Show I I X X X X rX X XX X X F ALL the different and distinct classes of mall O that pass through Uncle Sams postal channels In the course of the year It w Is probable that none show so large a proportion Y propor-tion of loss en route as do tho valentines That so many valentines go astray Is however due almost entirely en-tirely to the negligence of the senders rather than to any m Inefficiency Ineffi-ciency on the part of the postal authorities au-thorities Nevertheless when one pauses to consider the characteristics of the extra mall that Hoods the postal routes In midFebruary It does not seem so strange that a larger share of It misses Its destination than would be the case with an equal volume of holiday mall at other seasons of the year The most common cause of failure on the part of the postotflce officials to deliver mall Is found In the presence pres-ence on the puzzling pieces of mail matter of Illegible Incorrect or Instifll dent addresses Such faulty mall matter Is numerous enough at all season of tho year and It Is easy to understand that It reaches flood tide along about Valentine day In the first place many of the persons who rend valentines wish to use every precaution pre-caution to conceal from the recipient the origin of tho remembrance To I that end they attempt to disguise I their handwriting and resort to other I expedients nil of which make for I illegible addresses At valentine time too many little folks patronize tho malls on their own Initiative and some of these youngsters are far from skilled In penmanship To this same Influence the contrl m buttons of tho Juvenile portion of tho 1 I community to be attributed the unUsual un-Usual proportion of Incorrectly and I adequately addressed pieces of mail B X ZtZ4YkZt X ZkZZtkYkYa1Z YRkZafYa4Z 1FYkZBYkZBZiZBY Zl4Z > ZBY X > kZtkZkZ > ZIZtkZa X + IZhZtkZ + Z wZtlZtkZ3kZt ZkZkZ38Z + FYtkZIkZ > ilZi12Y4k 7he = r l Y 1 q 9 v e n q J7AUIO r F f W ytp ra Sd + + rp t ° G OLLlcCTrNti Y tL EiVfZrV > ttRlL f BY Ze t OPLO7oe rJYTLZf vJ < = r G P rc that accumulate In all of our post offices at tho valentine festival In Innumerable Instances youngsters send valentines particularly the comic com-ic varietyto persons whose Initials they do not know and regarding even the spelling of whose names they are In Ignorance Similarly there Is often a woeful lack of detail In the addresses ad-dresses embodied In these hazy Inscriptions In-scriptions All these Irregularities make for difficulty In delivering the mall on St Valentines day Some of the baffling products of tho Instinct of mischief the letter cairlers or local postomce officials aro able to decipher and deliver to their proper destinations destina-tions but many of these mysterious souvenirs must needs be sent to the i J e atrr uPfll P ar t a r rrruc i dead letter office at Washington the I ultimate destination of all tho waifs of the malls Even In this final clearing house for I lost letters the unique characteristics of the Valentine day mall prove a handicap In Its disposition Articles soot through the mall at other seasons sea-sons of the year usually contain some Indication as to the Identity nt tho i I sender If such Information has not I been given on the outside wrapper tints when the wandering parcel finally f final-ly reaches the dead letter office and Is opened there there lo every chance if Its proper destination cannot be determined de-termined at least the Identity of tho I sender can bo learned and the postal orphan sent back for better addressing address-ing No such clews are to be expect ed however In the Valentine day mall Either tho identity of the sender Is kept a profound secret or Is Indicated only by tiny Initials which are of no I possible benefit In tracing the origin of the missive Consequently there Is nothing for the dead letter officials to do but to either destroy these derelicts dere-licts of the Valentine day malls or If they bo deemed of sufficient value to set them aside to be disposed of at the annual auction sale at which Uncle Sam sells to the highest bid I ders all the unclaimed articles found In tho malls Incidentally It may bo noted that It Is very seldom that any person overwrites over-writes to the postofllco department to Inquire regarding valentines that have gone astray Many people make inquiries In-quiries from time to time with reference refer-ence to packages which have failed to ZkZtFZ kZkYaZt X FYk > 1BkZdakZ Z reach the proper destination but apparently ap-parently tho senders of valentines either do not know that their tokens have failed to fulfill their mission or rise accept tho loss philosophically For the Imaginative person there fa opportunity for speculation as to how many romances havo been nipped IB tho early stages because of the valentines valen-tines that never came Finally one more cause of the straying of valentines valen-tines In tho mall Is found In the numerous nu-merous attempts to send such BOUTS nlrs through the molls with tnsuftt clent postage Many little folks lori Instance seem to be under the > flu prosslon that a valentine In o sealed envelope will bo carried for one cant Instead of two cents If the envelope < bears tho address of the sender It car i bo returned for more postage but ns above explained such clew Is seldom given In the case of valentines and when the valentine Is forwarded tIts < > t-Its destination postage duo the poison poi-son to whom It Is addressed perhaps ra suspecting Its contentsoften refuses x to recelvq It nnd then of necessity It 5 Is turned over to the dead letter ofrfca The dead letter office the final r tIng t-Ing place of tho unidentified valentines valen-tines Is n very busy Institution Somu thing like seven million pieces of Jcrr mall aro every year sent to thin Institution Insti-tution to bo examined and its experts or blind readers aro wonderfully skillful In deciphering the true metro Ing of Incorrect and misspelled tcx scrlptlons that would prove absolutely t baffling to any ordinary Individual At the dead letter office Uncle Sam maintains main-tains perhaps tho oddest museum In the worldu collection of tho queer things that have been found In then malls Much money Ms found In the letters that go astray It totals ns much as 50000 a year In coin and currency to say nothing of an aggregate aggre-gate of about n million dollars a year In checks drafts and currency |