The Osceola times., 1884-08-09
POSTAL THIEVES.
The Ing NOUS Methods Devised for Rob.
hing the Malls.
Washington Star.

The Ing NOUS metnOus DoSisou ior nod
hing the Mails.
Washington Star.
"A Post Office thief seldom has con-
federates," remarked Chief INSPECTOR
Sharp, of the Post Office Department as
he sat conversing with group of friends
The conversation had turned to the gen.
eral subject OF mail robberies very ma
turally after the rather gossipy discus
sion of the case Of young Cook, of the
city Post Office, whose arrest for steal
ing registered letters was mentioned in
the Star last week.
"Cook was smart young man." Mr.
Sharp observed ale was graduate
of Annapolis and had just taken leave
of ten days when the inspectors tracked
him down. They believed that he was
the thief but they wanted to secure the
proper evidence. He had announced
that he was going to try to pass an ex-
animation for admission in another
branch of the service, and that If he
succeeded he would not return to the
Post Office. When found that out,
went to the official in charge of the ex-
animation, and said: we believe that
man is thief but we can't prove it II
he passes your examination, he won't
come back to the Post Office, and we
can't catch him."
The official said that he would see
that he was rejected, and sure enough
he was. When the ten days leave had
expired he had nothing else TO do, and
SO he returned TO his desk in the Post
Office. As soon as he had returned he
went right to stealing and we soon had
him fast enough with our decoy letters
in his pocket"
"Cook had adopted new idea" con-
tinued the inspector, "as he thought, a
novelty in stealing. He would remove
the package containing the money from
the registered envelope AID then, after
initiating the writing and directions, he
would destroy the old envelope and send
on the package, minus the money, in
this new envelope which he had pre-
pared. Or, perhaps, he would send on
the envelope empty. At any rate the
inspectors in search of the missing mon
ey would not be apt to look for the
thief in transitu, but rather at one of
the termini. Cook knew this, and as
he was along the line he thought that
he was perfectly safe. We finally
reached him by comparing the band
writing with that on the fraudulent reg
istered envelopes"
One of the listeners spoke Of the in
yenuity displayed by postal employees
mails which were constantly being at
tempted. lie suggested that perhaps
there was an interchange ofi,leas among
the employees and what one failed to
think OF another would supply.
This observation gave rise I, the re-
marx of Col. Shsrp's, with which this
article begins.
"No," continued the Colonel. They
devise .helr own methods and wo,k
them out by then selves. They c
awake nights thinking how they can
hold on to the money which daily passes
through their hands, and at the same
time avoid detecti' u The constant
thought ui an intell IN mind directed
to one subject is boIni tp produce re-.
suits; and ~ we ha,c the mum ru,is
little schemes of the postal clerks. Now
take single example, How is 1t pos
sble to find out. whether a'leiter contains
money? The pubic, YOU know, also re-
fleets upon this subject and has ,cv SD
various little expedients to prevent the
discovery If money in envelopes by
mere extern al appearance or by feeling
This question is suggested to a postal
cmploye. Perhaps he has no intention
of stealing and he may he working upon
the problem rs a mere mental recreation
or ar an exercise in mental gynnas .cs.
SO when he goes to bed at night, when
he walks about the rect or sit, ,ai home
hc ponders upon this problem. Finally
u occurs to him that great many let
. ters come To the office with the ends
broken. He knows exactly why the en-
velopes are broken; that when the dis
tTlDuthIi 10 t'uiItCttu lCtVCis ioi tlic
point are gathered together, the clerk
draws string about the bundle tight
ly, so tightly in fact that two-ihirds of
the letters are cut at the ends bv the
string, The opening thus made, how
ever, is sufficiently large TO enable any
one to examaine the contents of the
letters and accertain if they contain
money. lfletters are thus cut by acci-
dent they can also be cut purposely, and
who is to determineT
"This is the first stage" remarked the
inspector, with thoughtful smile.
"The discovery made the discovercr
pauses. The problem solved the stud
ent rests. The way lies open to the
criminal act. The determination 20
press along that path is probably only a
matter of time. The discoverer is not
content with mere intellectual tri-
umph; the practical results must follow.
He breaks an envelope, looks inside,
sees no money, and throws it ir the
mail pouch. He tries another, finds
that it contains money, and quietly slips
it into his pocket. The philosopher has
become man of action"
"But another man reaches the same
result by an entirely different method
and the inspector gazed with unconeern
upon the inquiring faces of the listening
group. Then he crossed his legs and
leaned back in his chair, and the iuquir-
ing expression of the listeners changed
TO one of pleased expectancy.
s.ss III. i.