Evening star., 1902-01-25
Increase in Number of Undelivered
Letters
THE FAULT OF THE SENDERS
Some Suggestions From a Post
Office Official.
MUCH MONEY INCLOS SED

service is the popular Drancn Oh tue soF
ernment and the closest to the people |
and, while this is a deserved compliment
to the department. the increasing careless
ness on the part of those who use the mails
and the increasing accuracy on the part
of those who carry and serve the mall is
such as to be worthy of the attention OF
all concerned said postal official to a
Star man this morning.
LAS has been shown in The Star from
time to time the present record or e1ll-
cheney in all branches of the service has
never before been equaled, and this IN the
face of a tremendous increase in the use
of the system and an enormous increase
in the bulk of mail matter handled.
Nevertheless, the fact is that the pubic
is becoming very careless in senolhs us
missites through the mails, and Wnile the
force In the department and the Wnole ma,
chinery of the great system IS utilized anu
taxed to carry out the intentions ana the
wishes of the people, they themselves must
lend a contributing hand II accuracy Is To
be assured.
Various Examples of Errors.
TT is Just as well, and 1t only taxes an
instant of time, to glance at the lace Oh
the envelope you intend to post, and see If
YOU have addressed it, and, in addltloh'
placed a stamp in the right-hand corner.
less as to post letter without an address,
much less without stamping II, OF course
strikes most people as lud1crously rluicu-
lous. Yet each year this class or errors on
the part of the public is steadily growing,
until now over 81 900 pieces of this class OF
mail matter have been turned into the de-
Dartment at Washington in single year,
the increase over the NUMBER UNI Oh ,ne oi,,ed p,e
ceding year being over 5000 pieces recelVeu
without address And there were over
1900 persons who were so thougntless as
tn inclose money in their envelopes, IN sums
from dime to several bills OF the ~ ue-
nomination and then forget to address the
envelope.
and parcels are also on the increase as
the department received 156,UU last year,
an increase of 11O0O over the preceding
"This habit may be largely overcome by
giving to the envelope farewell glance
| before dropping it in the letter box, and
not mailing it with the flap up. Mail your
matter with the right side OF the enVeiops
| up Then it's white, untouched unstampea
surface will call you down snehtiS anu
make you more careful.
Points for the Guidance of the Public.
"And then you are positive this
| word is never omitted from letter of COM
| n,aint or induiry) that you addressed 1t
| correctly. Well you didn't If you had II
would have been delivered. The chances
| are that If you didn't fail to address II
| at all, or to stamp it, you misdirected IT.
OF course, we all know at the departiii :
| that you could not possibly be gullty Oh
| such inaccuracy, as you Would write Jan paon
| ~ the department made such a suggestion
| to YOU, but this is what you evldentiy olo-
| lust addressed it wrong, ana the increase
| of thoughtlessness in this respect on the
| mart of the public is quite alarming, LOT
| nearly a half a million of pieces or mis-
directed letters and parcels 1ound theif
| way to Washington, an increase In single
| year of over I'll 600 pieces
| "Over Il, 100000 pieces OF merchandlse OK
| fourth-class matter went through the mails
last year, and of thesee half million
| found their way for the various causes
enumerated above. to the deao ieeter OIL
flee, showing a very heavy increase or near
| ly a quarter of million In single year.
"It is your fault and not that Of the pos
tai service that such is the case. Never de-
| posit a package for mailing unless you
have had it correctly weighed, and you
| have taken a precautionary glance at the
address and the amount in postage stamps
affixed thereon. Do not forget that II is
only first-class matter that goes through
| If the postage is short, the deficiency to be
collected Of the addressee. Parcels are heid
for postage, and go to the dead letter or
fice if, after notification to the addressee'
the amount in stamps is not forthcoming.
Millions of Dollars Transmitted.
Always place your name and address on
the upper left-hand corner OF every pack
age mailed If you won't do 1t on your let, ct,
| ters place it on your packages, and III
| tell you why. You'll get 1t back II 1t falls
of delivery. The department was enabled
last year to restore nearly million OF
such letters and parcels to their owners un,
| opened because they were thoughtful
| enough to observe this simple requirement
otherwise the packages would have shared
the unseemly fate of being put up in due
course at auction, to be 1gnominous!y y
knocked down to the highest bidder, in
some salesroom in Washington. The de-
partment restored an increase Of fifteen pei
cent of this class of matter last year ovel
the preceding year.
'The extent to which the people send
money through the mails may be known
only approximately. Out of the billions o.
letters mailed last year over 1900 found
their way to the deal letter office, and they
contained about $42 800, or each letter aver
aged little less than 81. On this basis mil
lions of dollars annually go through cor
rectly delivered.
."Tho,lsands of letters containing drafts
notes, money orders, deeds, mortgages an,
other securities were caught in the depart
mental drag net, representing face valu
of over s., 600 900, while 175,O00 letters con
tanning postage stamps were also caught II
it's meshes.
1.-THE department can tell you that TIL
photographing habit is also on the increase
. and the people desire their friends and rel
atives living at distance to know hoy
, they are looking Mainly through tn
carelessness of their senders however
8 ! there was Disappointment all around becaus
: photographs, increase Of nearly 800
:, | pieces revealed the features of the per
s sons photographed to the dead letter s)rfic
f! | clerks alone and most of them Uhe sitters
| not the clerks) looked pleasant
: Local Institutions Benefited.
at is an Ill wind that blows nobody an
good however. Under the law. instead G
destroying Unbelievable reading matter
magazines, etc., the department saves sue
as it desires and sends them to the variou
charitable institutions and hospitals in tn
| District of Columbia, and over 1900 piece
were so distributed last year, and about tn
same average Is distributed every yeal
Reada Bile books Of fiction, etc, go to tn
shelves Of departmental library, and thou
sands of popular novels and other book
| have thus been added to the library.
''The department sold at auction last yea
5000 unclaimed parcels, and So. 700, tn
proceeds of the sale, went to swell the SUI
plus in the treasury.
THAT the public is anxious about its ur
delivered mail may be seen from the fat
that about 10000 applications for missin
| ,,atl rxyara Had IoSt an ionr 4