Rensselaer Union, Volume 6, Number 28, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 April 1874 — How to Open Letters. [ARTICLE]

How to Open Letters.

A young lady recently called at the Registry Department of the Sacramento Postofflce, according to the Record, of that city, and asked for the privilege of reopening & letter which she claimed to have dropped in the box that morning, j The Postmaster, after finding the address and taking a particular description of the missive sought, obligingly searched among the letters in the ‘‘drop,” and, finding the letter, proceeded to open it in the presence of the writer. In doing this the officia. used a common lead pencil, j but the lappel of the envelope was stuck to “ stay stuck,” and a general mutilation was imminent Observing the unprofessional method, the lady said decidedly : “ Give it to me; let me show you.” The letter was handed over, when the fair manipulator deftly ran the thumb-nail under the edges of the raising it neatly. Following this up with delicate touches in kind, it soon became apparent that the opening, without leaving a trace of the manipulation, was only a question of time. The Postmaster and deputy looked on in charming and innocent interest. The performance was a high art; a deft facility eloquent of patient practice. Neatly the work Was done, ana as the careful opening was completed the lady remarked, by way of explanation merely, and lest some inference unfavorable to the legitimacy of this skill might be drawn: “ I used to he in a Postofflce myself, you see; I learned how it’s done, as you know.”. That Postmaster and that deputy depose that they “see,” but they aver that the obvious meaning of the words “ you know” contains an insinuation, ana that anybody that says so is “ another."