Omaha daily bee., 1902-05-18
SOME POSTAL DoN'Ts.
Errors Commonly Committed by Peo-
PIE in Mailing Letters.

pie in Mailing Letters.
TT is astonishing how questions pour in
regarding mail matter and its treatment"
said a postal ohicial quoted by the New
York Sun, land 1t shows on the part Of the
general public q woful lack Of information
with which 1t ought to be familiar. I have
from time to time jotted down some postal
'donts' which will be found of value.
Don't mall your letter without placing
at least one 2-cent postage stamp thereon.
or course, you will say that you always
do this. but there were $50, 900 patrons Of
the mails last year who did not.
Don't fail to write the name and ad-
dress OF the person for whom your letter
or package is intended plainly on the enve-
lope or face Of the package. You may
find comfort in the knowledge that more
than 100. 900 pieces of mail matter without
q line Of superscription were received at the
dead letter ONCE in Washington.
Don't misdirect your wi mail, even II
half a million people annually write the
wrong addresses upon the pieces they
drop In the boxes.
Don't send loose coin In envelopes. II
II is not stolen II often works out of the
corners. Don't send bills, either. II the
postal thief VIC steals your money is
caught he will go 70 prison, and you will
be the cause OF 1t. Use the money order
or the registry system when you wish to
transmit money or valuable articles
through the mails.
Don't. II you have come from a foreign
land, fail to place the correct address of
your correspondent in the old country on
the envelope. A quarter Of a million Of
these incorrectly addressed foreign letters
are annually returned to the United States
to be returned 10 their senders. II their
names and addresses can be obtained.
Don't fail to place FOUR name and ad-
dress In your letter or on the envelope II
yuo wish your missive returned to you IN
case OF non-delivery. Som people send
money, and say: From mother or from
papa We all had mothers or fathers. No
clue is afforded to either the sender or
the addressee in case Of non-delivery.
Don't omit your name. your postofice
or your state when writing to department
stores in cities for goods. Many people do
omit one or more OF these essential par
t~iculars, sometimes all, and 1t causes con-
fusion.
Don't think you can beat the game
when you receive a polite letter from q
stranger in a city telling you how to get
rich quickly for nothing. You will be out
Of pocket and sadly fooled II you entertain
THE popular belief.
Don't fail to prepay full rate upon your
foreign mail, both letters and packages,
even though the former will go forward TO
destination without any prepayment OF
postage at all and the latter II partially
prepaid. Double postage is collected abroad
for the amount due.
Don't forget with domestic mail that
while a letter will 20 forward II 1t has a
single rate OF postage paid thereon, 2 cents
the balance due to be collected OF the ad-
d~resses. newspapers and packages will NOT.
They go to the dead letter ONCE. People
confuse these instances of foreign and do
nestle mail and loss results.
Don't be so careless as not to seal the
flap Of your envelope. and II you fail to
do this don't afterward complain to the
department that somebody opened my let
ter Thousands OF people do this every
year.
Don't forget that postal thieves do not
get all OF the money letters which are moi
delivered. some and their way to the dead
letter once, about 1000 annually, con
tanning on an average Of about $50, 900.
Your money is returned to you II you can
be located; otherwise your dollars heIp
swell the postal fund In the treasury"