
her the letter because ne believed that
she had not written it. The woman
swore that she had, even volunteered
to repeat the contents as a proof. But
the superintendent still refused.
Il think that you didn't write this
letter" he said, land. that being the