Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1884-07-18
R0BBING THE MAILS.
mo ingenious Methods Devised nv
Postal EMPLOYEES.


marked chief Inspector Sharp. Of the
,os,ohice department. as he sat CONVEX
Lsnr with "a group Of friends. The con
,er.ation had turned to the general sub
lrf Of mail robberies very naturally after
the rather gossippy discussion Of the case
=, Young Cook, Of the city postoffice.
ubosc arrest for stealing registered let
,srs was mentioned in the STIR.
Cook was a smart young man." Mr..
Sharp observed He was a 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
rroucr evidence He had announced
that he was going TO try to pass an exam
nation for admission in another branch
of the service, and that if he succeeded
he would not return to the postoffice
When found that out. ! went 20 the Of
fetal in charge Of the examination. and
said. We believe that man is a thief
5ut we can't prove it. If he passes your
examination, he won't come back TO
thc pos. 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
bad nothing else TO do, and so he re-
turned to his desk in the postoffice. As
soon as he returned he went right to steal
mo and we soon had him fast enough
with our decoy letters in his pocket.
Cook had adopted a new idea, con
tinucd the Inspector; "as he thought,
novelty in stealing. He would remove
the package containing the money from
the registered envelope and 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 prepared
Or. perhaps, he would send on the envel-
ope empty. At any rate the inspectors
IN search Of the missing money would not
be apt to look for the thief intransitu,
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 his
handwriting with that on the fraudulent
registered envelopes
one Of the listeners spoke of the inge-
nuity displayed by postal employees and
the new methods of robbing the mails
which were constantly being attempted.
lie suggested that perhaps there was an
interchange of ideas among the employees,
and what one tailed to think of another
would supply.
THIS observation gave rise to the re-
mark of Colonel Sharp's, with which this
article begins.
'No," continued the colonel. "They
devise their own methods and work them
out by themselves. They lay awake
nights thinking how they can hold on to
the money which daily passes through
their hands, and at the same time avoid
detection. The constant thought of an
intelligent mind directed to one subject
is bound to produce results, and SO we
have the numerous little schemes of the
postal clerks Now take single eX-
ample. How is it possible to find out
whether letter contains money! The
public, you know, also reflects upon this
subject and has devised various little eX-
pcdients to prevent the discovery of
money in envelopes by mere external APP
pearance or 10y feeling. This question
is suggested to postal employee. Per
hans he has no intention of stealing and
he may be working upon the problem as
mere mental recreation or as an exercise
in mental gymnastics So when he goes
to bed ut night, when he walks about
the street or sits at home he ponders
upon this problem. Finally it occurs to
nm that a great many letters come to
the office with the ends broken lie
knows exactly why the envelopes are
broken; that when the distribution is
completed letters for one point are
gathered together the clerk draws a
string about the bundle tightly, so tight.
ly IN fact that two-thirds of the letters
are cut at the end 10y the string. The
opening thus made, however, Is suffi-
GENTLY large to enable any one to ex-
anime the contents Of the letters and
ascertain if they contain money. If
letters are thus cut by accident they can
also be cut purposely, and who is TO
determine?
This is the first stage, remarked the
Inspector, with a thoughtful smile THE
discovery made the discoverer pauses.
Inc problem solvedthe student rests. The
way lies open to the criminal act. The
determination to press along that path is
probably only a matter of time The
oScoverer Is not content with mere in
teiiectual triumph; the practical results
must follow He breaks an envelope,
looks inside, sees no money, and throws
! INTO the mail pouch. He tries another,
u ,l that 1t contains money, and Quietly
SupS 1t into his pocket. The philosopher
mas become man of action.
but another man reaches the same
result by an entirely different method =