The Jackson herald., 1909-12-30

Nh' i'iloNiHS uds'
Although this unique sale takes place al the
national capital. the purchasers are by no
means limited to persons residing or visiting
al the seat OF government. The postoffice de-
partment issues thousands of catalogues-this
years catalogue is a book of 235 pages-of its
novel sacrifice sale, and these are mailed TO all
parts OF the United States upon request So
many out-oftown residents desire to bid for
the articles put up for sale that there has OF
late years developed a distinct field OF activ
ity In Washington for brokers" who act on
behalf of absent clients In bidding on designat
cd articles as per the instructions sent them.
No person who has not attended one OF
these quaint sales can have an adequate con.
Geption of the number and bewildering variety
oi the articles which are annually lost in the
malls with no clew to the owners. For. be It
explained, only fraction OF the total number
OF articles that go astray in the mails ultimate.
ly find their way to this picturesque clearance
sale. The major portion of the waits CT the
mails that consigned to the Dead Letter
office because of lack or absence of address or
any other cause ultimately find their way to
their rightful owners, thanks to the exception.
Il discernment OF the blind readers" and 9th.
er tracers OF lost letters in this branch of the
postal institution. II is only the letters and
parcels that absolutely ballng in their
lack of means of identification. that have a
chance OF finding their way into the stock OF
the Christmas bargain sale.
4 Even at that there is further sitting of
these unidentified postal victims for after the
experts of the Dead Letter office are forced
to abandon hope of tracing the origin or in
tended destination Of strayed parcel the
waif is held at the postofHce department for a
year in the hope that the owner may on his
own initiative apply to the department for his
missing property and thus enable its restora
ton. When, finally. there seems to be no hope
of reading the riddle by this means, either, the
unclaimed parcel is consigned to the great an.
Enual auction sale.
1t is a woeful commentary on the proportion
OF our citizens who evidently do not know how
10 take the first step to trace articles lost In
the mails that this annual postal sale contains
thousands upon thousands of articles There
are upward of 1000 different lots" In few
instances a lot" consists of single article.
but as a rule, each item comprises from six to
twelve separate articles, which are thus
grouped because of similarity of character or
for some other reason. Many OF the unclaimed
articles are Of such small value, individually
that the thought might suggest itself that the
losers had not considered IL worth while to
trace them, but on the other hand there
are hundred Of really valuable articles incll-
ding numbers of diamond rings, gold and sill
ver watches and other pieces of jewelry
To some readers the question may naturally
present itself of why this sale is held each
year jGat at Christmas time. The reason ad.
-yanccd by the prosalc postofice department is
that It is the natural time for a clearance sale
since It is the season when the work of the
calendar year Is being brought to close and
obviously It Is desirable TO clear out the ca
9acious store rooms at u'e postal headquarters