The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1886-05-13
SWINDLING UNCLE SAM
CANCELLED STAMPS CLEANED AND
USED IN LkRGE QUANTITIES..

UnCanCGISu PartS Oh SSNeI"i Std"pS--
How They Are Used.
81. (FT0ne the Neto York Star.)
ssThe most troublesome offenders t
against government laws are the ex-
perts who use Cancelled postage stamps"
said postoffice official the other day. I
"Thev have system of washing out
the cancellation marks that is SO sue
cessful as to make detection almost
IMPOSSIBLE In the offices of large cities
like New York and Chicago, where SO
many letters are handled daily, and
where rapidity is the most desirable
feature, it is impossible for the men
who cancel stamps to examine each
one carefully. Then, too, great deal
of the work is done by gaslight, and
this is point which tends to aid the
conspirator against the governments
income.
"Any one who has seen a postOffice
employe in the Now York office grab q
bunnle of letters and cancel'the stamps |
with lightning-likc rapidity can read
lily see how impossible it is for him to
detect bad stamps unless they are par
ticularly' bad 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 cancellation
marks, and not upon the colors of the
stamp. In this way q stamp that has
once been used is relieved almost cn-
tirely of its black marks. If any
black remains after the washing pro-
cess the operator takes sharp knife,
which, he has made for the purpose,
and deftly scratches the stamp until
the remaining black marks arc almost
elf not entirely removed. This can be
done readily when the marks arc upon
the bald hcaG or the face of the his
toric parsonage whose vionettc adorns
the stamp, as this portion is white;
and upon white space the stamp. can
be scratched until it is nearly through
without detection.
"Anothcr clever trick that is en-
ployed is the cutting Of stamps. Often
in the hurry of postoilicc work the
cancellation mark does not cover the
stamp, but falls only upon one corner,
the rest going upon the envelope. The
operator takes Il stamp that has Il black
mark, say upon the left hand lower
corner. He carefully cuts square
piece out of that corner, making it
large enough to cut away all of the
cancelled portion. lie then secures Il
stamp or which the cancellation mark
has fallen in some other corner. lie
carefully cuts out the same sized square
from the lower left hand corner ofthc
stamp, and joining it with the first
stamp he has whole stamp upon
which there are no cancellation marks.
These stamps are used upon packages
which arc tied with q string, and the
string is .ingeniously placed over the
cut stamps.
"Takc any package Of II dozen let
ters and you will sec now easy ii is to
find stamps for this business" AS he
spoke the official drew from his pocket
bundle Of half dozen letters. Upon
the first letter the cancellation mark
was only upon the lower right corner
celed completely, and the third was
marked only upon the upper left hand
corner. So Il combination could huv,
been easily made with thc stamps upon
the first and third letters.
"Many of these SDpcrators,' con.
tinued the official, "@roW expert i'm thr
work. Thrv have clever tools and
the right kim. OF muciln2c, and some
go even 20 far rs to have rUloring pro-
cesses Tor touchjn" MP Il Garfield black
eye or a Washington sOilrd check
What do they dO with the WOrkcd-OVrr
stamps? They do not sell them, as
mulIy suppose, and that fact renders
detection more difficult. when n man
become successful in working over
Cancelled stamps he cndcavers to get
into some business which Will require
the sending and receipt Of mamyErcgiS-
tered letters and packages. The most
popular scheme is to go into the cheap
jewelry or fancy trick business. The
operator lays in a stock Of the cheapest
kind Of jewclry and adVcrtiScs thor
oughly through the country, especially
in rural districts. 4 gold watch with
chain and charm for $3.50 is n bait
that catches great many green spec
ulators, and as they arc Instructed to
send remittances by registered letter,
the operator receives number Of five
and ten cent stamps. These stamps
he operates on, and when he returns
the jeWelry he pays the postage in
whole or in part with cancelled stamps.
He makes 100 to 200 per cent. on the
jewelry, and docs q thriving business
in illegal stamps at the same time
"Ah, yes, there are great many in
the business, and their success is won
derful. All that we can do is to keen
on the lookout and catch one Of them
when we can. We get an idea that Il
man is doing crooked work, and then
watch him. When we once get an
idea it does not take us long to asccr-
tain the truth. Whenever the person
presents package for registration we
have ii held for inspection, and if there
are Cancelled stamps upon ii we are
pretty sure to find them. Often the
e bad stamps are detected before they
reach the cancellation clerks. When
they are being taken from the recejv-
ing baskets they are sometimes detect
ed. There is now awaiting the action
of the grand jury a man who is held
for doing rushing business i'm can
celed stamps from his store on Broad
way. He followed the usual PLAN"
" War Speculation In the South.
More tAan one man in Atlanta made