The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-09-05
ASHES OF FoNoeST HOPES.
Many Records of the Postoffice Depart
ment to Be Burned

An interesting work will shortly be
begun by the officials of the postoffice
department. 1t will be the destruction
by fire of the old files made prior to
the year 1888, which are stored away
in the gloomy recesses and corridors of
the present old postoffice department
building. Postmaster General Smith
has issued an order directing that these
files be destroyed, and it has been de-
cided that they can be best gotten rid
of by burning. There are tons of old
contracts, proposals and applications
for office which will be reduced to ashes
in this manner. There are hundreds OF
farmers in Maryland and other near
by states who would gladly receive
these ashes for use as a fertilizer were
SUCH an arrangement possible.
Postmaster General Smith decided
to take this step in view of the fact
that the postoffice department will be
moved to it's new home in the avenue
during the first week in September.
Even with the thousands of square feet
of floor space in the mammoth new
building there will not be any too
much room. This being so, the officials
of the department are DESTROYS of deal
ing with the space as economically as
possible. Recently the conclusion was
| reached that this could be done best by
| destroying a large number of old files
containing documents which will never
| be of any earthly use to the government
or any one else.
These papers have been carefully pre-
| served by the postoffice department
| year after year and stored away In
cases and filing racks, standing in al
| most every corridor in the old building.
| Visitors to the home of the country S
| postal system have been surprised &c
| find that the offices were so much
| crowded that files and racks and cases
had to be. placed in corridors and eel
lars and other places not intended fol
| the purpose.
The work of burning the old docu'
| ments will soon begin. 1t has beer
| placed under the supervision of l.. s
| Elmer, attached to the Office of CHIEF
| clerk of the postoffice department. He
| has not yet completed details, for the
undertaking is a gigantic one and con-
siderable time, perhaps several weeks
will be taken up digging the old paper:
out of their musty seclusion and tumb
ling them into large drays and wagon!
to be hauled to the public dumps OF
wherever they will be burned. Tht
burning site has not yet been chosen
but it will be somewhere in the suburbs
where there will be no danger of com
plants against the smoke.
When seen by a Times reporter las
night w. S. Shallenberger, second as
sistant postmaster general, said he wa
Slad arrangements were DelnS per
fected for the complete destruction o.
these tons of useless and valueless pa
pers.
THE last congress-, he said, Eau
thorized the destruction of vertain pa
pers which will never have any valu
in the future and which have none now
1t is better to burn the old files than Il
sell them, even though they are total!
without value Congress authorizes II
to sell old money orders that have bee
paid for one year. The contractor re
ceiving these old orders disposes o
them to paper mills which make none
order paper. These papers are littl
more than a vast amount of rubbish
weighing tons They are of dates 81
! far back that there can be no possibil
ity of any claim being made on tn
! government which would be affected b,
: their destruction.
I'VE have thousands of old contrac
: proposals. These are the four-yea