Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1875-08-17
dallss Ssnli- ,v,tkly World


: 1(ystsriss and Nissriss q The Dead Lstts
onee.
sAsWashington correspondent has
j had q talk with the Third Assistant
Postmaster General, and gathered
some very interesting statistics in re
gard to the petty misdemeanors OF thou
sands of people in this country who
sneak through a troubled existence by
) washing stamps as q means of liveli
hood.
The Third Assistant Postmaster
! General, Mr.. Barber, it is said, esti'
! mates the loss to the government
from this source, alone, at one million
, of dollars annually, or, rather, S per
, cent of the receipts of the Post Office
Department from its sale Of stamps.
Mr.. Barber says, further, that the Uni
ted States is not alone victim, as
France, Germany, and England suffer
in the same way. In the Department
of the Seine, in France. alone, the loss
to the government, annually, is 6oo,-
900 francs. It is not stated, however,
the manner in which such all estimate
is made!
The Post Office Department, at
Washington, is in constant receipt of
information upon this subject. 1t was
only short time ago that the Column
bia Bank Note Company, of New
York, received a letter from an I'M
known individual, who offered them
Cancelled stamps which had been care
full cleaned. The writer said that he
had lot of 100000 in one place and
10000 in another, showing that he
was very extensive dealer in washed
stamps.
1t was but recently that a large
box filled with Cancelled stamps was
forwarded to the Superintendent Of
Mail Depredations from Chicago by a
special Agent. The stamps had been
sent from St. Joseph, Mo-, to some per-
son in Chicago, to be washed" But
caroute, in the mails, the paste-board
box containing the stamps was acct
dentally broken open, and the con.
tents discovered BY postal clerk,
who called the attention Of the Spe-
.cia Agent to the circumstance. There
was no discovery of the person send
ing the box, or the person to whom it
was addressed-for the reason that
there was no letter Of advice with the
box, and the person to whom it was
addressed in separate envelope, hav-
ing information as to the nature of
it's contents, and failing to receive the
stamps with the letter, doubtless be-
came alarmed, and never again called
at the post Office for letters to such an
address.
1t is said that the Department is
constantly in receipt Of letters from
extremely verdant correspondents who
ask the Department what it will give
for cleaned stamps! Many of these
innocents are under the impression
that the Department buys back can
celed stamps after they are cleaned,
and pays 40 cents hundred for them.
The Dead Letter Office is the place
where the first indications of the use
of washed stamps we're discovered.
Here are daily discovered evidence Of
wrong doing, but under the law gov
erning the handling of dead letters,
none of these can be used against the
writer's. If clerk in the Dead Let
ter Office, in opening the letters before
him, should come across the evidence
that would explain the mystery Of a
murder he would have no right under
the law to use word of it. The on
l.. h.,r;nnaa of tho Dad Ioffor OEHca