Evening star., 1902-02-01
Postal Clerks on the Watch for
Careless Writer'S
COMMON ERRORS IN ADDRESSES
Some Precautions Taken by the
Department.
INCORRECT ABBREvIATIONS

or transposed in the average word in writ
ing makes slight il any difference in its
being understood. but a single letter mis-
placed, transposed. added or left out of
the abbreviation OF the name of state
in the superscription on an envelope is of
the utmost Importance. not only to the
sender and the person to whom It is ad-
dressed, but to postal clerks and the gen
eral public" said postal official to a Star
man this morning.
Many people coin their own abbrevia-
tions of the different states. thinking any
old thing will do, and some of them that
come under the observation of the postal
clerks are fearful and wonderful creations.
There are official abbreviations which ought
to be observed in all instances. Most of
these authorizations are observed by the
public but there are several which so close
ly resemble one another when written that
great confusion arises and thousands of
pieces of mail annually go astray In conse-
quence, when little forethought. correci
knowledge and care would have insured
safe and prompt delivery. / am sure that
when the comparisons are shown in Th'
Star that the public will wonder why NOR,
errors are not made and why they haG
not thought of IL before.
How They Look when Written.
"Thus many people still abbreviate tn.
This is incorrect. Write it Pa Penn is
old-fashoned and unofficial. and may easi-
ly be confused with 'Tenn.,' which is the
official and generally accepted abbreyiation
Of the spelling of the state of Tennessee.
"The Post Office Department will not
tablish a new post office in Tennessee If
there is a post office of the same name In
Pennsylvania, and vice versa; nor will du-
plicate post Office names be permitted in
any two states where the authorizations
thereof may be readily confused.
Nor will it establish a new post office in
North Dakota if there is a post office of the
same name already in existence in South
Dakota, and vice versa, because of the
great confusion which would arise in the
mixing of the names of the post offices and
these two states New and other names
must be chosen in these instances. The re-
suit is that the mind of the people and the
postal clerks are perfectly clear that Bis
marck. for instance. is in North Dakota, and
that there is not another Bismarck in South
Dakota, while Minneapolis may be in MIN
nesota, Kansas or North Carolina.
Nor will the department give the names
of the great commercial centers to new
offices in adjoining and nearby states. For
instance. the petition of the citizens OF a
community in New Jersey who wished to
name their new office New York would be
denied; nor would Buffalo be allowed as a
name of a new office in any state adjacent
to New York. or philadelphia in any east
ern state. The location of these and other
large cities is firmly fixed in the mind of
the public and the postal clerks. For eX-
ample, there are three New Yorks' in the
United States-one in the state Of that
name. one in Texas and one in Iowa. Their
remoteness prevents confusion, but the plan
Is not now encouraged to adopt as a name
for a new small Office In one state that of
large city In another.
Some Confused Authorizations.
1.-The mail for Alaska is yearly increas-
ing and will continue to Increase. Do not
abbreyiate Alaska. Write it out in full.
If you abbreviate 1t Ala it confuses with
the abbreviation of Ala for Alabama.
Always write Idaho out in full not ida
as that abbreviation confuses with Ia
for Iowa, the name of which latter state
should also be written out in full; not
much Of a task since it contains only four
letters.
You may abbreviate Philippine Islands
by using the initials p. L. and the initials
p r. for Porto Rico. but don't begin to
write 'Haw.' for Hawaii. nor Sam for
Samoa. Write the names Of these latter
islands in full invariably. And Ind. Ter
is better than Ind t. This latter abbre-
Walton may be misread for Ind
BE particular in writing N. Y for
New York and N. j. for New Jersey very
distinctly. There are duplicate post office
names In these states, and many letters
miscarry because the initials " and y
are easily misread when written carelessly
Indiana, when abbreviated Ind does
not resemble Md for Maryland, in type.
but it does in writing, and these two states
come under the departmental rule ns to
authorizations. as do Miss for Mississippi
and Mimi for Minnesota, va for Pa
Mo- for Me- and CAL for Colo In
type they are quite distinct. but not in writ
ing.
Invariably abbresiate the last named
state 'Colo,' and write all of the abbrevia-
tions given here clearly. You would not
think that the letter r when added to
'Neb.' for Nebraska, clearly distinguishes
it from New for Nevada In writing
'Nev.' and 'Neb.' can scarcely be distin-
guished unless the letters are well formed
Don't write Ct for Connecticut. but abbre-
viate it Conn
Postal Clerks Memory.
'The department has formulated and ad-
hered to the rule have given for the pro-
lection Of the public, as well as itself
against errors in delivering the mail. A
man will devote great care to the writing
of letter and then write the superscrip-
ton with Observation-Disclosures
a-mile-off style. when he ought to devote
the greatest care to the address on the en-