Connected with this letter is the following incident: it fortunately came to Philadelphia, and, of course, from its superscription was placed apart to find its way to the dead-letter-office. One day a poor Irishwoman came to the window and asked for a letter from her son, giving no name. The simplicity of the question struck the clerk, and the letter addressed “To My Mother” flashed upon his mind. He turned to the case and selected the letter.
“Where does your son reside? what part of Ireland?”
“Belfast, sir.” Belfast was the post-mark.
“What is his name?”
“Patrick McLaughlan.”
“Open that letter,” handing her the one in question. She did so, and, casting her eyes on the signature, exclaimed, “From my son! from my boy!” Sure enough, there was the name,—Patrick McLaughlan.
The clerk gave her some instructions for future correspondence which probably proved of advantage to her.
Somebody sent a newspaper through the mails the other day directed as follows: “To Honest Father Abraham, God bless him, Washington, D. C.”
The following is a literal copy of the superscription of a registered letter received from Ireland, written, strange as it may seem, in a “clerkly hand”:
To Patrick Larkin who moved to his brothers at Adamsville in haste to the care of Bernard Larkin State of Penlyva.
We doubt if this letter ever reached its destination.
A literal translation, after much study of the dead languages, the following was the result:—
All Greek to the clerks.
No other direction.
The “New York Tribune” gives the following amusing addresses, in rhyme and otherwise, that have passed through the post-office in that city:—
Another:—
Here is a lucid address, which speaks for itself:—
The geographical knowledge of the gentleman who penned the following was somewhat extensive:—
The following reminds us of the innocent country-girl who said she had an uncle living between the Battery and Central Park:—
Who can tell of the whereabouts of Miss Foster?
The following is encouraging to the postman:—
Mr. Ford must be a well-known individual in Maine, else he never received the following letter:—
An amusing postscript to a postmaster:—
P. S.—Please give this letter to the man what’s got a sow in my barn, as he wants to get away.
THE MONEY-ORDER SYSTEM.
The money-order system, which in England is so popular, has partly failed here. It went into operation on the 1st of November, 1864, under circumstances which promised a decided success. The amount to which the law limited the order-system was not less than one dollar, and not more than thirty dollars. This was to accommodate a certain class of people, and at the same time test the utility of the system for the purpose of hereafter creating a more extensive operation of the principle and also increasing the amount of money sent.
That it is an important step in postal progress its operation in Europe is sufficient proof; but here we started wrong. What should have been a plain, simple transaction between the parties—the paying money and receiving an order—has become perfectly mystified by the ambiguity of the language of the law, as well as the numerous technicalities thrown around it. A poor woman applies to the window for a postal order on New York for ten dollars: she expects the order made payable to herself or to the party to whom she sends it, which on presentation would be immediately paid. It will be observed, upon reading the “General Principles of the Money-Order System” and the “Instructions to Postmasters at Money-Order Offices,” that if this poor woman was requested to read the “laws and regulations” it would be to her “all Greek.” Were the amounts named thousands of dollars instead of pennies, those interested would be of a class whose education and business knowledge would enable them to comprehend it: as it is, we know several instances of poor persons resorting to the old custom of forwarding their money rather than undergo the ordeal of a clerk’s explanation of the law.
GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF THE MONEY-ORDER SYSTEM.
I. Money-order offices are divided into two classes. Offices of the first class are depositories, in which those of the second class deposit their surplus money-order funds.
II. Any office in either class may draw upon any other office in the list of money-order offices for a sum, upon one order, from one dollar to thirty dollars. But when a larger sum than the latter is required, additional orders to make it up must be obtained.
III. When money-orders exceeding one hundred and fifty dollars in aggregate amount are issued in one day, and to the same person, by one or more offices, upon a second-class office, the postmaster at the office so drawn upon will be permitted to delay the payment of such orders for five days.
IV. The money-orders shall be made out upon printed forms supplied by the post-office department, and no order will be valid or payable unless given upon one of such forms.
V. Any person applying for a money-order will be required to state the particulars upon a form of application which will be furnished to him for that purpose by the postmaster.
