Show AMONG LETTE LETTERS as A glimpsy nt ono of undo somo little Cornot orloE there are somo some queer ti lings in uncle household and nono none moro more than tho ilia dead letter office people in fit general have ii I 1 aavo idea of its importance at and ll 11 of if the mount amount of work lone done in ali ithac at apparently Ing insigne igni alcant branch of the bost department but flioy it ley have 11 ave tie no conception of 0 f tile wit find and wisdom interred in III ill eliat little cemetery of undo uncle sams in fit 11 twelvemonth 11 oro U than 11 six n illson att letters dr drifted ctet into that ofeleo of buried hopes in a single year and something over it hundred thousand maga magazines Zinc S papers mid alli packages the d daily aily supply of iia dead letters lett erb is about eighteen thousand not so BO very many some one remarked when you remember that there are arc more than sixty tholly thousand 1 TI a post offices to bo be heard from 11 hut t enough surely to prevent there bel being many idle hands in the dead letter office as most of the letters it have a to bo be opened all ali those containing money ire are sent to the clerk who keeps a record of the amount received each da day Y ity by the end of the year it sometime s reaches the snug little surn eum of thir thirty ty alve or forty thousand dollars which shows that tharo tire are people who havo leavo i anith ill tho postal obeal arrangements of our tt monay is owners now ti ever is no clew and acan not to treasury is the gaffie g eight ci lit thousand dollars was thus added to tile the enuch talked of surplus why mail matter goes astray is nc ae accounted for in various ways kilthou although all many persons are arc inclined to hold uncle sam responsible for all mishaps no doubt postmasters aro are sometimes nt at fault but sins of omission on oh the part of the senders are arc more often the cause of loss and delay thousands of letters ire arc not stamped while others have no address of course no one will believe there therb are many of the latter nevertheless in one year nineteen thousand one hundred and ten of those blank bl ank envelopes were sent to the dead letter obilee then again people tire arc careless as well as absentminded absent minded and often misdirect or only parti partially kly address letters which never reach their destination unless the clerk in the dead let ter office can supply the missing link in three hundred and sixty five lays days over four ji hundred undred thousand such epis ties were received so it won would that it thorough knowledge of cities and towns as well as patience practice and considerable shrewdness is necessary ry to correct the blunders of ilia writing public who but n acad letter cleric with all her lier wits about her for a woman lias has charge of that branch of tile work would imagine that hill bill town 1 I kan was intended for williamstown Williams town in that enterprising state in the foreign department letters are arc not it would be impossible said the brisk little woman in charge you see wo receive a thousand letters it 11 eck celt from italy about two thousand from england and tho ilia game number from germany not to mention other countries we look them thein over andia we have any information that furnishes a clew claw try again to find the alic owners otherwise they are returned unopened to the postal administration of the country from which they como come foreigners have a way of ignoring the states that causes diro dire confusion A letter directed to fairfield amer america ica is us as many sided as the tariff question and about as hopeless st Du skirt america was easily located as sandusky 0 but some letters become all tattered and torn in going to and fro throughout tho ilia states seeking an owner tho the I 1 russians luss fans affire rive us its tho the most trouble volunteered a bri bright it woman alio for thirteen thirlee n years has been deciphering hieroglyphics anti and understands all languages except chinese for her work who would imagine that it required such a linguist to straighten out the tangled web w eb of ni I 1 foreign correspondence Consider considerable ablo general information is also nee needed deda a knowledge of many countries andna and nations and of tho the various states where via the caiton claim iz ia nt t 0 do cc acs fp annd even then eternal vig fiance will not insure success what becomes of till all the lead dead annil matter is often asked the thousands of magazines illustrated papers pic ture c curds and valentines thit call not bu be returned to their owners are arc dis 1 t tribu ri ib it ted 11 liy by 61 order of tile postmaster 1 general among a inon the of ilia various hospitals lio asylums anti and other charitable institutions of the district of columbia so 80 they tire aro made aride to beavo it good OM cause by carrying carry iny brightness and change aliano into many wenry lives find and happiness to the little waifs waife without tf 6 home although every eu effort ort ts in mado made to find owners for tho various va 11 1 1 oil 3 tj I 1 I 1 tit that drift into the dead letter offiel sol BO many remain unclaimed unclad ned that ut lit tile vad cud of each year an all auction la Is held it is a sort of demartin de dap partin house hous cle inina so no other sale halo in ili tho the city draws tuch huch I 1 i crowd us its uncle sann barns annual bale of dead nail mail matter maiter 1 tho packages ages tiro tire sold hold unopened and til ill though the contents tire aro known the value is is not it is what tin an irishman would call buying it alighi pig fix a 0 sach buck 11 of course coin tie it is a collection as in these days till almont 0 rat every a thing goes by mail front from it tun tuning n for fork to a wedding ved ding trousseau which I 1 latter was bought Iii New york several rever a I 1 yeara ago and sent bent in tho ilia mail bays bas b a i across tile tho continent to the pretty bri brido d c on oil tin iacino coast the 1 ho museum of tho the dead letter latter of fica always interests visitors Mui tois thero there they see sec what extraordinary thin ahinga 9 people try to send h ilia ina mills and tin many interesting relies relics there anro two III aig axes on oil exhibition which look lyuu formidably enough for administration weapons and causo cause the practical sight biglin seer to wonder onder choso whoso lioio purse w was as lony lone enough to pay postage on oil su bubli wel lity articles A X hitching post a loaded r revolver evolve fridd and sleigh bells form it 11 trio of curio ties most unexpected among mail nutter matter an indian ecale and a 11 I 1 ar aro 0 very appropriate relies relics for uncle sam 0 cemetery but they nitis must t bo be uncanny unc inny objects to find in ili a mail pouch polich amons among tile odd things which attract attention is ii a letter f from r 0 ill tile far North northwest wes where lui 1 b c r ls iq evidently moro more aubun dant than thal i paper written on a lario large shingle it lias long been an open secret tant a alligators Ili gators horned toads toady und andr all al sorts borts of reptiles are arc smuggled amu golca through the tha malls if possible tint and uncle sam lims lias on exhibition several specimens of tile tin ani mal 1 kinga WN tik blood Itell feua st t sto story ry ol 01 I 1 t bravo maids mans even it kiwo a a an arizona mab ma carrier wh givlio was hilled by VIC 1110 arabell indians in 1893 another antei relic is 13 the ancient leather bound vo voi time amo of fifty three pa ingco 9 in which lie 1 jamin franklin tho the accounts oi I 1 the government when lie was rosin in ter general in a still smaller bool boole is a record of tile tho uncalled for or misdirected letters during eleven years from 1777 to 1788 which numbered ill three rn hundred anti and sixty alvo wo we have h ave made rapid strides in a fi century to re reach achan in I 1 r 0 of f eighteen thousand lead letters tt I 1 a day although many of I 1 letters etters are resurrected sent mint out into tile tho world again and finally reach their destination there aro are multitudes of course beyond be yond the ken even of it dead letter auice clerk that can not be re turned to their owners alasi wl what tat misery and misunderstandings may inay have been caused by the loss of some of those these lett letters the happiness of a lifetime perhaps or the Ic never th eless do not liy lay all the blame lit it uncle sams door tor for you know not what you may have left undone ilia eliat t you yon ought to have done george canning once said 1 I can call prove anything anything by statistics except ill the 0 truth th those ose people who to are of ms his opinion may still if have ive doubts in spite of it a peen behind tile the n t the efficiency of the dc acid ul letter ollie as the public no longer ace accepts apts the tradition that fig fians ures will not alc L 1 aid biddings aings in inn N Y ledger |