Evening journal., 1902-08-04
HOW WRITER MAY
RECALL LETTER
There Is a System Whereby
It Can Be Gotten
Back

A few days ago a young woman hur-
ried into the Office Of the postmaster at
New York and asked to have a letter
withdrawn from the mails. She had
posted it an hour previously, she said,
and since then had learned something
about Mr.. Blank that incensed her;
therefore she did not want to keep the
appointment she had consented to In
the letter. Could she reclaim the mis-
sive before it reached the addressee?
she inquired.
The postmaster referred her to the
superintendent of mails, and within
half an hour the letter was picked out
from among thousands of its mates
and restored to the claimant, who tore
It into bits and walked out of the post
Office
The authorities Of the postoffice have
made every provision for absent and
tickle minded patrons Of the mails.
Among the most interesting and valu-
able Is the process by which a letter
may be reclaimed after it has been
posted.
Comparatively few people know that
this can be done, and fewer care to
take the trouble of going through the
forms which have been prescribed
forms which are to a degree cumber-
some and time consuming, but which,
nevertheless, are necessary to prevent
deception and fraud.
Occasions arise when the writer of
an important letter desires to with
draw 1t before it reaches its destina-
tion. Oftentimes additional knowledge
of proposed transaction Is acquired
after a letter has been sent to the post
Office, making It highly desirable that
the facts related in the letter do not
reach the person for whom they were
originally intended. In case, too, where
knowledge Of the failure of a mercan-
tile firm or a banking house reaches a
person who has mailed a check OF draft
to that concern it is sometimes wise
to withdraw the letter before it is de-
livered.
The postal authorities have a system
by which such n lettermay be reclaimed
If application is made for 1t before it
is delivered. Application must be made
in person. The government provides a
blank upon which the applicant writes
the address that is given on the letter
If that letter has not left the postofIice,
the superintendent of mails finds it and
compares the address on the envelope
with the address on the applicants
slip. If the addresses are identical, the
letter is returned to the claimant and
the authorities keep the slip as a re-
ceipt.
To reclaim letter sent out Of the Of
fee the writer must fill out the pre-
scribed blank and deposit 81 for tele-
grams. The superintendent of mails
then telegraphs the postofIice to which
the letter has been sent and asks him
to return il. When it reaches him, he
compares the addresses, and if they
are alike he returns the letter to the
applicant. The expense of telegraph
ing is deducted from the deposit, and
the balance is returned.
This involves n study Of handwrit-
ing. If there is n noticeable difference
I'm the little things which are charac-
| teristic-the manner of crossing the
It's" or the dotting Of the '1's' or the
peculiar little fourishes which are
made after a name-the letter is not
delivered to the claimant In cases
where letters are addressed by type
writer it is impossible to identify the
applicant in this way.
When the claimant is a we'll known
business man. however, personally
known to the postal authorities, let
ters are sometimes returned upon his
mere request, a receipt. however, being
asked.
At the New York postohice, accord
ing to the first assistant postmaster,
the average number Of letters with
drawn each week is ten. Most Of these
are from the domestic mails. Few are
from the city mails, because the let
ters are collected so frequently and
delivered so quickly that there is little
chance Of catching a letter in the
Office.
Occasionally letters which have been
addressed to foreign countries are
asked to be returned. In such a case
Il deposit of $50 is required to cover
the expense of telegraph and cable
tolls. Letters addressed TO points in
almost every country on the face of
the earth may be reclaimed in this way
If application is made before the mis-
sive is delivered to the addressee.
Great Britain, however, takes the
stand that a letter when once dropped
IN mail box becomes the property of
the addressee, but makes exception in
the cases OF the Cape and Australian
colonies. Why this exception the local
postal authorities do not knew.-New
York Times.