VI. If the purchaser of a money-order, from having made an error in stating the name of the office of payment, or for other reasons, desires to have the said money-order changed, the issuing postmaster will take back the first order and issue another in lieu thereof, for which an additional fee shall be charged and exacted as for a new transaction. The order so taken back must be cancelled by the postmaster and entered in his books and returns, in its proper numerical order, as “cancelled.”
VII. Parties procuring money-orders should examine them carefully, to see that they are properly filled up and stamped. This caution will appear the more necessary when it is understood that any defect in this respect will throw difficulties in the way of payment.
VIII. When a money-order is presented for payment at the office upon which it is drawn, the postmaster or authorized clerk will use all proper means to assure himself that the applicant is the person named and intended in the advice; and upon payment of the order care must be taken to obtain the signature of the payee (or of the person authorized by him to receive payment) to the receipt on the face of the order.
IX. When, for any reason, the payee of a money-order does not desire, or is unable, to present the same in person, he is legally empowered, by his written indorsement thereon, to direct payment to be made to any other person; and it is the duty of the postmaster upon whom the order is drawn to pay the amount thereof to the person thus designated; provided the postmaster is satisfied that such indorsement is genuine, and that the second party shall give correct information as to the name and address of the person who originally obtained the order. More than one indorsement is prohibited by law, and will render an order invalid and not payable.
X. Any money-order office may repay an order issued by itself if repayment is applied for on the day of such issue, but then only to the person who obtained it, except in special cases. The fee or charge shall not in any case be refunded. If, however, repayment of an order is desired later than one day after its issue, the postmaster must refer the application to the money-order office of the post-office department.
XI. The fees or charges for money-orders will be as follows:—
For an order of $1 or more, but not exceeding $10, 10 cents.
For an order of $10 or more, but not exceeding $20, 15 cents.
For an order of $20 or more, but not exceeding $30, 20 cents.
Fractions of cents must not be introduced into any order.
XII. When a money-order has been lost by either remitter or payee, a duplicate thereof will be issued to the party losing the original, provided he shall furnish a statement, under oath or affirmation, setting forth the loss or destruction thereof, and a certificate from the postmaster by whom it was payable, that the said order had not been paid, and would not thereafter be paid if presented. A second fee will be charged and exacted for the issue of duplicate orders.
“The Instructions to Postmasters at Money-Order Offices” take up too much space for our book: indeed, we omit even a synopsis of them, as we feel perfectly satisfied that our readers would have to study law before they could fully comprehend their mysteries. We call the attention, however, of the public to the following rules to be observed as a cautionary measure:—
“1. To take all means to prevent the loss of a money-order.
“2. Never to send the order in the same letter with the information required on payment thereof.
“3. To be careful, on taking out a money-order, to state correctly the Christian name, as well as the surname, of the person in whose favor it is to be drawn.
“4. To see that the name and address of the person taking out the money-order are correctly made known to the person in whose favor it is to be drawn.
“Neglect of these instructions will risk the loss of the money, besides leading to delay and trouble in obtaining payment.
“Under no circumstances can payment of an order be demanded on the day of its issue.”
If the money is not called for within ninety days after the date of the order, there will be difficulty in obtaining it. The regular form of the order must not be clipped or mutilated. When the payee of an order desires the same to be paid to any other person, he must fill up and sign a form of indorsement, and furnish such second party with the information required to obtain payment of his order, who upon receiving payment must sign his name upon the face of the order. More than one indorsement is prohibited by law, and will render the order invalid and not payable.
It is to be regretted that the system had not been laid down so as to come within the comprehension of all, and so simplified that the explanations from the clerks would not tend to involve it in a greater mystery. It reminds us strongly of a passage in Haddock’s Chancery Practice, vol. 1, p. 125, intended as a definition of law:—
“When a person is bound to do a thing, and he does what may enable him to do the thing, he is supposed in equity to do it with the view of doing what he is bound to do.”
FREEDOM OF THE PRESS.
