LETTER CORRECTLY DELIVERED TO DR. W.G. GRACE, AT BRISTOL.
QUAINT ADDRESS.
It is only fair to the "Blind Writers" to say, that the address heading of the Dean's letter was withdrawn before the signature was submitted to them. With that clue they would readily have been able to find out the writer's correct name from their books of reference, so that the Dean is not likely to suffer delay of his letters in the Returned Letter Office through peculiarity of signature.
During a recent Christmas Season a parcel, containing a lb. roll of butter was received, without address, in the returned Letter Office, Bristol, from a Devonshire town. As the parcel could not be returned to the sender within such a time as the contents remained good, the butter was sold for cooking purposes. When placed upon the kitchen table, the edge of a yellow coin was observed to be slightly protruding from the roll. The coin turned out to be a sovereign, and search was made to ascertain whether any more money had been so strangely hidden, but only the £1 was found. The money was at once forwarded to the proper Post Office authorities, and subsequently returned to the sender, but would-be imitators are warned that such practices are strongly deprecated by the Post Office Department as tending to lead to dishonesty.
The Corporation of Bristol erected electric light ventilators in different parts of the city. At a distance, possibly, these ventilators appear, to the short-sighted, to be Post Office pillar boxes, as they are iron boxes placed on the pavement near the kerbstones. They differ in many respects from the familiar Post Office boxes, for, instead of being round, they are square; they are painted of a different colour, and are only about two feet high. They are without indicators, notice plates, and doors. There is a slightly raised top for the passage of air. Through this opening of one of the boxes letters have been recently posted by three separate persons. Such carelessness is astonishing.
The Electric Lighting Authorities, to prevent further mishaps of the kind, arranged to have the apertures closed by means of perforated zinc.
Even in these days of primary and secondary education, people have still a very elementary knowledge of matters relating to the Postal and Telegraph Services, in which everyone is vitally concerned. Recently, an intelligent servant who had received a Board School education was sent with a telegram to a Telegraph Office, and told to pay for a reply. Having paid for the reply, she expected to get one there and then, and it was only with very great reluctance that she was induced to leave the Telegraph Office without a reply to convey back to the person who entrusted her with the commission.
A complainant to the Post Office expressed himself thus:—"Jan. 1st, 1904. Dear Sir,—Your Postman on 28th by the First post In the morning, With a newspaper,) My Sister Was at the back at the time Getting Sum cole In. He could not Stop a few Minets; but nock So hard That he brock a New Nocker on the door and then run off, we not Seen Him Since,) I. think he Ought to bye Nother Nocker. Ther to much that boy Game with Sum them The paper after came With Nother postman, He was on a bike wot Broke the Nocker and Off at once and left the Peces on the door Step, The postman got a Cast In his eye.) I. Should Not think he wood want us to pay for a Nother Why dont him coum as A Man and pay for one Sir. I. Must conclued with Best regurds to you, Yours Truley, F.H.G."