The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1906-12-20

Santa Claus does n big mail order
business. or At least the orders are adj
dressed To the jolly old saint. and II
any OF them are not filled IL Is either
because the writer's failed tn give their
addresses I'm the proper way or els.
because Uncle Sans postmcn are un-
able TO find the individual to whom the
missives arc addressed. well known rs
he Is supposed To be-. However. even
tho Christmas correspondence that
cannot he delivered does not represent
wholly wasted effort. for Uncle Sam
now has an official Santa Claus whose
business " Ia 10 read all the letters In
tended for the driver OF the reindeer
team and sometimes Il way IS found TO
grant the requests made In these high
~ confidential little notes.
NO person would he surprised that
the United States government has been
Obliged To make special arrangements
for handling the Santa Claus mail IL
they could but see the volume of IL
which pours into the postoitice depart
ment at Washington toward the close
OF each year. Under the regulations OF
the department all letters which for
any reason cannot he delivered or re-
turned TO their writer's must be- sent
TO the dead letter Office. and so TO this
asylum for the waits OF thc mails come
bushels upon bushels OF letters add
dressed TO Santa Claus or Kris Kringlc
or 81. Nicholas.
ed TO "Snowland." Heaven" North
Pole" iceland" and n host OF other
places where Uncle Sam has not post
offices. and upon many OF them no
postage has been paid. there being sub
stituted for the usual postage stamp
n counterfeit crudcly drawn with pencil
or pen and ink. or course. these let
A.. 40 m. n
ers. one and all. coniidc 10 the magical
filler OF stockings just what tho youth
full correspondents would prefer for
Christmas. More than 20. 900 OF these
Santa Claus letters arc handled NJ the
postal graveyard ut our seat OF gov
eminent each year. This phase OF the
postal business IL spasmodic In the cN-
treme. All through the year. from the
beginning OF January to the end OF No
vember. the postmasters and letter
carriers find scarcely an envelope adj
dressed 20 the patron saint or Christ
mas. but with December comes q lit
eral avalanche that steadily Increases
I'm volume up TO the very eve OF the
joyous holiday.
Uncle Sans Santa Claus who has
been delegated by the powers ut Wash
ington TO take charge OF this novel
Christmas mail IL n woman Mrs. Patti
Lyle Collins by name-and perhaps u
would be more appropriate TO give her
the title OF Mrs. Santa Claus. She Is
down I'm the governments official di-
rectory az chief OF that division OF the
dead letter Office which concerns Itself
with letters and parcels that cannot be
delivered because OF unintclligible or
insufficient addresses. and ia this ca
pacity she draws ono OF tho largest
salaries which Uncle Sam pays to any
woman. while as Uncle Sans blind
reader her fame has spread round the
world through her ability To dccipher
addresses so confugcdly written that
no other person could make head nor
tail OF them.
Unusual as g. All Of Mrs. Collins
work. decidedly Tn" most interesting
phase OF Il In found in her service us
the ChIldrcn's puslnistrcss each holi-
day season. she has been playing the
role OF official Santa Claus Tor more
than twenty years. and during that
time has han lied nearly hair u million
letters intended for tho king OF the
Yuletide. or course. Mrs. Collins has
10 have help Ia handling the mass OF
first efforts OF Juvenile letter writer's.
but she exercises close supervision over
the disposal OF the childish condolences.
There Is but one thing 10 do with a