Omaha daily bee., 1902-11-24
AT TIE DEAD LETTER OFFICE
Branch Of the POstOfice Department that
Has Much Work to Do.
INCREASE IN VOLUME OF ITS BUSINESS
Report of the superintendent Is Made
Up of some Curious M Inter
estinE Facts About Mail
that strnys.

In his annual report TO the FIRST assist
ant postmaster general, David p. Leib-
hardt, superintendent OF the dead letter
office, gives some interesting statistics Of
the work of that branch of the Postof1ce
department. He notes in his opening para
graphs that the total receipts Of mail mat
ter Of all classes at the dead letter office is
9~,3OO,35l pieces, an increase Of T93, O94
pieces over last year, or 90 per cent. OF
these receipts 7,sS4.1S7 pieces were treated
by the opening" branch, that branch Of
the dead letter ONCE to which the larger
part of the receipts Of the office are sent,
being letters and parcels generally trans
mitted to what is believed to be their
destination before being sent to the Office
at Washington. There is a branch known
as the unavailable branch, to which are
sent those letters and packages. which for
various reasons are never sent from the
office where they have been mailed to the
place to which they are supposed to be
addressed. The greater number of these
unavailable. letters and packages originate
through the failure of the sender to pay
the proper amount Of postage. Under tho
postal laws first class matter bearing a
t9o-cent stamp may be forwarded to it's
destination and the additional charges col.
lected from the receiver, but all other
matter must be fully prepaid before it is
sent, and letters intended for Mexico and
Canada must also be fully prepaid. When
unavailable" matter of this class is re-
ceived a notice to the party addressed is
sent. telling them that postage is due and
unless the deficient postage is received in
a short time the matter is sent to the
dead letter ONCE. from which place the
person who mailed the letter is notified
- a. -. TzANa 1A-N - AN. 1A1-
tination upon receipt of postage. II there
Is a return address on the package the
sender is notified before the letter leaves
the initial office and much time is spared.
Money Branch of Work.
The money" branch of the office is where
the greatest care is given and the utmost
security is thrown around receipts. To
this branch go not only all letters contain
ing money, but those containing valuable
papers and documents. These letters when
received are indexed and are then returned
to the ONCE of their origin to be delivered
to the senders IL they can be identified,
and these senders are required to give a
receipt, which is entered upon the records,
so that the disposition of the letters can
be told at any time. In case the letters
are not delivered by the postmaster at the
ONCE of origin, they are returned to the
dead-letter office and the real work OF that
department begins. The letters are then
carefully read for the first time for in
formation as to the sender or the person
addressed. The most remote clews are fol-
lowed up and often result in the delivery
Of the letter and money, after ordinary
means have failed. After all efforts to
secure delivery have failed the letters
are separated from the money, the cash
being turned over to finance division OF
the third assistant postmaster generals
office and deposited in the treasury. The
money can be reclaimed upon proper proof
within four years, but after that cannot
be secured without the action Of congress.
During the last year $13, S06.51 has been
deposited in the treasury under this rule.
I'm this branch" says the superintend-
ent of the once. more notably, perhaps,
than elsewhere, is attention attracted to
the extensive and curious variety Of fraud
ulent schemes devised to tempt the cupidity
of the public. And it is surprising to note
with what success unrefecting cupidity and
the too prevalent desire to get something
for nothing are appealed to. The most
transparent humbugs, and schemes so pal
pably impossible Of realization as to make
credullty appear ridiculous, rarely fail to
reap a substantial harvest for their pro-
motors, until the government intervenes
and bars their trafnc from the nails
Whara nundIas co