Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-09-19
LETTERS HASTILY MAILED.
Many Times They Are Not Sealed,
Stamped or Fully Addressed.

"You will often observe persons in post
ing letters in our street mail boxes, open
and slam the lid several times after de-
posting their mail matter" said a postal
official to a Star reporter.
This is unnecessary, though perhaps in
damp or wet weather a letter which has
been moistened by the rain might stick
on the little iron shelf on the inside Of the
box, which you may have observed when
you have opened the lid and looked in.
The interior Of the box is designed to pre-
vent any such failure of the letter to drop
at once to the bottom Of the box.
There are two little oblique-angled
shelves of iron attached to the upper por-
ton of the interior of the lid that come
together when the drop over the mail aper-
ture is lifted up for the depositing Of a
letter. The letter goes into the aperture
and falls on one Of the shelves. the closest
to the front q the box. When the metal
cover over the aperture drops back into
place again. upon the handle being released,
the little interior shelves fall apart and
back against the front and the rear portion
of the box, thus affording the full space Of
the box for the letter to drop of its own
weight to the bottom of the box. Hence,
once the letter has fallen to the bottom
of the box, as it ought to do and usually
does, you can slam the lip until doomsday,
or until you break it, and 1t makes no
difference so far as your piece of mail is
concerned. unless the noise of the slamming
of the lid affords you pleasure, and you
think you are doing something for your
country in the mailing line.
"And in this connection I will offer the
public a minor but important suggestion
regarding such simple thing as mailing a
letter. AS you lift up the lid of the box,
hold the address side before you and take
a hasty, or a long, as you choose, glance
at it's superscription. Note If 1t is correctly
made, and particularly If you have followed
the name Of the city or town with that of
the state to which it is intended to go, and
also see II you have stamped It,
This particularly applies to mail dis
patched in residential districts in cities.
Much of this mail is dropped by servants,
and they should be instructed as I have
here suggested. 1t is often picked up care
lessly in the house and dropped in the
mailing box, not only with an incomplete
superscrption, but frequently with none at
all. and very often without postage stamps
The precautionary last glance which sug
gest may mean the saving of a lot of
trouble and perhaps pecunary loss, and
often heart burnings on both ends of the
line.
1.-THE postal system in this country is so
perfect in the collection, forwarding and
the delivery of mail matter, especially of
frst-class matter, and even of the bulkier
classes, that II any delay or trouble ensues
in its transmission it may be laid in ninety
nine cases out of one hundred to the fault
Of the sender, who in some manner has
omitted to comply with the postal regula-
tions. usually in faulty or incomplete super
scriptions.
And in the last precautionary glance
don't fail to observe whether your letter
is sealed. 1t is surprising how many un-
sealed letters are deposited in the mails.
In the swift handling which they must
necessarily receive, their contents is often
thus partially or wholly lost. None Of the
mailmen en- route will take the trouble to
read the contents of your letter, even If 1t
is unsealed. So you will have no one to
blame but yourself If the addressee re-
ceives an empty envelope, and your writing
ultimately finds it's way into the waste
matter for transmission to the dead letter
Office in Washington"