Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-10-09
THE DEAD LETTER SALE
TOLD OF BY MR.. HASkIN
Daily Letter by Frederic J. Haskin

like thoroughness were dealers.
Here and there a man could be seen
diving into a box and holding up a
pair of trousers or a ratty looklng
fur piece to inspect it with the ex-
perienced eye. The entire contents
Of the box would be subjected to
close scrutiny, after when the
shrewd dealer would mark on his
catalogue the limit thai he would
bid on that particular lot.
Hundreds of people passed
through the auction room selecting
bargains to be bid for next day.
ing, therefore, it proceeded with a
snap. The 2S5 boxed lots Of more
or less bulky merchandise, twenty
two lots of tires, and sixty-six lots
of jewelry and small articles sold
in three hours. The bidder who did
not signal his raise the instant the
last price was named found him
self out of the competition.
This is a description of a more or
less typical dead letter sale. 1t is
given in some detail because few
persons outside of the cities where
the sales are held have an oppor-
tunity to attend these interesting
government functions.
There is no little misunderstood
ing regarding the so-called dead let
ter sales. This name has become
popularity attached to them because
all unbelievable mail is handled by
a Division of Dead Letters, and
this division conducts the sales. The
term dead letter sale is misleading
though, because it suggests that I'M
delivered letters are put for the
public to buy, and this is far from
the truth. Every year the post Off
ces Of the country handle millions
of letters that cannot be delivered
but the government does not sell
any of them.
Every effort is made to deliver
each letter entrusted to the postal
service. If a letter cannot reach The
person addressed, and the sender's
name and address are not in the
upper left hand corner, the letter Is
finally opened.
If money Or enclosures of value
are found and any address is given
IN the letter the Post Office Depart
ment forwards the letter and its con-
tents. Money that cannot be de-
livered goes t. swell the govern
nent's revenues. Letters containing
no valuables or money are burned
without further attempt at locating
the persons concerned. So there is
rever a dead letter sale literally
speaking. The government officially
puts on the market articles &C.
cumulated in the Division of Dead
Letters" and most Of these are par
eel post matter.
Why Mail Goes Wrong
Mail finds its way into the dead
letter office largely by the careless
$500 49, -rI1to NNrAno Or in
complete addresses are given. The
| addressee has moved without leav-
ing information as to his new loca-
ton. Or again, the address On a
package is rubbed off, or torn off
or otherwise obliterated in transit.
Addresses written in pencil are par
ticularly apt to smudge beyond rec
IGNITION in ordinary handling.
| While an address written in ink at
a post office desk and dropped into
the box unblotted may not only be
smeared into nothingness itself but
mail it touches may be SO defaced
as to be unbelievable. Hundreds of
people send off mail directed 20 i'm
possible addresses. Sometimes they
| write the correct lame and street
number and then abseptiy add "Lo-
cal' or the name of their W town
instead of giving the city in which
the addressee lives.
All of these accidents and any
number of others may happen to a
package or letter. That they do
happen is proved by the 19.683,269
letters and 1859 packages of par
eel post matter that were opened in
the dead letter service in the last
fiscal year..
Time and again the Post Office
Department has urged the public to
address it's mail carefully, plainly,
ard in ink, and to write the name
and address of the sender in the
upper left hand corner SO that mail
not deliverable can be returned.
Yet packages and letters continue to
go wrong because of q bad start.
People who attend the dead let
ter sales are sometimes surprised to
find a relatively small proportion of
valuable and attractive articles. The
fact is, any one who mails an i'm
portant package is apt to be fairly
sure that the person to whom t is
sent will be at the address to re-
ceive it. And, too. consciously or
unccnsciously, more care is expend-
ed in fixing a valuable package for
tho mails. Packages of value are
apt to be further protected against
loss by insurance or registry.
Gala. 49, hAfA In fhtrtAan AiHna