, 1886-06-16
EXPERT SWINDLERS.
CANCELLED STAMPS CLEANED AND
USED A SECOND TIME.

Removing Cancellation Marks by Means
of Acids-The Clever Trick of Cutting
stamps-wonderful Skin and Ingenuity
of the Dishonest Operators.
THE most troublesome offenders
against government laws are the experts
who use conceded postage-stamps," said n
postofice official the other day. "They
have n system of washing out the cancel
lation marks hat is so successful as to
make detection almost impossible. In the
Offices of large cities like New York and
Chicago. where so many letters are hand
led daily, and where rapidity is the most
desirable feature, 1t is impossible for the
men who cancel stamps to examine each
one carefully. Then too, a great deal OF
the work Is done by gas-light, and this is n
point which tends to aid the conspirator
against the governments income
Anyone who has seen a postofice en-
ploye in the New York office grab n bun
die of letters and cancel the stamps with
lightning like rapidity can readily see how
impossible 1t Is for him to detect bad
stamps unless they are particularly n
The men engaged in the business of using
cancelled stamps are extremely clever.
They have an acid in which they wash the
stamps. The acid acts upon the cancella-
ton marks, and not upon the colors of the
stamp. In this way a stamp that has
once been used is relieved almost entirely
OF its black marks. II any black remains
after the washing process the operator
takes a sharp knife, which he has made
for the purpose, and deity scratches the
stamp until the remaining black marks
are almost, IL not entirely, removed. This
c.n be done readily when the marks are
rfrAV f1a hnl1 hAaI ~ fhA (naa ~ th.
historic parsonage whose vignette adorns
the stamp, as this portion is white: and
upon a white space the stamp can be
scratched until 1t Is nearly through with
out detection.
"Another clever trick that is employed IL
the cutting of stamps. Often in the hurry
OF postoffice work the Embellishments
does not cover the stamp, but falls only
upon one corner, the rest going upon the
envelope. Tn operator takes n stamp that
has n black mark, say upon the left-hand
lower corner. He carefully cuts a square
piece out or that corner, making it large
enough to cut away all the cancelled por-
ton. He then secures n stamp on which
the cancellation-mark has fallen in some
other corner. He carefully cuts out the
same-sized square from the lower left
hand corner OF this stamp, and joining 1t
with the first stamp he has a who'll stamp
upon which there are no cancellation
marks. These stamps are used upon pack
ages which are tied with a string. and the
string Is ingeniously placed over the cut
stamps.
Take any package of a dozen letters
and you will see how easy 1t is to find
stamps for this business" As he spoke
the official drew from his pocket n bundle
of half n dozen letters. Upon the first let
ter the cancellation mark was only upon
the lower right corner of the stamp. The
second was cancelled completely, and the
third was marked only upon the upper
left corner. So a combination could
have been easily made with the stamp
upon the first and third letters.
WONDERFUL SKILL OF THE swINDLERs.
MANY OF these operators continued
the official, grow expert in the work.
They have clever tools and the right kind
of mucilage, and some go even so far as to
have coloring processes for touching up n
Garfield black eye or n Washington soiled
cheek. What do they do with the worked
over stampsi They do not sell them, as
many suppose, and that fact renders de-
lection more difficult. When n man be-
comes successful in working over cancelled
stamps he endeavors to get into some bust
ness which will require the sending and
receipt of many registered letters and
packages. The most popular scheme is to
go INTO the cheap jewelry and fancy-trick
business. The operator lays in n stock of
the cheapest kind of jewelry and adver-
tiscs thoroughly through the country,
especially in rural districts. A gold watch
will chain and charm for 81. 30 is n bait
hat catches n great many green specula-
tors, and as they are instructed to send re-
mittances by registered letter, the opera
tor receives n number Of 8 and 10 cent
stamps. These stamps he operates on,
and when he returns the jewelry he pays
the postage In whole or in part with can
celed stamps. He makes 100 or 200 per
cent. on the jewelry, and does a thriving
business in illegal stamps ut tho same
time.
"Ah, yes, there are a great many in the
business, and their success is wonderful.
All that we can do is 10 keep on the look
out and catch one of them when we can.
We get IN idea that a man is doing
crooked work, and then we watch him.
When we once get an idea it does not AXE
us long TO ascertain the ruth Whenever
the person presents a package for registra-
tion we AVE it held for inspection. and il
there are cancelled stamps upon it we are
pretty sure to find them. Often the bad
stamps are detected before they reach the
cancellation clerks. When they are being
taken from the receiving baskets they are
sometimes detected. There is now await
ing the action Of the grand jury a man
who i held for doing a rushing business in
cancelled stamps from his store on Broad
way He followed the usual plan.'-New
YORK StAr
The Pressure of Plant juices.