The freedom of the press, as understood and secured by high constitutional authority, consists in its identification with every principle which is involved in our Declaration of Independence. It dare not aim its shafts at the existence of the government, the Constitution, and the Union. And yet has not the press—a portion of it, we mean—aimed to do so during this rebellion, and that, too, at a time while claiming that government’s protection? A press devoted to the cause of traitors is as much a traitor to the government as are those who are arrayed in arms for its destruction. It ceases to be considered the palladium of liberty, and assumes at once the character of a rebel and a spy, the moment it strikes at the root of the tree whose fruit is freedom!
Our government, unfortunately, at the outbreak of the rebellion did not claim the power to suppress such treasonable publications, but actually left them free to publish what they pleased. The consequence was, and is, that that portion of the press is as hostile to the administration now as it was in the beginning, silence giving them consent to commit crime. Nor was this all: our very postal department assisted in disseminating their papers by allowing them to go and come with impunity. Thus the mails established by the United States Government were and, we are afraid, are still used for its own destruction. Is there any principle of law or of justice to sanction such leniency on our part?
Judge Story, of the Supreme Court, on one occasion, commenting on that clause of the Constitution securing the freedom of the press, says,—
“That this amendment was intended to secure to every citizen an absolute right to speak or write or print whatsoever he might please, without any responsibility, public or private, therefor, is a supposition too wild to be indulged in by any rational man. This would be to allow to every citizen the right to destroy at his pleasure the reputation, the peace, the property, and even the personal safety of every other citizen. A man might, out of mere malice or revenge, accuse another of the most infamous crimes, might excite against him the indignation of all his fellow-citizens by the most atrocious calumnies, might disturb, nay, overturn all his domestic peace, and embitter his parental affections, might inflict the most distressing punishments upon the weak, the timid, and the innocent, might prejudice all a man’s civil and political and private rights, and might stir up sedition, rebellion, and treason, even against the government itself, in the wantonness of his passions or the corruption of his heart. Civil society could not go on under such circumstances. Men would then be obliged to resort to private vengeance to make up the deficiency of the law; and assassinations and savage cruelties would be perpetrated with all the frequency belonging to barbarous and cruel communities. It is plain, then, that the language of this amendment imports no more than that every man has a right to speak, write, and print his opinions upon any subject whatever, without any prior restraint, so always that he does not injure any other person in his rights, person, property, or reputation, and so always that he does not thereby disturb the public peace or attempt to subvert the government.”
POST-OFFICE CURIOSITIES.
There are many curious things daily occurring in the post-office under this head. In “Chambers’s Journal” we find the following:—
“A formal but most essential rule makes letters once posted the property of the postmaster-general until they are delivered as addressed, and they must not be given up to the writers on any pretence whatever. One or two requests of this kind related to us we are not likely soon to forget. On one occasion a commercial traveller called at an office and expressed a fear that he had enclosed two letters in wrong envelopes, the addresses of which he furnished. It appeared from the account which he reluctantly gave, after a refusal to grant his request, that his position and prospects depended upon his getting his letters and correcting the mistakes, inasmuch as they revealed plans which he had adopted to serve two mercantile houses in the same line of business, whose interests clashed at every point. Another case occurred in which a fast young gentleman confessed to carrying on a confidential correspondence with two young ladies at the same time, and that he had, or feared he had, crossed two letters which he had written at the same sitting. Writing of this, we are reminded of a case in which a country postmaster had a letter put into his hand through the office-window, together with the following message, delivered with great emphasis:—‘Here’s a letter; she wants it to go along as fast as it can, ‘cause there’s a feller wants to have her here, and she’s courted by another feller that’s not here, and she wants to know whether he’s going to have her or not.’”
The Fatal Letter.—A tradesman’s daughter, who had been for some time engaged to a prosperous young draper in a neighboring town, heard, from one whom she and her parents considered a creditable authority, that he was on the verge of bankruptcy. Not a day was to be lost in breaking the bond by which she and her small fortune were linked to penury. A letter, strong and conclusive in its language, was at once written and posted, when the same informant called upon the young lady’s friends to contradict and explain his former statement, which had arisen out of some misunderstanding. They rushed at once to the post-office; and no words can describe the scene,—the reiterated appeals, the tears, the wringing of hands, the united entreaties of father, mother, and daughter, for the restoration of the fatal letter. But the rule admitted of no exception, and the young lady had to repent at leisure of her inordinate haste.
