POSTAL SKK VICE. 



tin- treatment of undelivered matter at port-offices the ' 

 following rules pox ITU : If the matter hours u|wui it 

 the name and address of the sender, it is rrturm-il to 

 him direct by the postmaster at the end of SO days ; 

 it' it bears, in addition, a request to return within a 

 given time, it is returned direct at tin; end of that 

 time ; it' it docs not I far the name of the wilder, it is 

 advertised, and, it' not delivered, retained in the post- 

 offioe 30 days, and finally, if still undelivered, sent to 

 the Dead-Letter Office, where it is ojx'iied. if found 

 necessary, and restored to the owner. Weekly returns 

 of such matter are made by postmasters at the larger 

 offices ; monthly returns by all others. The registered 

 matter and such as is considered valuable are recorded, 

 and prompt restoration is mode of everything of whieh 

 the ownership ean be ascertained. Matter of which 

 the ownership is doubtful or not ascertainablc is held 

 subject to reclamation. All foreign dead matter is re- 

 tiirned without examination to the country of origin. 

 Much of the matter that reaches the Dead-Letter 

 Office is never restored, especially if no inquiry con- 

 cerning it is received ; as, for example, where neither 

 the sender nor addressee of the matter can be found, 

 or where the writer of a letter has failed to sign his 

 name, or has signed only a part of his name a not 

 inconsiderable class of letter-writers, by the way or 

 where, as in the case of parcels, nothing appears to 

 indicate the sender. All moneys obtained from dead 

 letters for which no owner can be found, as well as 

 moneys realized from the sale of unreclaimed parcels 

 whieh sale now occurs annually arc deposited in 

 the general treasury. The moneys thus obtained 

 amount to about $10,000 a year. It is a curious fact 

 that every year there are turned into the Dead-Letter 

 Office a great many letters that U-ar no superscriptions 

 whatever, but still more curious that the most of these 

 letters arc written by business men, and on important 

 business subjects. In the examination of letters in 

 the Dead-Letter Office, it has always been an unwritten 

 law that no employe shall ever divulge any information 

 he may thus acquire ; indeed, it has been an established 

 principle, seldom departed from, that the government 

 itself has no rijiht. even though it should be iu the 

 interests of public justice, to take advantage of secrete 

 that the business of the Dead-J/etter Office may disclose. 

 Hift it is rather remarkable that no law exists which 

 makes an offence of such a betrayal of trust, although 

 the unauthorized opening of or prying into letters by 

 other postal officials has been prohibited from the 

 foundation of the government, and at times made 

 punishable by death. The following table gives some 

 interesting statistics of dead-letter business for the 

 post 10 years : 



Fiscal year. 



Dead letters. Aru't realized. 



1879 2,996,513 $3,323 



1880 _ 3,057,141 (;,'.i; 



1881 3,323,021 <!..> 



1082 4,-> 7,6.07 



1883 4,37!,. - )!>8 12,279 



1884 4,54,4.-|l 9,019 



1886 4,708,240 12,01*7 



18*6 4,7: 8,858 



1887 6,.V 10,1>76 



1883 6,21. 9,118 



7th. Tranxpnrtation of the Aftiih. There are five 

 P' n, ral methods of transporting the mails, namelv : 

 by railroads, by mail messengers, by steamboats, by 

 ocean steamers, and by what is known as "star" ser- 

 vice. The pay for r<iiln>ml tmufottntian is pre- 

 scribed by law of Congress, the rates being as follows : 

 On routes carrying their whole length an average 

 weight of 200 Ibs. of mail a day, $42.75 per mile per 

 annum; 500 ll>s.. $f>4.1l!i: 1000 II*., $85.50; 1!>(K) 

 Ibg., $106.87$ ; 3KX) Ibs., $128.25; 3500 Iba., $149. 62j ; 

 6000 11*., $171, and $2I.37J for every additional limn) 

