lars I sent in my
last letter to have them made." But, alas! the package containing the
slippers had reached the "cher grandpere cheri," while the letter and
money were missing. Then this old gentleman wrote to the Dead-letter
Office, and said that it was the only one of his granddaughter's letters
he had ever failed to receive; that it could not have been misdirected;
and his carrier had been on the same route for many years, so he _knew_
him to be honest; therefore the money must have been mysteriously
swallowed up in the D. L. O.

What was to be done? Do you imagine the Dead-letter Office shook in its
shoes?

Not a bit of it. It turned to a big book, and found a number which stood
opposite the little girl's letter, and then straightway laid hands upon
the letter itself, and forwarded it to the indignant "grandpere."

Now why all this trouble and delay, and saying of naughty things to the
D. L. O., without which he might never have seen either his letter or
his money? Simply this: the dear child had dropped her letter into the
box _without a stamp_.

You will be surprised to learn that something over four millions of
letters are sent to the Dead-letter Office every year.

There are three things that render them liable to this: first, being
unclaimed by persons to whom they are addressed; second, when some
important part of the address is omitted, as James Smith, Maryland;
third, the want of postage. All sealed letters must have at least one
three-cent stamp, unless they are to be delivered from the same office
in which they are mailed, when they must have a one or a two cent stamp,
according to whether the office has carriers or not.

For the second cause mentioned above about sixty-five thousand letters
were sent to the Dead-letter Office during the past year; for the third,
three hundred thousand, and three thousand had no address whatever.

When these letters reach the Dead-letter Office, they are divided into
two general classes, viz., Domestic and Foreign, the latter being
returned unopened to the countries from which they started.

The domestic letters, after being opened, are classed according to their
contents. Those containing money are called "Money Letters;" those with
drafts, money-orders, deeds, notes, etc., "Minor Letters;" and such as
inclose receipts, photographs, etc., "Sub-Minors." Letters which contain
anything, even a postage-stamp, are recorded, and those with money or
drafts are sent to