Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1884-06-14
ROBBINS THE MAILS.
HE Ingenious Methods Devised by
Postal Employees.


RORBENG THE MAILS.
The Ingenious Methods Devised by
Postal Employees.
CHIEF INSPECTOR SHARP GossIPs PLEASANTLY
ABOUT POSTAL THIEVES AND THEIR DEVICES
HOW THE CLERKS LAY AWAKE NIGHTs-soME
OF THE SCHEMES ADOPTED AND HOW THEY
ARE woRKED-THE GOVERNMENT STEPS IN
AND THE INGENIOUS CLERK STEPS OUT.
ga post Office thief seldom has confederates."
remarked Chief Inspector Sharp. of the Post
Office department, as he sat conversing with a
group of friends. The conversation had turned
to the general subject of mail robberies very
naturally after the rather gossippy discussion of
the case of young Cook of the city post office,
whose arrest for stealing registered letters was
mentioned in The STAR last week.
Cook was smart young man." Mr. Sharp
observed He was graduate Of Annapolis
and had just taken a 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 examination for
admission in another branch of the service and
that If he succeeded he would not return to the
| post office. When 1 found that out, went to
the official in charge of the examination. and
said: 'We believe that man is thief, but we
can't prove 1t. If 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"
NEW IDEA IN STEALING.
"Cook had adopted new idea," continued
the inspector; 'as he thought, novelty in
stealing. He would remove the package con-
tanning the money from the registered envelope
and then, after initiating the writing and d.
rections, he would destroythe old envelope and
send on the package, minus the money. in this
new envelope which he had prepared. Or per-
haps, he would send on the envelope 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 ana as he was along the line
he thought that he was perfectly safe. We
finally reached him by comparing his hand
writing with that on the fraudulent registered
envelopes"
One of the listeners spoke Of the ingenuity
displayed by postal employees and the new
methods Of robbing the mails which were con-
stantly being attempted. He suggested that
! perhaps there was an interchange OF ideas
among the employees and what one failed to
| think of another would supply.
| ms observation gave rise to the remark Of
OF Col. Sharps. with which this article begins.
NO" continued the colonel. "They devise
their own methods and work them out by them
! selves. 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 example 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 eXpedi-
ents to prevent the discovery of money in en-
| Velopes by mere external appearance or by feel
| Ing. This question is suggested to postal en-
| ploye. Perhaps 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 at night when he walks about
| the street or sits at home he ponders upon this
problem. Finally it occurs to him that great
many letters come to the office with the ends
| broken. He knows exactly why the envelopes
are broken; that when the distribution is COM
| pleted letters for one point are gathered to-
| gether the clerk draws a string about the
bundle tightly, tightly in fact that two-thirds
! OF the letters are cut at the ends by the string
| The opening thus made, however, is sufficiently
| large to enable any one to examine the contents
| OF the letters and ascertain If they contain
| ID
can also be cut purposely, and who Is to deter
| miner"
"This is the first stage" remarked the in
| spector, with thoughtful smile. 1.-The discovery
made the discoverer pauses. The problem solved
| the student rests. The way lies omen to the
| criminal act The determination to press along
that path is probably only a matter of time The
dscoverer is not content with a mere intel
| lectual triumph; the practical results must
| follow. He breaks an envelope looks inside.
in ftn oil
He tries another, finds that it contains money
and quietly slips it into his pocket The philos-
| opher has become man of action"
But another man reaches the same result by
an entirely different method" and the inspector
gazed with unconcern upon the inquirlng faces
| OF the listening group. Then he crossed his
legs and leaned back in his chair. and the
| nquiring expression or the listeners changed to
one of pleased expectancy.
1.-The problem occurs to this. other man of
| how to ascertain whether letter contains valu-
| able contents or not He thinks about it great
deal and then one day his att ention is at
tracted by break in the center of the letter
| Not that the break is such an unusual thing
| for that is common enough the clerk knows
| but he notices that when he saueezes it held
lengthwse in his hand that the break opens and
he can see what is inside of the envelope That
is what he wanted to find out. But how are
the u breaks made! He picks up pen and draws
it over the back of an old envelope. In the in
tensity of thought he bears on the pen rather
hard. 1t goes through the envelope and
THE SURPRISED CLERK
sees fac simile Of the breaks he has observed
so often in letters coming through the mail. He
knows that these are the results of rough treat
ment or accidents Of some nature, but this pen
break Is sufficiently like the accidental breaks
| as not to attract notice. Another philosopher
has approached the domain of the man of &C
ton. He makes practical test of his patent
some day, but invites no spectators. 1t wor'-s
all right, and he adopts it as a daily source I
revenue until one day an Inspector taps him o..
the shoulder and asks him to step down into the
pOstmaster's ROOM Then the government for
the first time asserts its claim for a royalty of
the receipts of this unpatented continuance. and
the inventor spends several years in paying it,"
The Inspector looked at the toe Of his boots.
which was elevated considerably higher than his
head, in silence. for q few moments, and then
gazing around in an absent sort of way he said,
slowly:
"Hinc lilac lachrymae," and the entire group
arose and slowly left the room, for it is well un-
derstoOd in the Post Office department that
when Inspector Sharp drops into Latin he has
important business on hand and it is time for
mere idlers to ''mosey along"
ExcursiOns, &c.
THE ANNUAL EXCURSION of the P-X-S, Of
Dawson, will be given to Marshall Hall on Mon
day. The Corcoran will leave at 10 a. M and
p. m.
The SATURDAY EVENING CLUB gives It's second
excursion down the river this evening on the
Mary Washington. Boat leaves at $50 D. m.