The examination of dead-letters discloses much carelessness on the part of postmasters in post-marking letters, and also in cancelling postage-stamps.
The latter clause of the regulations of 1859, section 397, is repealed, and the use of the office-rating or post-marking stamp as a cancelling instrument is positively prohibited, inasmuch as the post-mark, when impressed on the postage-stamp, is usually indistinct, and the cancellation effected thereby is imperfect. The postage-stamp must, therefore, be effectually cancelled with a separate instrument.
Special attention is directed to the duty imposed upon postmasters by Regulation 396, which is as follows:—
“If the cancelling has been omitted on the mailing of the letter, packet, or parcel, or if the cancellation be incomplete, the postmaster at the office of delivery will cancel the stamp in the manner directed, and forthwith report the delinquent postmaster to the postmaster-general, as the law requires.”
ADDRESSES SHOULD BE LEGIBLE AND COMPLETE.
We have under other heads alluded to the carelessness of persons in addressing their letters. To make them legible and complete, give the name of the post-town, and if there be more than one town of that name, or if the post-town is not well known, be careful in giving the name of the county, which in all cases is as essential as that of the State. The number of the house, too, if in a street, is a great assistance. It must not be supposed that because a letter will eventually reach its destination without a number, the omission is not a cause of hesitation and delay in the process of sorting for delivery; and when such small delays occur again and again, they tend greatly to retard the general distribution. In the case of letters for places abroad, the name of the country, as well as the town or city, should be given in full. Attention to this latter precaution will often assist in deciphering the name of the town or city, and will prevent the letter from being mis-sent when there are towns of the same name in different countries.
The following is an expressive lesson:—
A gentleman posted a letter containing drafts, checks, &c., to a well-known New York house. Its failure to arrive at the proper destination, of course, created great anxiety, and all the ordinary and some extraordinary means were employed to head off any attempt by the “mail-robber” to negotiate the “stolen” remittances. Journeys were made to and fro between the mailing point and the Empire City, the newspapers were liberally patronized with notices of “stolen from the mail,” circulars descriptive of the lost enclosure abounded,—all at an aggregate expense, according to confession, of over one hundred dollars.
During this short season of precaution and excitement, the letter in question had been making the official acquaintance of the worthy postmaster of New Haven, Connecticut, and that of his clerks, then, under the rule, skipping off to shake hands with our friends of the dead-letter office, and from thence finding its way back to the writer, who says he “never before did such a stupid thing as to write New Haven, Ct., instead of New York, N.Y.”