The Sunday telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1914-1927, 1915-02-14
THE HAsKIN LETTER
Lest Parcel Post Mail

The growth of the parcel post sys-
tenn and the widening scope Of ia
usefulness have brought new rush
Of business TO the dead letter ONCE
and its branches In the fifteei, prin-
cipal cities Of the country. Former
ly misdirected letters. books and
small articles made up the bulk Of
the lost mail; now q dressed pig. a
peck OF apples or a shotgun causes
not the slightest surprise.
|. The greater part a. this lost mail
goes astray because OF the careiese-
ness OF the sendefs, MANY. persons
will loosely wrap an article in
per, Tie 1t with q bit Of cotton string;
hastily scrtbble an address that Is
olten fHegible, and trust to Proyi-
dence and the, postal service for the
rest. II the package holds together,
and IT Is possible for the ablest ex-
perts In the country to decipher the
address, 1t will generally reach its
destination. Often, however, articles
are found loose in the mail bags. while
an amazing number of addresses are
either illegible, incomplete or omit
ted altogether.
All Of sthee parcels that 70 astray
are no longer sent to Washington:
but are collected In. the fifteen cities
which are headquarters for the dtvis-
ions OF the railway mail service. The
postmasters at the division cities sim
ply send Lists Of the articles whose
destination cannot be determined to
the post ohice department. at WASH
ington, and those which remain I'M
claimed are finally disposed OF at the
division cities. BY reason OF the tire,
mendous bulk Of matter which the
parcel post system has brought to the
dead letter office, this is the only
practicable method.
1t would be practically impossible
to send to headquarters all Of the
perishable matter which people en-
trust to the parcel post. The farmer
and the consumer have been directed
to get together and save money by
means OF the parcel post, and they are
making determined and generally
successful efforts to do so. A couple
OF fowls OF a dozen eggs which have
lost their way, however, present an
embarrassing problem to the postal
employees. Shortly after Christmas
the following appeal came from the
postmaster in a very small western
town:
"a piece Of mail, parcel post, a
dressed chicken, came to this Office
during the holidays In bad order. De-
caying. Address on package I'M
known, no return address. j hung
\ It out to freeze, and 1t is hanging
i ftynt fnRa 4
disposition to make"
This official was told that he might
destroy the chicken, and 1t shared the
fate Of a great many other dressed,
but unaddressed, fowls that get lost
in the mails. An immense bulk Of
food is lost in the aggregate in this
way. Not only chickens, ducks and
poultry generally, but hams, sausages
vegetables, game, cheeses, and all
sorts Of other perishable supplies fail
to reach their destinations, either
because the address Is illegible, or The
wrapper Is lost in transit Not all OF
this food, however, is total loss
What is obviously fresh and in good
order Is now given to hospitals, and
! to charitable institutions. This ap-
plies, however, only to staple food
stuffs. Candy sent through the mails
is never regarded as safe because Of
the frequency with which poisoned
sweets are sent. The same applies
to medicine. All, Of the Intoxicating
liquors which go into the parcel post
mails, like medicine, is not regarded
tected, because 1t is against the reg
ulations to send them in that way
There is no one regulation which is
more zealously and constantly violat-
ed than that which prohibits the
4 shipment Of liquors. and it is prob
able that considerable quantity
carefully packed so as to conceal Its
nature, gets by the officials Thous-
ands of gallons of liquor, however, are
annually destroyed by the post a,l-
thorities: for liquor found in. the
mails, like medicine, Is ont regarded
as safe, and for that reason is never
given to hospitals or other institutions
that might make good legitimate use
of it.
!. The only generalization which ex-
perienced postal officials will make
4 with regard to the use Of the parcel
\ post is that there is nothing which
4 people will not try to send through It
Practical 1okers see in 1t a new and
fascinating means of expressing theil
rude humor. A dead rattlesnake, ly.
\ ing in life like coils at the bottom Of
a shallow box, was the shocking sight
that one opener of lost mail discover
ed, and number Of other dead snakes
have been found loose In the mail. 50
far as is Known, no one has yet tried
to send a live and dangerous snake
by mali, but several live lizards have
been sent, and have been found crawl
ing about in the mail bags, having es-
capped from their boxes.
All sorts Of filthy objects are sent
by persons Of a malicious turn, and
occasionally what is supposed to be
an internal machine is found,