Pueblo chieftain., 1921-12-13
By FREDERIC HAsKIN

BY FREDERIC HASKIN
New York City. Dec. 10.-If you fail
to receive letter WHEN you know
| one is due, don't give up hope. You
| are apt to get it in tho long run. A
letter written in New York 10 years
and months ago was delivered in
Phila adelphia just the other day. while
in another case recently reported a
letter was delivered nearly half a cen
tury after 1t was mailed.
Such instances. of course, are not
common. Tho majority OF mail that
is lost Is lost forever. because it is
stolen and destroyed by thieves. the
post office authorities rarely recover
ing letters and valuables disappearing
in this way. But letters are Iften de-
layed and lost thru other. sometimes
| curious means.
For example, letters occasionally
get stuck in tho mall boxes" says a
post office worker, but tho frequent
jarring of tho lid generally dislodges
these without great delays. There IL
also n chance OF letter falling thru
crack or getting behind a partition
in the W all. to remain there unmoiest-
ed until tho wall Is torn down and TO
be found accidentally. But the most
extensive cache Is In old mall bags.
Negligent clerks fail to shake out all
tho letters the last time the bags are
used. Tho sacks may remain for
months in a storage house and the mail
lie undiscovered until the bags arc
sent TO repair shop"
The post office worker OF our sc-
ouaintancc knows OF at least one case
in which such an accident had very
serious results. a young girl who WAS
In New York attending Columbia was
engaged to college youth whose
father was a prosperous business man
In a New England city. The couple
sr~ h.,t toI "a th.x
taken into his fathers business as soon
us he graduated from college. a few
months before that event. however. the
father suddenly went into bankruptcy
under most distressing circumstances.
LOVE LETTER LOST
The boy Immediately wrote to tho
girl in New York, releasing her from
tho engagement. His letter was not
precisely gentle. for he had been un-
prepared for the catastrophe and his
pride was hurt. Among other things
lie pointed out that ho would not be
able to support wife for some time
to come, because he would have his
fathers debts to pay off. The girl
wrote back. refusing to give him UP
and explaining that she could, II n'-ccs-
sary. support herself. This letter
somehow got lost In "A local post ofice
Cths post office worker blamcs mail
bag) and was not delivered until two
years latcr--two years too late. In the
meant time. tho girl. who also had her
pride. had married someone else.
An amazing quantity OF mail fails 10
reach its destination each year, OF
course, because IL is misdirected. Ap-
proximately 325.o00 pieces of mail are
received daily in uro Nsw York post
office which are insufficiently ad-
dresscc-a total OF iis.s25.coo year.
All of this carolcssly addressed matter
Ia handed over to scarchcrs who give
Il what is called directory sorvice-
that IT, they look tho addresses up In
various city directories.
This mfsdircctcd mail costs tho gov
ernucnt a great deal OF money. which
eventually comes out OF the t8xpay-
ors' pockctbooks. Tho directory ser
vice in the New York postofficc alone
nccossitates tho employment Of 1.S
clerks at an annual expense OF S-s5,o'p
for salaries. Similar conditions pro-
vail in all large cities and 1t rs esu-
mated that tho annual cost Of such
service throughout the entire country
is s. 100000.
Hence tho postmark publicity cam
paigu last year. which urged us to
direct our mail TO street and number.
The necessity for this precaution Is
still being emphasized by local post
masters 1t is suggested by the postal
authorities that all firm letterheads
should bear tho street address. and
that in every case the fun name OF the
addressec be given instead OF merely
the initials. In addressing a letter
to n building. II Is also advisable to
include the name Of sne street upon
which the building Is located. because
in every city there are many build
inss bearing names with which the
distributors in the postoffice- are un-
familiar.
As \ further preraution. the Post
Office Department suggests that tho
address, of the writer should he placed
at the TOP Of every letter and q return
address should bo written or printed
in the upper left-hand corner OF every
envelope placed in the mails.
ADDRESS CLEARLY.
It would also be n great boon to
postoffice officers of every city IL poo
pie would take tho trouble to writo
clearly and correctly instead of treat
ing envelopes as if they were scratch
pads. ono letter n day for each fam
iiy Of five persons Is tho postal record
Of the United states. a;ic II Is cstlmat-
cd that one family IN every ton puts
a badly addressed letter in the mails
every day. The time required by cx-
I1rInh1, h1 IN fr6