The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-01-25
ANY OLD WAY
INTELLIGENT PEOPLE CARE
 LEssLY ADDRESS LETTERS.
Trouble They 0ive-sonae Expert ences at Washington Postoface-- The German Careful-schoois There Teach How Mails
 Are to Be Used.
Washington star.

Why is 1t that intelligent people do not pay more attention to the proper addressing of their iettersf an ofticial of the local postoffice asked, after a particularly vexing hak hour with a pile of undelivered mail. ''It Is incom- prehensible to me why the people who use the malls should not know how to do so The simple principle involved im- poses no other duty on the person de- siring to make use of the system than to address plainly a letter or package to the person 1t is desired to reach.
 ''The word plainly Is the most im- portant of these instructions. Plainly means to call Mrs. John Smith by her name, and If she lives at 200 Pennsyl- vania Avenue. Northwest. Washington, D, C.. to write it so. and not 200 Pa. Ave Nwashington.' or Town or City, or Local" It is just as easy to say that a person lives in Washington D. C., as 1t is to say that person lives in Town or City or Local. What town what city and where local. It is easy for person to say that his name is in the directory. and that the postofice oficials could easily find whom to deliver a letter to if they would sinp- ly consult the book. But how would such system operate in practicef Who Is the official of this office, or any other office, who can take the time to look up the address of every person whose mall is not directed to the street and house number? Suppose everybody who uses the mails should take that view of the situation. The largest part of the force of a postonlce would be that which Is maintained for the purpose of looking through the directory. and the force re- quired for this work is large enough as 1t is at present.
 "The children who go to school in the German Empire are compelled to know how to use the mails. They are required to pass examinations before they can be graduated from the schools. and 1t is very uncommon thing for a person to address letter improperly in that coun- try. It often happens that letters come from Germany here that are improperly addressed but ignorance as to the extent and locality of the place to which the letter Is addressed may be taken as an excuse.
 However. in this country there exists no excuse for the ignorance. The system of mailing is so simple that every one should understand it, It is probable that within the course of few months the Washington school authorities will be re- quested by this office to give a certain amount of instruction in the use of the mails to the pupils of the public schools here, and in time the system might ex- tend throughout the country. We have in this office every morning an enormous amount of mail that is improperly ad- dressed. Of course. the quantity in- creases greatly during the Christmas holidays. but 1t is greater than 1t should be at all times.
 Probably the greatest number of let ters that come to this office improperly addressed are the result of sheer care lessness on the part of the clerk or per- son who mailed the envelope. Here, for instance. is a letter addressed to a hard ware firm in Washington, D. C.. when Washington. N. C., Is meant. The D. c. ls very plain, as you can see. This let- | ter comes from one of the largest and | most important firearms manufacturing companies in the world, as you can see | by the label on the envelope, and yet venture to say. I would even be willing to bet good round sum, that the letter Is headed The Blank Hardware Com pany. Washington, N. C. and that the | N. c. Is just as plain on that letter as the D. c. is on the envelope. That is pure carelessness. Here Is letter that was intended for Wilmington. Del. The person addressing 1t addressed 1t to Washington, Del, and 1t has been chang ed to D. c. in transit.
 "The letter bears a stamp of the New York postofflce. Deficiency of address supplied The New York officials acted before they thought. It is addressed to William Lawton. 61l Market Street, Washington. Del Had the official who took the trouble to correct this address looked into the directory for Whining ton. Del, he would have seen that this man lyes in Wilmington and not Wash irgtcn.
 Here Is a letter addressed to Miss Jane White. Sleepy Hollow. Utow, mr. Washington. It is from a prominent publishing house in New York. There is no such place near Washington as Sleepy Hollow. Utow. The person who addressed this letter evidently did so very hurriedly and was extremely care- less. imagine that letter belongs to some place near Washington Utah. How ever. the force of this office is not em- powered to make the correction unless 1t Is reasonably sure the letter will have to go to the Dead Letter ofSice.
 Next in line with the careless people who address the mall wrong thoughtless- ly. comes that class which habitually uses city or town. or local in ad- dressing letters to persons in the same city. A friend of mine. teacher in the public schools, once compiled a very im- portant report for the supervising prin- cipal of her district. which she intrusted to the mail for delivery. A few days after she had mailed the letter she came to me with tears In her eyes and asked me where and how she could find it.
 "It was the most important document of the year. she said. and she had ab- solutely nothing by which she could com pile another. The data that had been collected for use in this report had been destroyed or sent with the report. I asked her to write out the address she placed on the letter and when she had compiled read Blank Blank. Supervis- ing Principal. Blank Street, N. W. Town, Town, when written hurriedly, looks like Iowa. and I told her to have no fear. Her letter would be returned in about five days. and I was right.
 "when the letter had come to the city postofice the clerk In charge of the as- sorting of the mail had promptly thrown the report into the Iowa pouch. and 1t had been sent out. have never yet seen the word town written on a letter that 1t did not look like Iowa. Then there are people who write the word city on let ters that are to go out of town. ThIs e mes from habit. A friend of mine was given a letter to mail by his sister, and on the evening he received it he went to New York. When he reached Jersey City before taking the ferry he discov- cred the letter.