Unfortunately, in this instance the directions given failed to trace the person to whom it was sent, and it had to go to that abyss of "rejected addresses," the Dead-letter Office.
It occasionally happens that when the eye is unable to make out an address, the ear comes to the rescue. In London a letter came to hand directed to
Mr Owl O'Neil,
General Post Office.
But no one was known there of that name. A clerk, looking at the letter, commenced to repeat aloud, "Mr Owl O'Neil, Mr Owl O'Neil," when another clerk, hearing him, exclaimed, "Why! that must be intended for Mr Rowland Hill,"—which indeed proved to be the case. A similar circumstance happened in Edinburgh, with a letter from Australia, addressed to
Mr ——
Johns. 7.
Scotland.
It proved to be intended for Johnshaven, a village in the
north of Scotland.
Two odd addresses are as follows, one being from America, the other from Ireland:—
Little Alice,
Serio-Comic Singer,
London, England.
to Edinburgh City, Scotland,
For Pat Feeley, Katie Kinnigan's Son,
Ould fishmarket close,
Number 42, send this with speed.
An American gentleman having arrived in England, and not knowing where a sister was residing at the time, addressed a letter to her previous residence thus—
Upper Norwood,
or Elsewhere.
The letter having been delivered to the lady, the writer intimated to the Post-office that he had received a reply in ordinary course, and explaining that the letter had been delivered to her on the top of a stage-coach in Wales. In admiration of the means taken to follow up his sister, the writer ventured to add, "that no other country can show the parallel, or would take the trouble at any cost."
It would be impossible to explain in words the difficulties that are met with, and the successes which are obtained, in deciphering badly written addresses; and facsimiles of the directions upon some such letters are therefore appended to enable the reader to appreciate the facts. In the London Post-office indistinctly addressed letters are at once set aside, so as not to delay the work of sortation, and are carried forthwith to a set of special officers who have an aptitude for deciphering indistinct writing. These officers, by a strange contradiction in the sense of things, are called the "blind officers"; and here the letters are rapidly disposed of, either by having the addresses read and amended, or marked with the name of a post-town for which the letters may be supposed to be intended. To facilitate this special work, the blind officers are furnished with a series of gazetteers and other books containing the names of gentlemen's seats, farms, and the like, throughout the country, and many a letter reaches the hands of the person addressed through a reference to these books.
In addition to instances of indistinctly addressed letters, a few specimens of addresses of an artistic and humorous character are furnished in this chapter.