Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1886-05-19
SWINDLING JUNGLE SAM.
Cancelled Stamps cleaned and used
in large Quantities.

''The most troublesome offenders
against government laws are the ex-
perts who use Cancelled postage stamps, -
said post office official the other day.
They have system of washing out
the cancellation marks that is so sue
cessful as to make detection almost i'm
possible. 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, a great deal
of the work is done by gas light, and
this is point which tends to aid the
conspirator against the government S
| income.
ANY one who has seen Post Office
employee in the New York office grab
a bundle of letters and cancel the
stamps with lightning-like rapidity can
readily see how impossible it is for him
to detect bad stamps unless they are
particularly 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 stamp that has
once been used is relieved almost en-
tirely of its black marks. If any black
remains after the washing process the
operator takes sharp knife, which he
has made for the purpose, and deftly
| scratches the stamp until the remaining
black marks are almost, If not entirely,
removed. This can be done readily
when the marks are upon the bald head
orthe face of the historic parsonage whose
vignette adorns the stamp, as this por-
ton is white; and upon white space
the stamp can be scratched until it is
nearly through without detection.
Another clever trick that is en-
pl0yed is the cutting OF stamps. Often
in the hurry of Post Office work the
cancellation mark does not cover the
stamp, but falls only upon one corner,
the rest going upon the envelope. The
operator takes stamp that has black
mark, say upon the left hand lower
corner. He carefully cuts square
piece out of that corner, making 1t
large enough to cut away all of the can
celed portion. He then secures stamp
on which the cancellation mark has
fallen in some other corner. He care
fully cuts out the same sized square
from the lower left hand corner of this
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
are tied with 4 string, and the string is
ingeniously placed over the cut stamps.
Take any package of a dozen letters
and you will see how easy il is to find
stamps for this business. As he spoke
the official drew from his pocket bun
die of half a dozen letters. Upon the
first letter the cancellation mark was
only upon the lower right corner of tine
stamp. The second was Cancelled COM
pletely, and the third was marked only
upon the upper left hand corner. So
combination could have been easily
made with the stamps upon the first
and third letters.
''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 a Garfield black eye or
Washington soiled cheek. What do
they do with the worked-over stamps?
They do not sell them, as many sup
pose, and that fact renders detection
more difficult. When man becomes
successful in working over Cancelled
stamps he endeavors TO get into some
business 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 stock of the cheapest kind of
jewelry and advertiSeS thoroughly
through the country, especially in rural
districts. A gold watch with chain
and charm for $50 is a bait that
catches 4 great many green spectators,
and as they are instructed TO send re-
mittances 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 or 200 per cent. on the jew
elry, and does thriving business in il
legal stamps at the same time.