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318
The Royal Mail: Its Curiosities and Romance
·
James Wilson Hyde
270
A
registered
packet
containing
a
valuable
gold
seal
was
sent
to
a
firm
of
fancy
stationers
in
Newcastle-on-Tyne,
and
delivered
at
its
address
in
due
course.
Complaint
was
shortly
afterwards
made,
however,
that
the
young
person
who
opened
the
packet
found
the
seal
was
not
enclosed,
and
inquiries
were
at
once
set
on
foot
in
the
Post-office
to
discover
how
and
where
it
could
have
been
abstracted.
A
week
or
two
after,
and
while
these
inquiries
were
still
proceeding,
the
firm
in
question
reported
that
a
tradesman
in
town
had
presented
to
them
the
identical
seal,
with
the
view
of
ascertaining
its
value!
This
information
served
as
a
clue
to
the
elucidation
of
the
matter,
and
the
loss
of
the
seal
was
shown
to
have
occurred
in
the
following
fashion:--In
the
process
of
opening
the
packet,
the
young
person
concerned
had
carelessly
allowed
the
seal
to
fall,
unobserved
by
her;
it
got
mixed
up
with
waste-paper,
which
formed
part
of
some
waste
shortly
thereafter
removed
to
the
premises
of
a
marine-store
dealer,
where
it
underwent
a
course
of
sortation.
An
old
woman
engaged
in
this
work
found
the
seal,
appropriated
it,
and
without
more
ado
pawned
it.
The
person
with
whom
it
was
pledged
was
he
who
presented
it
at
the
address
where
it
had
dropped
from
the
letter.
The
coincidence
is
not
only
a
curious
one,
but
the
case
illustrates
how,
but
for
the
coincidence,
the
blame
of
the
loss
would
have
rested
on
the
Post-office.
A
traveller
in
the
north
of
Europe
became
sadly
puzzled
with
letters
which
followed
him
about,
although
not
intended
for
him,
and
the
difficulties
in
his
case
are
described
in
a
letter
written
by
him,
of
which
the
following
is
a
transcript:--
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
