Evening star., 1941-01-26
Recounts Story Of
Dead Letter Office
Bu Frederic J. HdSkin.

Office in Washington. January and not
December is the big trouble month for
that office, with its IA parcel post and
1238 dead letter branches. Greeting
cards sent during the Christmas season
that cannot be delivered account for only
a fraction OF this January trouble, al
though the Post Office Department esti-
mates that the cost to the mailing pub
lie of unbelievable Christmas cards
reaches total in excess of 1925, 900 an
nually in postage, stationery and cards.
Thousands of packages of little or no
value, of much value, from friends to
friends, pour into the parcel section Of
'the place of thousand thrills" during
the first month Of the year Packed with
careful hands, with careless hands, and
each having hidden story of love, COM
edy or tragedy these gifts represent va
ried human emotions.
But while January is the deluge month
for the Dead Letter Office. reaching the
years high peak in parcels and letters,
every day in every month brings its car
60 of curiosities into this odd museum.
Odd it is, for every part of the human
body has at some time found its way
there. So have snakes, hand grenades,
aerial bombs, guns of all kinds, pistol
penknlVeS guaranteed to shoot or carve,
stilettos of every nation and police
mems night sticks. And at one time
came the ashes of Japanese prince.
The prince had died in California. His
relatives decided to have the body ere.
mated and the ashes sent to the old folks
in Japan. The label on the box contain
ing the ashes became smeared and the
package failed TO reach its destination.
Japanese officials returned the box to its
sender. On the return journey the
sender's name became effaced. The car.
ton then found its way to the Dead Let
ter Office in Washington, where it re-
mained for long time.
Romance and adventure. too. each day
play hand in the Dead Letter Office.
While letters contain the romance, pack
ages contain the adventure, for the
opening of one of these may reveal any
thing. The clerk who handles it may be
seriously injured or manned for life, or
even killed by bomb. A vicious and
hungry snake sometimes leaps out of
package and that always furnishes real
thrill, as we'll as a chill
While the Dead Letter Office was set
up in 1925 as a separate division of the
postal service, its primary history dates
back to 1777, when the Continental Con-
gress provided for IAN inspector Of dead
letters" with a salary of 500 a year.
This early Congress established the
sanctity of sealed Enclosures or letters,
among other things requiring that the
appointed official make no copy Of any
letter whatever and not to divulge the
contents of any letter except to Con-
gress. Through the years this sanctity
has not only been guarded. but strength
ened. Even the chief of the postal in
spectors cannot open a letter without the
knowledge and consent of some Official
of the Dead Letter Office All property
turned into the Dead Letter Office or any
OF its branches must be accounted for,
even to the last sheet of paper contained
in a letter.
Undelivered letters received in the
Dead Letter Office during 1910 decreased
slightly less than 112 per cent under the
number handled in the preceding year.
The number of dead letters found to
contain money during the year was 6l.-
100, a decrease of 3848. Still the PEN
MES, nickels and other pieces. including
money orders and checks, amounted to
S85 1926.
Business being better, and not the
carelessness of man on the increase. the
number of unclaimed, addressed parcels
and articles found loose in the mails
directed to the dead parcel post branches
increased 86416 over 1889. The number
OF unclaimed parcels and articles found
loose and sold at public auction was ap-
proximately 2l6,44O, and the net pro-
ceeds OF these sales amounted to S36. $50.
Ihls was an increase of more than 50 1000.
Inc total revenue from all sources
amounted to s199,782, a decrease of
s1,103.
Dead letters are divided into two
classes. unclaimed and unmaiIable. I'm
claimed are those that are supposed to
be correctly addressed but fail of deliv.
cry because the addressee has moved and
failed to notify the postal service or did
not call at the post Office for mail. These
letters in city delivery Offices are given
directory service.
Unmailable letters are subdivided into
mlsorected, held for postage, hotel,
fraudulent and unaddressed. Records of
the Dead Letter Office show that from
500 to 300 letters are mailed every dav
without any address whatever: and.
strange TO say, about 8 in every 10 of
these so-called blanks contain money.
checks, or some other valuable inclosure.
Unbelievable letters are opened and
those which contain names and adj
dresses of the Senders are returned In
them in official envelopes which provide
for the collection of cents upon deliv-
cry. Letters having no address of the
sender and containing nothing valuable
are destroyed without record, but letters
containing matter of obvious value other
than correspondence are recorded, and
If unbelievable, are held one wear be.
fore disposition. At the expiration of
mat time these letters are destroyed and
tne contents treated as Government
property.
Unbelievable packages, when received.
are examined and a record made of their