The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-04-01
mail Laid ON THE SHELF
Various Contents of Packages i'm
the Dead Letter Office.
some sent Through the Post in Or
because of Neglect or Iraorancc-
i.nce- and Other Fine Material
Struggled From Foreign Countries.

| Dead Letter Office in this city. with its
extraordinary assortment OF ]biects. each
! of which is surrounded with 3 mysterious
! history. is one of the Enst Unique collec-
lions of its kind in the world. 1t consists
/ of a variety of articles which are forbid
den by law 10 pass through the mails and
whose owners could not he found and so
/ here they are, each one enshrouded in a
/ veil OF mystery which will. in all proba-
! bility, never be lifted. 1t seems rather
! strange that some of the senoers of these
/ queer things should never happen upon
! the museum and establish a lawful claim
to the particular treasure when they IN
| Willingly donated TO the museum. but so
! far. no such claim has been made and
/ these queer waits of the Government mail
| will in all probability continue to crafty
! the gaze of curiosity seekers and suggest
to imaginative spectators strange and fan
| tastic histories. One of the most startling
objects received by the Department of the
| PostotHce was a perforated tin can con-
| tanning three rattifsnakes alive and in
fighting condition Upon their receipt
J the Superintendent sent to the Smith
/ sonian Institution for some one accustomed
/ to handling such reptiles to come and
! chloroform them. The operation was per-
! formed successfully, as was thought, and
the dead snakes left in the open can under
| the superintendent desk. Two days
! later a lady happened to be standing near
! talking to the Superintendent. when she
! heard a peculiar sound which she uncon-
sciously associated with danger. See
! turned her eyes to the spot from where
| the sound proceeded and started in terror
/ as she rattlesnake coiled ready to
( spring A carrier who CHANGED TO be just
| entering the room took in the situation at
| a glance, and with considerable presence
| of mind threw his full mail pouch upol
| the snake and trampled upon it until
some one appeared with poker and killed
the reptile This one and its two COM
panions were put into alcohol, aod are
now to De seen a shelf in the museum.
Danger in Opening Packages.
The clerks who open the packages re-
ceived by the office do so with the utmost
care, as frequently bombs and other ex-
| plosives are sent through tine mails.
| Among the grewsome objects to be noted
upon the shelves of the museum is skull,
| fingers and toes and a human ear.
Whether these are mementos CT crime
a CHASTITY hoax, or gifts sent to an impe-
cuuious medical student will doubtless re-
main forever a mystery.
Among the miscellaneous articles sent
through the mails and never called for.
thereby getting a niche in the museum
are shirts. teeth, skulls, starfishes lamps
medicine. dried figs. and various other
things which might suggest the contents
of the witches cauldrOn in the tragedy Of
10 If 20
full if somewhat eccentric taste is dis
played in many of the articles on the
museum shelves. There is an ornamental
alligator with a gaudy parasOl. a little
clay doll. u cIuet. and a remarkable con-
Ception of an animal the like of which
is totally unknown to biologists. There
are also several kinds of explosives rep
resented from the usually harmless but
sometimes dangerous Fourth of July fire.
cracker to the dynamite bomb OF the
anarchist and wholesale murderer A
loaded revolver. half cooked. is also dis
played II was addressed to a woman in
New York Among the other and more
harmless objects is a washboard. Il new
long handled mop. punches of Easter can
dies, a cocoanut. and card, upon which
is inscribed the LCrd's Prayer in tifty-twO
languages.
A tragic memento is a mail pOunch COW
cred with blood, and for which carrier
in the Far West had given his life 10 de-
fend from Indians. \ card contains lock
of hair cut from the head of Guteau. the
assassin of President Garfield. There is
also in the museum a copy of marriage
certificate which declares that Samuel
Whitehead and Jane Miller were married
in the Parish Church Manchester, Eng
land June I. 1904. There are deeds of
property. musical instruments. corn pop
pies. cups and saucers, horns of animals
a hack drivers license. a tarantula ire
ceived alive) a bottle claiming to contain
sure cure for consumption. Chinese
curios. canvas needles and potato bug
eXtermnator.
Among the eccentric artistic effects. too
is a figure of a negro parson delivering a
sermon from a pulpit all OF which is made
Of feathers. Beneath this art is little
work basket woven by Indians. and this is
supported by figure of bear. whose size
docility. and general expression of almost
idiOtic good humor robs him of all terror
Near this bear, which is formed of clay,
is sea urchin, which is attached to a
piece of string. while adjacent to these
attractions is old and dilapidated boot,
and a beautiful glass flower holder.
The Dead Letter Office receives a multi
tude of articles. of which those in the
museum representative specimens
every day in the year. The labor involved
in handling such mass is something enor-
nous. Many OF these articles. said an
employe Of the office, ARE marked
through ignorance of the postal reguia-
lions, others are sent through malice to
avoid express charges or customs duty.
while the remainder are the result OF
carelessncss or temporary absence of mind
Unfortunately for the senders. we have a
way OF discovering the nature of such as
are dutiable. and the majority of sucn
packages are coufscated either at tne
mailing station or 4 subsequent one"
When the contrabauI contents are dis
covered the packages are sent TO the Dead
Letter Office. where every effort is made
to return them to the sender. or to for
ward them to the ADDRESSED, who is asked
TO send the proper amount of stamps to
pay for the transportation.
Parcels of merchandise are kept for two
years. if not sooner delivered, and then the
well known auction sale disposes OF them
among the community. Unaddressed par
GELS and such as are found loose In the
mails and received at the Dead Letter OF
fee more than six months prior to the an
nual sales are included in the lot disposed
OF by auction.
Sales % thu. CurioS
The annual sales take place about the
middle of December. and many are The
curious mistakes thar occur at this time
Although there is a s-tef description at
tached to each package, it is wrapped so
that no one has an opportunity of eN-
aiming its contents The average price
received for these packages is about -
cents
Some Of the objects are monuments of re-
markable carelessness on the part of those