Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-08-08

1 AL.
Among the grewsome objects to be noted
| Is a skull, fingers and toes. together with
an ear. Whether these cheerful features
| are mementos of crime, chastity Joke, or
| gifts to medical student is omen mat
| ter for conjecture.
| A casual glance at one of the sets of
shelves discloses confused mixture of
| medicine, dried fruit ahd various other
| things which nigh. suggest the contents
| of the witches cauldron in Macbeth" An
| amount of fanciful If somewhat eccentric,
| taste. is displayed in many of the objects
| of art and vertu sent, nfor some incom-
prehensible reason,4 through the mails.
| There Is ornamental alligator. carrying
| a gaudy parasol, little clay doll Vine
| gar cruet of weird design and remark
| able representation of an animal the like
Small Fourth of July firecrackers contrast
| forcibly with bombs of sufficient power
| to destroy a good-sized building. load
ed revolver. half-cocked is also seen
| among the collection Of deadly weapons
| 1t was addressed to a woman in New York.
Among other and more harmless objects,
| one notes a dashboard, long-handled
mop, punches of Easter candles. a cocoa
nut and a card upon which is inscribed
the Lords Prayer in flfty-two languages.
| A tragic memento is a mail pouch, COW
cred with blood, for the preservation OF
| which a carrier in the far west sacrificed
his life in an encounter with Indians
An old Rocky mountain mail coach will
be an interesting feature of the st. Louis
President Arthur have ridden in this con-
veyance, which has had many an exciting
journey in the days of the wild west
Coming back to the articles on the
card containing lock of hair cut from
the head of Guiteau, the assassin of Prcsf-
dent Garfield. OF interest and value to
some one. perhaps, is a copy of mar
riage certificate, which declares that Sam
uel Whitehead and Jane Miller were mar
ried in the Parish Church, Manchester,
property, musical instruments, corn pop
pers, cups and saucers horns of animals,
a hack drivers license, a tarantula IRE
ceved alive), bottle of elixir OF lie, sent
to very distinguished person in mortal ILL
ness, Chinese curios, canvas needles and
potato bug exterminator
Home Made Art.
Among the remarkable artistic concep-
lions is a figure of a negro parson deliver
ing a sermon from a pulpit, the whole con-
structed of chicken feathers Beneath this
conceit is a little Indian work basket sup
ported by the figure of bear. Other con-
tiguous attractions are an old and dilapi-
dated boot and a beautiful flower holder Of
Venetian glass.
The dead letter Office receives multitude
of articles, of which those in the museum
are representative specimens, every day in
the year The labor involved in handling
such mass of material is something enor-
nous. Many of the articles mailed
through ignorance of the postal regulations
others are sent through malice or to avoid
express charges. while the remainder
received through the careessness of the
senders The employees of the office have
very ingenious methods for discovering the
presence of dutiable articles in the MAIL
and it is safe to say that the ma jority Of
such packages confiscated either at the
mailing sta ton a subsequent one.
When the contraband contents dis
covered they are sent to the dead letter
office where every effort is made to return
them to the sender or to forward them to the
addressee, who is asked to send the proper
amount of stamps to pay for the trans
portatOn.
Parcels of merchandise are kept for two
years, If not sooner delivered, and then
the well-known auction sale, held annually,
disposes of them to the community. I'm
addressed parcels and such as are found
loose in the mails received at the dead let
ter office more than six months prior to the
annual sales are included in the lot dis
posed of by auction.
Among the collection of objects in the
museum may be noticed a miniature ODE
lisk, cut from the bark Of a California red
wood. and Immediately beside 1t a pair of
gloves taken from the steamer Oregon after
having been in the water fourteen DAYS.
There is a large collection of photographs
OF soldiers and sailors, evidently mailed in
war times, judging from the uniforms
which all wear. Next to picture of {,
veteran of the war of 1sf2 is photo of a
young man in kahkf, in the army of the
Phil1ppines Chinese coins, eggs, dogs a
DUCK saw, a box of geological specimens a
lemon squeeZer, candle shutters bootia cks
OF various sizes. Chinese junks, fans. ele-
CANT miniatures on ivory, hair flowers
stuffed birds, horned toads from California.
hand mirrors, birds nests Indian canoes a
miniature skeleton, a toy gondola made in
Venice, shells, watches cheap jeweIry of
all sorts door plates. valentines painted
fungi, toys. jeweled daggers, and a letter
lnaorsed. III not delivered in thirty years,
return to the Farallone Island"
The collection of watches in the museum
contains every variety from the old-fash-
Toned "turnip" to the latest style. adorned
WIN Jewels. Each of these watches is reg
ularly wound up every morning, and all
are tlcketed with the names of their re-
spective owners, but none have SO far.
been claimed.
Among the more remarkable exhibits Of
the Post Office Department is a set of ac
count books kept by Benjamin Franklin
when he was Deputy Postmaster General
Tor the American colonies in 1853, the ac-
counts of which are of course, in English
money
1t should be noted that claims are often
received by the dead letter office officials
put these are as puzzling and apparently
devoid OF reason as the unwilling dona-
tons. Some persons. too appear Inclined
to blame the post office for their own mis-
takes or those of their correspondents as
years ago parcel of infants clothing was
detained at the office. 1t was addressed to
a woman missionary but was deficient in
postage its intended destination having
been Africa In reply to the notice sent
her, the woman very angrily wrote a let
ter. in Which, among other things she said:
Inc child for whom the garments were in
tended has not yet been eaten by cannibaIs,
but 1t has quite outgrown the clothing.
and 1t may be returned to the sender,
whose address 1 inclose'
One shelf in the museum is given over
to dolls of every size and color. There is
also Masonic apron some lace, a bellows,
a steel trap and various other objects
which can only be explained in the light
OF practical jokes on the postal officials
sharp lookout is kept for smuggling
through the mails. About $50 sealed pack
ages are seized annually in the New York
post ONCE alone. In average year ac-
carding to one authority, 25,O00 unsealed
parcels are confiscated at the same office
and released on the payment of fines.
which are equivalent to the duties.
Some very ingenious methods are en-
ployed for transmitting dutiable articles
without paying duty. Not long ago
a package from Germany was found to
contain small roll of butter. A wire
passed through it met with an obstruction,
which proved to be a tin box filled with
diamonds Probably a dozen silk hand