Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 45, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 July 1875 — Why Letters Go Astray. [ARTICLE]

Why Letters Go Astray.

Mr. Plimley kindly informed the writer that there were, including the British, German and Swiss departments, 5,000 money-order offices in the United States; that letters should go astray he did not think surprising, when it is considered that there are 15 Buffalos, 12 Bostons, 18 Buena Vistas, 12 New Havens, 12 Newarks, 14 Albanys, 12 Oranges, 18 Highlands, 8 Hyde Parks, 15 Bradfords, 5 Cincinnatis and 8 Chicagos, to say nothing of the almost innumerable Johnstowns, Jamestowns and Smithtowns. Then, too, there are States that are thus abbreviated: Me., Md., Mo., Mon., Mass., Mich, and Miss. Now, said the Superintendent, a letter posted without bearing the name of the county is not properly addressed, and to find one properly addressed passing through the mails would be like hunting for a needle in a haystatck. For instance, a letter addressed to Newark, Wayne County, N. Y., which by the way is a large place, would not go to Newark, N. J., if so directed, if it had tl?e county on. The clerk would see that it was intended for New York, be. cause New York and Wavne County correspond, nor would Orange, Sullivan County, N. Y., get to New Jersey if the Y did resemble a J, because there is no Sullivan County in New Jersey. A. T. Stewart & Co., have a postal-guide and moneyorder directory. Their money-order applications have the county, whether it is Albany or Chicago. That is the secret.— N. Y. Herald.