Arizona republican., 1900-12-04
SEEN IN THE PosTOFFICE
Some of the Rules Which Are Used
 Many Times Daily.

One who wit stand in th4 lobby of the Phoenix postoffice for a half hour, with his eyes open, at any time of day, will see some of the strangest charac- teristics of human nature manifested. The postoffice is a sort of common ground on which all classes and condi- tions meet, and lhe men who look from behind the screened windows out upon the passing throng have need of infin- ite patience to put up with the eccen- tricities and foibles of the scores Of callers.
 Perhaps the most common request by persons unfamiliar with the postal reg ulations is to be informed of the post office address of persons whose names do not apear in the city directory, or who have moved from the address giv- en therein. This information cannot be furnished by the postmaster or en- pIoyees of the postofice without vio- lating a strict rule of the department, which reads: "Postmasters and other postal officers and employees are strict ly prohibited from making public names, addresses or private informa- ton obtained by them in the discharge
 
 tthe postofice department are furnish ed with the names and addresses upon letters and other articles of mail mat ter for the sole purpose of enabling Ehem to make delivery thereof. to the person intended. Such names and ad- dresses are to be regarded as confden- tial, and this confidence must be re- spected."
 .0f a ed to fictitious persons or to initials, or to an indefinite address, such as to Some Reliable Commission Merchant" is forbidden, unless the same is direct ed ito be delivered at a designated place, as a postohice box, street and number or to the care of a certain per son or firm. Very frequently persons advertise in the newspapers, giving on- ly initials, such "A. B." and the name of the town. with, perhaps, General Delivery" Such matter is undelivera- ble, because of the impossibility of de- termining who is the rightful owner, as there may be number of persons calling at the general delivery who have the same initials.
 Cunning postal cards are also source of much misunderstanding to V lations provide that: "A postal card, with a statement of account written thereon, may be transmitted in the mails when it does not contain any thing refecting injuriously upon the conduct or character of another, or a threat of any kind, or any other matter forbidden by law" What constitutes matter that could be construed to Ire ;,,; m character of another, or to be a threat of any kind. is the most important con- sideration in determining the use of postal cards for dunnlng purposes.
 The following examples are given to illustrate what is deemed permissible and what is prohibited by the postof- flee department.
 Please call and settle account, which is long past due. and for which our collector has called several times, and obhge," was held to be mailable.
 You owe us $1.S0, long past due. We have called several times for the amount. If it is not paid at once we shall place the same with our lawyer for collection" was held to be unmail- able.
 kindly remit $2 for ad'g Al to TT,
  some time since. We shall have to drop your ad. unless payment is made ac- cording to contract,' was held by the department not to be dun, and that the same was mailable.
 An opinion of Judge Thayer, of the district court of Missouri, rendered December 14 1SS9,, holds "thac a postal card on which is written a demand for 1r 6eh threat sue. or ro place the demand ill the hands of a lawyer for suit, is unmaila- ble."
 The regulation which requires iden- tifcation of the payee of q money or der. unless the payee is known at he office of payment, is a frequent source of perpIexity and annoyance to per sons who are either transients or who have no available acquaintance in the city where the order is payable.
 The postal laws and regulations un- der section 127O provide that: Unless the applicant for the payment of money order is known by the postmast- CT to he the rightful owner thereof, such applicant should be required by the postmaster to prove his identity Also: If a money order be paid to the wrong person through lack of necessa- " precaution on the part of the post master, he will be held accountable for such payment" There are two ways by which per sons who find it difficult to identify themselves may avoid such difficulties 1 One way is to have the sender of such ! money order furnish the postmaster at the order where the order is purchased with the signature of the payee, to be 1 attached to the letter of advice. When