Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1914-07-03

have perfect right 10 make their
case known at the national capital,
but he draws the line at that class
Of representatives. who send out form
letters and get people to sign them
up" all over the country. and fire them
In upon the capital When the parcel
post was before Congress there were
hundreds Of thousands OF such com
munications. both for and against the
measure.
The Dead Letter Office.
A year ago there were $50 employees
In the dead letter office. Now there
are about so. The reason is found In
the fact that the sleuths who fathom
the mysteries OF poor addresses have
become more proficient IN their work.
aud that better results have been OBJ
tanned In tracing badly addressed mail
and turning It over 10 the several
postofficcs and division and railroac
centers throughout the country. For
elgn mail, which has In the past been
the source OF much concern to the
dead letter office Is now handled
largely az the ports Of entry Of this
country The dead letter office was
established almost 30 years ago. and
IL one Of Washingtons Oldest and most
widely celebrated institutions Unlike
many OF the divisions Of the depart
ment II was not created by statute
but became an institution resulting
from regulations that unclaimed or
unbelievable letters be sent to the T
the dead letter office" Before 1860 /
no detailed record Of the transactions
WAS kept. The Senate adopted a res
olution In 1857 requesting the post
master general to state the number
Of letters received in the dead letter
office during the fiscal year. and to
determine what further legislation was
necessary to diminish the volume Of
such letters and 10 provide for their
return to senders. The receipts foi
hat year were 100000 letters and
parcels In 1861 Congress passed an
lct which provided that all money
ound in dead letters that were undc-
ivcred should be used to promote the
Of the office. In 1862 the
eDort stated that when letters con-
aiming postage stamps or articles of
sso ,..tna than ono anIIaIr ,.,ara ,,pda-
iverable and could not be restored
o the sender. were destroyed. In 81
congress authorized the return of all
etters bearing the names of the send
RS whose contents provided sufficient
eVenue to pay the clerk employed to
ande them The percentage of
stters containing money that came to
he dead letter office was nearly four
ines greater before 1864 than II has
cen since. Printed envelopes with
he name Of senders and request for
eturn were Issued by the government
/ 1865 for the purpose of securing
ne return OF unbelievable letters to
ne sender without opening them. The
ioney order system was established
1864 There were 30 men and so
omen employed in the dead letter
'fice In 1875. and the office was men
oned MS "a model of industry and
inctuallty. Last year the office
rec consisted Of about $50 persons.
no handled more than 100000 /
cces of matter. All matter on which
rst class postage is paid is returned
possible to the sender. i
Gets Lions Share. 4
Idaho Jared well in the appropria-
IN for combating hog cholera. The
II as finally passed provided 100000
r the hog cholera war. The powers
at be decided TO test their plan in
different districts. and split the
nd into as many parts
Thirty states were clamoring to get
on the fund. Idaho was there In
rec and carried off the biggest one
tenth OF any state In the Union. In
other states the hog cholera fund
confined to restricted district
thin one county.
Dean w l.. Carlyle of the Idaho
diversity appeared before the COM
ttee On his representations that
rec out of four farmers Of Idaho
re just establishing their farms and
at heavy losses from hog cholera
'uld ruin them financially or dis
urage them TO such an extent that
"a would "cut out" the production n