 Ibs., the aveiairn weight to be ascertained by actual 

 weighing for thirty days once every four years. On 



land-grant roads the rates nrc somewhat less. In ad- 

 dition to the.se rates, which n.< M ]>stal expert: 

 pider too high, the railroad companies are allowed for 

 the use of postal curs famished l>y them, in every case 

 where a daily trip is made each way. the following pay : 

 $25 |>er mile per annum for ears 40 feet in li-npih ; $30 

 for 45-foot care ; $40 for 50-foot cars ; and $50 for 55 

 or (Ui-tbot cars. Railroad companies are required to 

 transport the mails on their fastest trains; but with a 

 number of trunk lines the department often enters 

 into special arrangements lor Mill ta.Mcr lime, paying 

 for the increased expedition put of an annual appro- 

 priation for "special facilities on railroads." The 

 companies are obliged, under a well-established prac- 

 tice having now the_force of law, to carry the mails to 

 and fro between railroad stations and post oHiccs at 

 their own expense, when the distance is not over a 

 quarter of a mile. Mm'/ -messenger service is that 

 which comprehends the carriage of the mails between 

 post-offices and railroad and steamboat stations where 

 die distance is over a quarter of a mile ; between one 

 station and another of different railroads ; between 

 post-offices and tin ir branches in the great cities, and 

 over routes not regularly established as post-route-. 

 This service is usually let to the lowest bidder. Stnim- 

 luiiit .v/rrice is contracted for whenever such service i* 

 considered necessan usually for four years, and at 

 the lowest obtainable rates. Star service (whieh in- 

 cludes transportation by wagon, carriage, stage, horse- 

 back, or afoot) is let every four years by separate routes 

 to the lowest bidders. For convenience in letting this 

 service the country is divided into four contract sec- 

 tions, a letting of the service being made every year 

 for one-fourth of the country. To provide for service 

 over new routes, or over routes where contractors have 

 failed to perform service, a miscellaneous letting is also 

 made every year. Competition has brought the pay 

 for star service down to low rates in many cases to 

 rates too low_ to secure good service. Ocean steam- 

 ship ^ service is, of course, confined to foreign mails, 

 and is usually let for periods of two years. The limit 

 of pay in most cases is the .sea-postage of the matter 

 conveyed. The pay for carrying I nited States mails 

 tknni'ih one country of the Postal Union to another 

 is regulated by the Postal Union convention. 



8th. Organiziitiim. The postal service is under the 

 general control of the Postmaster-General, who is, 

 and has been since the administration of President 

 Jackson, a member of the Cabinet Under him are 

 the First, Second, and Third Assistant 1'ostmasters- 

 General, the Superintendent of the Money Order Sys- 

 tem, the General Superintendent of the Itailway Mail 

 Service., the Superintendent of Foreign Mails, the 

 Chief Post-office Inspector, and the Superintendent 

 of the Dead-Letter Office, each of whom has under him 

 a corps of clerks and other employes at the seat of 

 government. Besides these there is an officer of tho 

 Treasury Department, known as the Auditor of the 

 iiy for the Post-office Department, who has a 

 close and important connection with the postal service. 

 The several classes of postal officials outside of the 

 department proper at Washington are postmasters 

 and their clerks, letter-can ieis. railway postal clerks, 

 mail messengers, and mail contractors. The First As- 

 sistant Postmaster-* icneral has charge of the appoint- 

 ment and qualification of postmasieis. the establish- 

 ment of post-offices, the apportionment among them 

 of the appropriations for clerk-hire, rent, light, and 

 fuel, the supply of stationery, and the operations of 

 the Free-Delivery System. The Second Assistant 

 '-ler-lii ncral has control over the transpoiia- 

 tion of the mails, the making of contracts theictor. 

 the ascertainment of the pay of railroads for mail ser- 

 vice, and the supiily of mail ha>:s, locks, and keys. 



, The duty of the Third Assistant Postmaster-General 



takes iii all business relating to the classification of 



] mail matter and the rates of postage, the collection 



and deposit of the postal revenues, the payment of 



