Re: humorous if off topic (follows on to: Byte Magazine: 18 Vintage issues...)

[hnsngr@sirius.com (Ron Hunsinger)]

Charles Richmond wrote:

> Kind of like the Hope Diamond.  The Hope Diamond is one of the largest
> diamonds in the world in a single chunk.  About 20 years ago, the guy
> who owned it decided he would donate it to the Smithsonian museum.  The
> problem was he lived in New York City, and the Smithsonian was hundreds
> of miles away in Washington, D.C.  So how could he safely ship the diamond?
>
> He decided to wrap it up in a pasteboard box and *mail* it to the Smithsonian.
> Just sent it via regular mail, and I doubt that he insured it since it would
> be worth *millions* of dollars.  And geuss what...it got to the Smithsonian
> just fine.  So when you go to see it, you will see a cardboard box in the same

The way I heard it, they sent it by U.S.Mail, but they did tell the Post
Office what it was, and insured it for the full value. That made it the
Post Office's problem to get it there safely, something they were willing
(and able) to do, given the size of the insurance premium.

The point of the story, at least as I understood it, was that the Post
Office is capable of handling more than just postcards.

-Ron Hunsinger