The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1900-03-03
y IN MAILINl
There Are Many Large and smal
sums Of Money That Go AatEay
II the Pont Once.

An enormous proportion Of gifts
transmitted through the mails go
astray on account Of violations Of the
postal rules or carelessness in pack
ing. Am investigation viii usually
put the blame where it belongs; and
IN the inquiry department of the post
offices Of all large cities there is a
force of experienced clerks employed
to attend to just such cases.
AS an illustration of the fact that
even in the best regulated concerns
mistakes will happen, it is related
that an employee Of a large banking
house in this city about three months
ago was sent to do a number Of err
rands. Among the things he had to
do was to mail a big package of LETT
tiers and to deposit more than half a
million dollars worth Of checks and
drafts. In his haste he slipped the
package of checks and drafts with the
big bundle of letters into the letter
box and rushed off about his other
business. He returned to the bank
without discovering what he had done.
Fortunately a receipt that he should
have brought with him Rseessitated
questioning; and, shivering in his
shoes before the president, there stood
the worst scared young man in the
city. The time he made on his first
round was not a circumstance to that
he made on the second. Almost be-
fore the valuables got to the inquiry
department the bank clerk was there,
Having recovered them, the young
man did not lose his place; this mis-
take was not so liable to happen to
him again as it would be to one who
had not had such a lesson, argued the
bank president.
Another busy man dumped into a
letter box a bag containing $3.50 in
gold coin, upon which there was not
a single sign or letter by which il
might be identified. He had intended
to transmit the coin through an ex-
press company, but dropped it into
the post Office, along with the letter
announcing that he had sent it and
how. The letter reached its destina,
ton all right. Not so the coin. After
a few days of waiting for possible de,
lays the absent-minded man got a let
ter from up country which set hin
thinking. He got back his gold.
1t is not an unusual occurrence tt
find an envelope containing the week
ly wages OF some factory hand in tn,
letter box of the post office. A boy
gets a package of letters to mail a
the same time he gets his wages. II
his thoughtless haste he slips the let
teTs through the opening, and hi
wages with them.
Small sums Of money in coin ar,
often lost in transit through tn,
mails. The person addressed gets
mutilated envelope that should con
tain rs cents but does not. He says
''Those thieving letter c~arriers!" ant
there the matter ends. In cases O
this kind the coin, slipping aroun,
loose in the letter, pressed by a heavl
article, perhaps a book or an electro
type, is forced through the envelope
but, although it does not reach tn
person for whom it was intended, j
has been neither stolen nor lost. TIL
aggregate of small coins lost in thi
way from letters and sent from tn
New York city post Office to the deau
letter office in Washington is not les
than 500 a month. This none ca
be recovered by the owner at any tim
if he will take the proper steps; bu
if the amout is small, as it usually il
it IS more trouble to look it up tina.
it is worth.--N. Y. Sun.