The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-07-14

received the money and spent II. Please
send your publication at once or return
my % cents. l am exceedingly provoked
at your dilatoriness"
O1 course, we never received the
money in this and similar instances, so we
write an apologetic letter and wish 1t
We're in our power to let every patron
of the mails who wishes to become one
OF our patrons know that he should not
SEND coin in envelopes and expect to re-
celVe In all instances the paper or goods
for which it is sent
In speaking to the managers of other
Washington business houses on this sub
Jeet, 1 was surprised to learn what a
large extent this practice prevails. The
Dig stores in Washington all maintain
mail order departments which have "a
large number of customers in the towns
and rural districts of Virginia and Mary
land, and many thousands of dollars come
INTO the city annually from this SOURCE
These gentlemen all stated that the let
tiers they received were of about the
same tenor as the one I have given you,
and that the monetary loss, to say moth
ing of the vexatious delay in filling or
ders, must be considerable"
stolen and Loose in the Mails.
The Postoffice Department receives an
nually thousands of inquiries concerning
such losses" said a postal official who
happened to be present, and there are
several reasons other than the commonly
thought of one of theft why these letters
do not reach their addresses.
"Of course, nearly everybody supposes
they are all stolen by dishonest postal
employees. and most of them are pur-
Joined. 1t is very easy for the thief to
detect the coin, even If ii is so smaA as a
Decent piece. Where there are several
coins or a quarter or a 50-cent piece 1t
is like finding money to the dishonest en-
ploye into whose hands it falls.
There are several methods of sending
coin through the mails TO avoid detection,
and the most common is to fit the pieces
into spaces cut out of pasteboard. When
the hand is run over the envelope the
presence of the coin cannot be detected,
but if the letter is bent backward and
forward the thief, from his long expert
ence in handling mail matter, detects the
coins therein, and they go in his pocket
forthwith.
LAS you stated most Of this money
comes from the rural districts, where the
quality of envelopes is usually inferior.
AS all mail matter is more or less roughly
handled In transit, especially in rubbing
and coming In contact with heavy and
bulky pieces of matter in the mail bags,
become torn, and the coins drop out in
the mail bags, or in postoffices, and cam
not, of course, be identified. So they arc
sent to the dead letter office, and that is
the way, no doubt, your correspondent
lost his money.
Money for Mailing Purposes.
"If the managers of business houses and
the public viii bear in mind that no less
than 1900 envelopes containing money
were found loose in the mails last year,
and that an approximate number are
found loose every year, the reason why
never received my paper or why didn' t
those goods come? will be answered.
These loose coins and envelopes pour
into the Dead Letter office from post
offices and railway mail postoffice routes
all over the country and aggregate a
large sum. Postage stamps by the thou
sand are also found loose in the mail
bags and in the mails. How they got
there or where they come from, or to
whom they belong, none can answer with
positive Identification. save that they get
out of letters or packages in some man.
ner. The department had returned to 1t
last year, $500 worth of these loose pos
tage stamps. Diecemeal, from single
stamps to a dozen or more in lot, and
there is no record of the number that
were found by postal employees and never
turn in.
THE question of special issue of
money which has for a primary object
use for mailing purposes has been more
or less agitated of late. II this money
we're to be always in the hands of those
who patronize the large stores OF the
great cities or those who desire to send
money through the mails, 1t might ac-
complish it's purpose, but II 1t circulated
as general medium of exchange IT Is
questionable. If the remitters didn't have
it handy they would send coin just the
same. AS you state, your house often
receives letters with several pieces of
coin and pennies in the envelope, some
letters containing 81 and 81. That's the
only money these people have, so they
send II and trust to luck that 1t goes
through.
postage stamps are Objectionable for
many familiar reasons. There is consid-
cradle time, penmanship, labor and
small additional sum of money necessary
before you may procure money order,
and then only at money order ofilces, ana
many of your subscribers and the GUS
toners of the large stores mail their let
tiers at offices which are not money order
offices.
AT will be seen, therefore, that there
are good reasons why a special issue OF
currency for use in the mails might be-
come popular II 1t circulates in the right
channels.
Reduce the Money order Fee.
"Another plan would be to reduce the
fee on money orders on sums under IS to
cents and lower the fee on other amounts
up to the 500 limit. Such reduction
would undoubtedly cause a tremendous
increase in the money order business, and
whether it would yield as much revenue
as at present could be decided only when
the plan went into operation and was
tried for a reasonable time.
Government matters. postal and other
wise. should not in all instances, 1t seems
to me, be considered from the standpoint
of the revenue end of it. IL the govern
ment should not consider 1t advisable 10
issue a special kind of currency, the PROB
lem under discussion may be partially
solved by the reduction of the fee for
money orders to the lowest possible sum.
At any rate, those who send money
through the mails, whether In coin or cur
rency. should remember that the govern
ment does not insure its safe delivery ex-
cent when the letter is registered, and
then IN to the amount of $40 only.
subscribers to newspapers and store
natrons may save themselves great
amount of annoyance and money II they
will send a money order in their letter, II
Il is possible to procure it."