El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-12-15
. TASHNGTON. D. c. Dec. 10
wv About 20.nnn lettars addresseI

T2@t1lNGLg-Ns H. -. A'eN- AH+
M About 10000 letters addressed
w to Santa Claus viii pass
through the United States mails dur
inE the few days Immediately pre-
Ceding Christmas Nearly all Of them
q great majority by little girls and
bOys who live IN small towns or ~
the country City bred youngsters
are more sophisticated than those OF
rural districts. and the offspring Of
the rich usually count upon christ
mas gifts as a matter OF course en-
tertaining no anxiety on the subject
Until recently such letters have
been handled like any other mail, be-
ing stamped with the words "tctI-
tiOus address" at the local postofticei
and forwarded TO the dead letter Of
flee at washington. where they were
opened. When they contained the
addresses of the senders, they were
returned.
OF late. however. the pOst0ffice de-
partment has made a frequent prac-
tice of permitting postmasters TO
hand over the Santa Claus letters TO
local benevolent societies, when re-
quested by the latter so TO do, and the
societies have responded TO the ap-
peaIs with small gifts m numerous
instances. As a government official
recently wrote TO send them 10 the
dead letter office, to be opened and
re turned TO eEpectaut children is
cold and heartless thing 20 do
I'm most instances the letters con
tain no addresses by which the send
e-s may be found. and there is moth
ing to do but to destroy them They
are usually unstamped- The direc-
tions on the envelopes are much
varied. but most often the residence
assI.led 70 the Christine -..lu. -= tbs
North Pole Other supposed adj
dresses of his are the Arctic Re
-ions.' ice Land and snow Land
Worth quoting are . HlaWs. E..s-
queer. Iceberg Ave. Nev york; IN
the Chimney. IN Harlem, and 'dr.
Santa Claw. - Milk street. near
Heavens Door"
Real Kris KrineIc.
Remarkably enough, there dwelt i1
Minneapolis nOi long ago an imWi-
grant named Kris KrinEle. a num-
Der Of letters addressed 70 him were
turned over by rne uoStoftice depart-
meuI 10 a chariJably society, ln-
opened They proved TO ne love let
tiers from his sweetheart iu the fath-
erlsnd. When they had been opened
and read. the mistake became mani
fest. and they We're remailed 90 the
intended recipient but this did not
prevent him from putting up a fright
full roar. and threatening TO prose
cute the Minneapolis postmaster
:. Claus Makes Complaint.
a similar trouble arose IL the case
Of a man named :. Claus, who kept
a second hand clothing shop on the
East Side, In New York city Re
wrote a complaint 10 the postoffice
department about the delay Of his
letters and was only partly appeased
by a frank explanation and apology
from the government authorities.
Couldn't Find the Place.
Under the postal laws. letters ad-
dressed to foreign countries need not
have postage prepaid Accordingly.
many santa Claus letters directed to
places in Europe. OF elsewhere abroad
are duly forwarded even rlll-r u1-
stamped. Eventually. Of course they
axe returned 10 our dead letter office
One letter. directed by a little Charles
ton boy 70 Kris kringle. Hartz Noun
raiuS. Germany. before the war. came
back with Endorsements by Il car
~iers. ana stamped all over with the
words Unknown Not Found" In
sufficient Address" etc.
tt was Brooklyn postmaster who
originated the idea OF playing the
part of Santa Claus on his own ac-
count. and, with a view to carry ing
out the scheme IN a satisfactory man
ner, he published an advertisement.
askinE people TO send him toys and
candy. Even government officials
have hearts in their bOsOms. and or
B more than one occasion clerks in the
l0ead letter office al Washington have
contributed each few pennies 70