Bisbee daily review., 1906-04-07
THOSE ID BLAME.
Postmaster Cassidy Explains Why Letters Do Not AL
 ways Arrive.
SENDERS ARE LARGELY
 AT FAULT IN MATTER.
Eight Million Packages and Letters Failed to Reach Persons for Whom Intended During Last Year.


 Bisbee people are frequently heard to complain that they do not get let ters they have reason to expect were been sent to them, and that letters they have sent never reach their des- tination.
 Just to show that mistakes in the mails are not always the fault of post office employees. Postmaster Cassidy was yesterday asked about the mat ter. He said it was useless to make the statement that office employees are as careful as possible for the reason that one of the strict rules o1 the postoffice department is accuracy and carefulness.
 By referring to the records for 1905 of the~dead letter office at Washing ten, D. C., Postmaster Cassidy said that he could best explain why let ters often never reach the person for whom they are intended. Said he:
 The dead-lstter office ar Washing ton received last year from the Unit ed States pCstoffices G00,0OO letters that had been misdirected, or which had vital faults in the addresses, also 23,000 parcels. These were letters and parcels that could not be dispatch ed by postmssters. Also 75,000 let ters and 50.000 parcels having no ad- dress whatever, which had been de- posited at postoffices. There were also 75,000 letters that had no stamps on them and 4S,000 parcels with no postage, or sufficient to permit of dispatch. That is, S71 ,000 errors were made by persons in not stamping mail or not naming a postoffce. Had the name of the sender been on the en- velope or wrapper he would have been notified by the local postmaster. Many more unstamped letters and packages were dispatched because the party addressed sent postage upon notification. la-s
 Then 10000 letters sent in care of hotels were unclaimed, while 2Io,- 900 letters had only fictitious ad- dresses.
 There were 24.000 unaddressed en- velopes containing money found loose in the mails and S16,000 of this the government was unable to find owners for, at either starting point or destination.
 Tn other letters s5,O00 was found and restored to owners, together with $1 600 900 in checks and money or ders which could be traced to send CTS.
 Also s3,3OO failed to go back to unknown owners, from the dead-let- ter office in postage stamps.
 From the sale of merchandise packages that did not have on wrap pers the names of senders, or which were never stamped or addressed, the deal-letter office received s7,200.
 But here is something that ex- plains the disappearance of many let ters and packages. There were de- livered or returned to the sender af- ter receipt at the dead1etter office only 2,OOO.O as against 7,SOO,000 de stroyed there. Had the contents borne the postoffice addresses and the full signature of senders, the T. i S0O,000 would have been returned to the writers. Or. if the names and ad- dresses of the senders had been on envelopes or wrappers return would have been made. This was all domes- i tic mail, not of foreign origin. 50 you see, nearly S,000,O0O people 1 per year wonder why expected letters or packages came not and as many more wonder why no answer was re- ceived except about fifteen of the six teen million who think postmasters are holding back or failing to deliver. q guess that the errors and faults of postoffice employees would not tally up large score in comparison with errors here shown to be charge able to mail senders.
 Just tell the people to sign letters, put addresses correctly, cease en- closing coin that will cut envelopes, place name and address on envel- opes and packages, and then to scru- | tinize carefully before depositing in postoffice, and the dead-letter office can dispense with several hundred clerks"