“DEAD LETTER” SALE

Dominion, Volume 25, Issue 168, 12 April 1932, Page 8

“DEAD LETTER” SALE

Morgue of Bright Thoughts FORLORN SENTIMENT There must be some thousands fit people who annually forward, articles through the post office, either to the wrong address or to addresses which have been vacated by the intended recipients; likewise, there are a corresponding number of people who never receive articles sent them through the post. Nor is the post office to blame. The officials do their very best to locate addressees, and it is only when they cannot locate them, and. there is no clue to the sender, that such parcels are consigned to the Dead Letter Department, there to repose for at least twelve months, awaiting a claimant, before being disposed of. Most of the articles sent are presents, not of great value as a rule, yet little mementoes of friendship or affection. What an ocean of good feeling is wasted by the parcels that are never delivered; what misunderstandings may be caused by such mishaps! One could not help thinking along such lines as the debonnalr auctioneer discoursed on the contents of dead letter parcels sold at auction yesterday. “Now this is a good one—five bob’s worth of handkerchiefs, string of beads, powder compact, pair of gloves, fountain pen and cigarettes. Four—five — six! Going at six shillings I” There were 147 parcels, each containing from 20 to 30 articles, mostly new, representing thousands of presents, which never performed their sentimental mission. In some parcels there were all manner of articles—bronze vases, cameras, candlesticks, a coffee percolator, a cattle ear-clip, ladies’ underclothing and silk stockings, books, tobacco, pipes, cigarettes, d’oyleys, tablecloths, scent, soap, fountain pens, and many other articles. The Post Office officials had judiciously mixed the goods, so that there was plenty of variety in each. Prices ranged from 4/- to 12/-. One of the most curious packages to find itself “dead” was 36 dozen potcleaners, the whole of which were sold at 1/6 per dozen. Other articles from the postal “morgue” included many bundles of umbrellas, sunshades, walking sticks, and some splendid picture frames. In the United States the sender of a letter or a parcel usually inscribes his name where it can be seen, a simple expedient, which if adopted here would almost dispense with the necessity of a dead letter department.