In this country we are not so strict, as any person posting a letter can have it restored to him by simply signing his name to the fact of its being by him written. We would, however, suggest to the department the propriety of establishing the English system; for we feel confident that the moment rogues turn their attention to the post-office for the purpose of plunder, taking advantage of this loose way of doing business will be the consequence. Another thing: it will make men more careful, and thus save the department an immense deal of trouble.
NEWSPAPERS.
Although we have strict laws upon the subject of trifling with newspapers, our postmasters do not enforce them to the extent they should. The following is a provision of the English law which does not remain, as with us, a “dead letter:”—
“Newspapers are always to be considered of equal importance with letters; and postmasters are forbidden to open them for any other purpose than that required by law, and are also forbidden to lend them to any person.”
(From the “English Postal.”)
“By Weight.—If the weight be exceeded to the smallest extent, even though the balance be merely turned, the book or printed paper becomes liable to a higher postage. To provide, therefore, for errors in scales, &c., it is well to allow a little margin, or to pay the postage of the next greater weight. It should be remembered that a newspaper when wet weighs more than when dry. Forgetfulness on this point sometimes causes groundless complaints about charges for newspapers,—the complainant erroneously supposing, on weighing the newspaper on its arrival, and when it had had time to dry, that he had been overcharged. The foregoing observations apply also to books, &c. sent abroad.
“Information.—No information can be given respecting letters which pass through a post-office, except to the persons to whom they are addressed; and in no other way is official information of a private character allowed to be made public.
“Return Letters.—Postmasters are not allowed to return any letter to the writer, or sender, or to any one else, or to delay forwarding it to its destination according to the address, even though a request to such effect be written thereon; as every letter must be delivered to the person to whom it is directed (and to him alone) at the address it bears.
“Forbidden Articles.—The rule which forbids the transmission through the post of any article likely to injure the contents of the mail-bags or the person of any officer of the post-office is, of course, applicable to the pattern-post; and a packet containing any thing of the kind will be stopped and not sent to its destination.
“Articles such as the following have been occasionally posted as patterns, and have been detained as unfit for the post, viz.,—metal boxes, porcelain and china, fruit, vegetables, bunches of flowers, cuttings of plants, spurs, knives, scissors, needles, pins, pieces of machinery, watch-machinery, sharp-pointed instruments, samples of metals, samples of ore, samples in glass bottles, pieces of glass, acids of various kinds, curry-combs, copper and steel engraving-plates, and confectionery of various kinds.”
WATCH YOUR LETTER-BOXES.
In many of our large post-offices postmasters have baskets placed inside for the reception of letters. These are invariably too small, and it not unfrequently occurs that the aperture through which letters pass gets choked up, the basket being full to its mouth. Any person could from the outside take a handful of letters without any one being aware of it. Honest men, however, making the discovery, notify the clerks of the situation of the letters, but not until it is very natural to suppose some letters may have been stolen. This will account in some measure for the mysterious disappearance of letters which have caused many an innocent person to be suspected and the business operations of an office justly censured. These baskets, instead of being wide and shallow, are deep and narrow. If properly constructed and arranged, there would be no necessity for clerks shouting out, “Swamp on the baskets.” This is very much like locking the stable-door after the horse has been stolen.
We would suggest, therefore, that when dropping a letter, newspaper, &c. into a letter-box, always to see that the packet falls into the basket or box, and does not stick in its passage.
SUGGESTIONS TO THE PUBLIC, ETC.
The following sensible suggestions are taken from “The British Postal Guide:” let us advise our readers to pay some little attention to them:—
“To see that every letter, newspaper, or other packet sent by post is securely folded and sealed, and that, when postage-stamps are remitted, they are enclosed in paper sufficiently thick to prevent them from being seen or felt through the cover. It should be remembered that every such packet has to be several times handled, and that even when in the mail-bag it is exposed to pressure and friction. Unless, therefore, the article be light and pliant, it should be enclosed in strong paper, linen, parchment, or some other material which will not readily tear or break. The observance of this precaution is especially necessary whenever any fragile articles of value are forwarded by post. These should always be enclosed in a wooden or tin box. Owing to neglect of these precautions many postal packets burst open, causing much trouble to the department and risk to the owners, it being sometimes impossible to determine to what packet a particular article belongs.
