, 1866-02-24

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Tic Committee on Post Otlices nad Post |
Roads Of Congress has introduced hill Which
is in efect 9 n enactment and amendment Of
a statute already in force. 1t proposes to pro-
vide more stringent punishment for the class |
Of frognes who, by means Of apecious adFcr-
tlscmcnts and circulars coDtrive to obtain
amounts Of money FROM the elmplc md cred
uIous, which, although not heavy from anr
one person, rise 10 large sums In the nggre-
ga.c- These circulars usually specify dctt-
tions address, and although thu parties who
,ssue the proposals get the letters sent to
ln order to put stop to such psnctices,
the pos1mastcr-Gencra1 is empowered
whenever he believes such letters are 10 re-
sponse to fraudulent proposals. t. stop them,
return the letters 10 The Dead Letter Office,
and redistribute the funds therein contained
to The proper owners. These provisions ap-
ply to caecs where false names nre used By the
persons to whom the letters are addressed.
There is another class of projects OF this kind
In winch the echemers boldly use their own
e1ally on the lottery or gift plan. which they
ncxcr intend to do. Under the present law
there Is no means ot stopping these bold swim
dlers, and they draw IN large sums Of money
annually. By a clause in The bill now
proposed, frauds Of that kind Will be
punished with as severe penalties as the
rasca1ilies Which are perpetrated by means Of
fictitious names. Another method adopted
b. these fellows is to deny the reception OF
money sent to them, throwing tue blame on
the post Office, method easy of practice
| Whenever the letters arc not registered; and
! In their advertisements and circulars the par
| ties generally caution their correspondents
| against sending registered letters, alleging
that such letters arc not As sure Of delivery as
| those which are not registered The new net
| proposes to make such pEetenses crime, sub
| {ect to q just punishment The act Is import
| ant, and seems to he very necessary, although
many might think that persons who are 50
! we4k-mipdcd as to place confidence in the
schemes OF sharpcrs Of the class mentioned
dokcrve 10 lose their money.
| Remarkable Accumulation Of Hata.
III. Fieanier.e Morao, the Portuguese Min
| Ietcr to the United Staie4, furnishes an ac-
| count Of the accumulation Of bats In eDos-
| nous quantities., In an old dwelling he par
chased, which has, probably, no parallel. It
| 1y known as Seneca Point. il tho marg1n Of
| tie North East river near Charleston, Cecil
| county. Naryland. The MANSION which stood
| upon it, had not been occupied for eeve-
nil years, and exhibited the appearance ofto.
tal neglect and desolatlon: n. FfsanlcE7c and
| his iamfly, however, took possession 0f the
| premises, some time during the month OF
| Mar, 1SGu. On their first evening at the
place, while resting upon the piazza and en-
ioYlng q ba'my evening, the family were
amazed and lo17itied NJ the aPpearaoee OF
vast numbers Of small, black and very lively
bats, HocGins around the premises. 4 search
resulted IN the discovery Of their nests In the
ga1ret of tie house from which they emerged
through holes OF rape1tuFes IN the slate roof
Ing
question Of destroying the vermlu, and scien-
titc friends were consulted In regard to the
most etectual mcans to be employed for this
purpose Different plans were suggested, but
III Of them failed to secure the desired object.
n. FieanleEre finally set himself to work to
careful observation that the bats emerged
from their hiding place twice = day for food
aud drink, he caused all the holes, aasures Ia
| The Wood work and 0pertnres In tho slatinG
to be Theoretically sea1ed with cement Thii
abant tn ieet square were then opened 10 the
lathed and plastered partition On each side
| the eaITet windows, and also Ia the ceiling O
OF every garTet room. A lighted candle wa
p1accd In one Of these ROOMS about the hou
! when the bats were In the habit Of going ou1
to seek food and It served to allure them from
their stronghold. After closing the window
| to prevent ali escape into the open air, a1r
FIganierre and some male members Of tht
family, distributed themselves at regular dis
| tances armed with clubs. Soon the bats, i'm
light, made their appearance, mud the slauSh
. | ter commenced and progressed With sanguu
ary yieor for several hours, until brought to {
close ty the weariness Of dealing the blow
which made the enemy bite the dust. Thi!
plnn succeeded perfectly. After . few eve
uIugs Of similaf exercise, the war Terminated
By the extinction OF every individual Of tn
enemy in the main building. The eock-loff o
tie laundry Was cleared 6y removing por
tion Of the stating, and nearly two THOUSAND
, bats killed. In tie main building nine thou
sand sir hundred and forty bats. from nctua
, counting, were destroyed. The massacr
I commenced By Killing fewer the 1rat evenings
/ the number Increasing and then diminishing
/ toward the c01, but 1t was generally iron
} fifty or hundred up to six hundred and ffa}
, | Tho highest mortality Of one evenings work
! dwindline down TO eight, five, three and TWO
. | These yefmin were covered with a small size
bug not 1ery dissin1ila1 10 the chinch. L
| this country the luc bug is frequently foun
: | upon their fur The entrance Of q bug with 1t
. burden into the open window of farm hous
i Is thc solution Of that frequently propoundes
} question Of the despairing housewife, t'wher
/ es1a the bugs come from r.