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435
Her Majesty's Mails
·
William Lewins
265
THE
DEAD-LETTER
OFFICE.
in
order
that
they
may
be
returned
to
the
writers,
provided
any
clue
can
be
obtained
from
the
contents
as
to
their
whereabouts.
The
branch
in
which
this
work
is
accomplished
is
now
a
very
considerable
establishment,
employing
at
least
a
score
more
clerks,
&c.
than
in
the
days
of
the
old
postage.
In
1763,
just
a
hundred
years
ago,
the
records
show
that
two
clerks
only
were
engaged
in
opening
"dead
and
insolvent
letters."
Now,
nearly
fifty
officers
are
employed
in
the
same
duties.
Nor
are
these
duties
by
any
means
so
only
in
name.
Last
year
considerably
over
two
millions
of
letters
were
returned
to
their
writers
through
the
Dead-Letter
Office
from
failures
in
the
attempts
to
deliver
them.
"Three-quarters
of
the
non-deliveries,"
says
the
Postmaster-General,
"were
on
account
of
the
letters
being
insufficiently
or
incorrectly
addressed,
nearly
11,000
letters
having
been
posted
without
any
address
at
all."
In
every
provincial
post-office
in
England
and
Wales
a
dead
or
returned
letter-bag
is
now
forwarded
daily
to
London,
containing
all
the
letters
which,
from
any
cause,
cannot
be
delivered.
Each
letter
bears
on
its
front,
written
prominently
in
red
ink,
the
reason
of
its
non-delivery.
Thus,
if
the
addressee
cannot
be
found,
or
should
have
left
the
town,
the
words
"Cannot
be
found,"
or
"Gone--left
no
address,"
are
written
respectively.
On
the
arrival
of
these
bags
in
London,
inclosed
in
the
larger
bags
containing
the
general
correspondence,
they
are
at
once
passed
to
the
"returned-letter
branch,"
as
the
Dead-Letter
Office
is
called,
where
no
time
is
lost
in
opening
them.
Every
letter
received
is
first
examined
by
an
experienced
and
responsible
officer,
to
make
sure
that
it
has
been
actually
presented
according
to
its
address,
and
that
the
reasons
assigned
on
the
cover
of
the
letter
are
sufficient
to
account
for
its
non-delivery.
In
doubtful
cases,
before
the
letter
is
opened,
the
directories
and
other
books
of
reference,
of
which
there
is
a
plentiful
supply
in
this
office,
are
consulted,
and
should
it
be
found
or
thought
that
there
has
been
any
oversight
or
neglect,
the
letter
is
re-issued,
with
proper
instructions,
by
the
first
post.
About
300
letters
are
thus
re-issued
daily,
many
of
which
ultimately
reach
the
persons
for
whom
they
are
intended.
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