“To fasten the covers of newspapers firmly, so as to prevent the contents from slipping out. When, for additional security, the address is written on the newspaper itself, such address (if the newspaper be franked by an impressed stamp) must in case of re-transmission be cut off; otherwise the newspaper will become subject to a postage of 2d. It is not sufficient that the old address be obliterated, as the rules forbid writing or marks of any kind in addition to the true address.
“In affixing stamps, to wet slightly the corner of the envelope and the gummed side of the stamp, and then gently to press the stamp till it is firmly fixed. The practice of dipping the stamp in water is objectionable, because, unless the stamp be immediately withdrawn, and care be taken by the use of blotting-paper or some other absorbent to remove any excess of moisture, the gum may be washed off, or the stamp may be rubbed off the letter. By the use of envelopes bearing an embossed stamp (which can be purchased at any post-office), all risk of the stamp being detached may be avoided.
“Never to send money or any other article of value through the post, except either by means of a money-order or in a registered letter. Any person who sends money or jewelry in an unregistered letter not only runs a risk of losing his property, but exposes to temptation every one through whose hands his letter passes, and may be the means of ultimately bringing some clerk or letter-carrier to moral ruin. Every letter which contains money or other valuable article, even when registered, ought to be securely sealed.”
FORBIDDEN ARTICLES.
“Postmasters are instructed not to receive any letter, &c. which there is good reason to believe contains any thing likely to injure the contents of the mail-bag or the person of any officer of the post-office. If such a packet be posted without the postmaster’s knowledge, or if at any time before its despatch he should discover any such packet, he is directed not to forward it, but to report the case, with the address of the packet, to the secretary. The following are examples of the articles referred to:—
“A glass bottle, or glass in any form; razors, scissors, needles, knives, forks, or other sharp instruments; leeches, game, fish, meat, fruit, or vegetables; bladders or other vessels containing liquids; gunpowder, lucifer matches, or any thing which is explosive or combustible.”
LETTER-CARRIERS, THEIR COMPENSATION, ETC.
“Letter-carriers shall be employed as the postmaster-general shall direct, at a compensation not exceeding $800 a year, which may be increased to $1000 at offices where the income will allow, on proof of the carrier’s fidelity, diligence, and experience. Carriers must give bond. Deliveries shall be made as frequently as the public interest may require. No carrier’s fee or extra postage shall be charged on letters delivered or collected by carriers. Separate accounts must be kept of the expenses of the carrier-service and of the receipts from local mail-matter; and all such expenses must be paid from the income of the office employing the carriers. Letter-carriers may be employed, under contract between postmaster and publishers, to deliver newspapers, periodicals, circulars, &c., but such contracts must be first approved by the postmaster-general; and the postmaster-general may also provide for delivery by such carriers of small packets, not exceeding four pounds each, at the rate of two cents for each four ounces.”
Attempts were made subsequent to the passage of this law (1862) to have the salaries increased to $1000, urged by the applicants in consequence of the high price of provisions. In 1864 they were coolly informed that there were plenty of people outside ready to step inside at the same salary. The post-office would present a strange appearance if this system was adopted, for the duties of the office are not learned in a day. Under former administrations it was the chief object of men in power to pay their employees living wages and reward honesty, sobriety, and attention to business by preferment. It is not so now.
ONE-CENT SYSTEM.
The law authorizing the free delivery of mail-letters and all other mail-matter by carriers took effect on the first day of July, 1863. We much question if the change has benefited the treasury of the department.
THE DISTRIBUTION OF LETTERS IN EUROPE.
Although we have expressed a doubt in relation to this system with us, it may not apply to other countries. Here it is expected that the income of an office will sustain its own expenses, and hence every postmaster is anxious to make his report to the department favorably to this system. Carriers now receive a regular salary; before, they depended in a great measure on the one-cent system, which lessened the department’s expense for carriers’ pay more than one-third what it is now. The one cent was received from the recipients of letters and papers, which they paid freely, and not unfrequently made it two when they came to settle with the carriers. Merchants and others still consider the old plan the best, having an idea that they are better served.
Austria.—Brought to the door. In all larger places, without carrier’s fee; in smaller places (villages and farms), a fee of two kreutzers (one cent) is charged.
Belgium.—Brought to the door throughout the kingdom.
England.—By carriers without fee.
France.—By carriers without fee (to the door) in both city and country. Poste restante exists for letters so addressed, and when the person’s address is not found.
Hanseatic Cities—Bremen.—By letter-carriers to the door.
Italy.—To the door by carriers without fee.
The Netherlands.—By carriers without fee.
Prussia.—By carriers. In larger cities the fee will soon be abolished entirely; in the rural districts it is six pfennige (about one and a quarter cent) per letter.
Switzerland.—By carriers without fee.
XIV.
Miscellaneous.
THE ANDERSONVILLE POST-OFFICE.
The following touching lines, by George H. Hollister, Esq., of Litchfield, Connecticut, are descriptive of an incident in the pen of the Union prisoners at Andersonville, Georgia. The war has elicited nothing more beautiful in description or of sadder interest:—
A CHAPTER OF ACCIDENTS.
“The Wheeling Intelligencer” (1865) gives the following “chapter of accidents”: it says,—
“We received a letter several days ago from a gentleman, enclosing an announcement of his marriage, and stating that he had also enclosed the sum of seventy-five cents to pay for it. The letter did not enclose the money; but the next day we got another letter from the same gentleman, stating that it had occurred to him, after he had mailed the first note, that he had not enclosed the money; ‘and I therefore,’ says the second epistle, ‘enclose to you the amount;’ but, instead of seventy-five cents, the letter only contained twenty-five. A day or two afterwards we received two more letters from the same person, each enclosing fifty cents. The first of the two letters stated that the writer, having discovered his mistake, enclosed fifty cents more to make up the amount. In the second letter the gentleman says, that ‘having learned that the mail containing my last letter was destroyed by fire, I enclose now another fifty cents.’ Our friend’s singular confusion is no doubt attributable to the fact which in his original note he requested us to announce.”
A SCENE AT THE PHILADELPHIA POST-OFFICE.
Didn’t like the idea.—A single female, apparently forty-five years of age, with a very scraggy neck and weazened features, made her appearance yesterday afternoon at the ladies’ window in the post-office.
“I want to get back a letter.”
“What for, madam?”
“Why, I dropped it in the box over yonder. I want to take it back again.”
“That’s against our rules, ma’am; I am not allowed to give back a letter unless I know all about it.”
“Well, then, there’ll be a fuss here, that’s all: I want my letter again.”
“I’ll call the chief clerk, then, ma’am. You can make the fuss with him, if you must have one.”
Mr. Booth was summoned. With his usual blandness he asked the lady how the letter was directed, and to whom. He obtained a prompt reply. He found that the lady had dropped the letter into the box under the general delivery-window. He produced it from the basket after a little search, and returned it to her. She appeared considerably pleased, brushed off the letter with her handkerchief, and at once dropped it into the basket under the ladies’ window, before which she was standing.
“Why, I thought you wanted to take out the letter!” said Mr. Booth, in some surprise. “Here you’ve mailed it again.”
“That’s all right now,” said the woman. “That’s what I wanted. I dropped the letter in the wrong place fust, among the men’s letters. I hate the men, so I do. I hain’t goin’ to have my letter mixed up with men’s letters, nohow.”
“You dislike the male sex then, madam?”
“I don’t hate you mail folk, as I know on, wuss than the rest on ’em.”
“I mean the men, madam; you dislike them?” said Mr. Booth, emphasizing the title of masculinity.
“Oh, the men! Of course I hate ’em. I wouldn’t trust one of ’em anigh me. They’re a deceivin’, lyin’”——
How the sentence would have been completed is more than we can say. At this moment somebody trod upon the tail of a vixenish-looking dog that followed the lady, and, as she rushed out, others took her place at the window. Mr. Booth feels flattered that, while hating the male sex in general, she doesn’t hate the mail folks in particular.
THE POST COMES IN.
BY WILLIAM COWPER.