The Washington critic., 1888-03-31
How Irregularities in Handling the
Mails Aie Investigated.
THE USE OF DECOY LETTERS
Difficulty OF Piifcring Letters
without Ultimate Detection,
ST. Louis obe.pemooral.

i'bH vi NllS W tNltIu StNlipu VI Jut
detective service of the Postoiiicc De-
partmcnt.
The duties Of an "inspcctor" of the
postal scrVe are manifold aud ardu-
Gus. If carrier be dilatory in
his rounds the inspector it is
who makes the examination and
acts according to his Judgment
If there is complaint about missing
letters rest assured the inspector will
discover where they have gone. If
there Is deficiency in the accounts
of any of the employees of the depart
mcnt, II IL the inspector who calls on
the cmploye for q satisfactory cXpla-
nation. Besides all this, he reports on
the general efficiency of the force
and advises OH the discharge or pro-
motion of clerks, and, in fact, to make
it brief, he apparently has charge OF
the postolices of the whole country.
An old eX-memhcr of the Postal Sc
cret Service talked with q Globe Dswo.
crdt reporter in the Government
building yesterday. lie left the ser
vice some six years ago, and incident
ally told how lie came to quit it. Said
he: 81 was appointed q postoilice in
spector and had been in the service
Just twenty years, when, one day, |
was called into the Postmaster's room
in the Chicago Postoiicc and given
the facts in q case which required I'M
mediate action. | was to discover
and apprehend an employe who was
suspected TO be robbng the mails
regularly. | worked the case Just
one day, picked out my man, saw him
seCrete a package on his person, and
then | followed him to his home on
the north side of the city. AT the
door of his home his young wife, n
beautiful girl, met him with q
fond welcome, and my heart smote
me at the thought that soon | was to
break up that happy home | fol-
lowed the young man into the house,
explained my business, made him
give up the package which contained
number Of articles of iewelry, and
placed him under arrest. The young
wife swooned away at the discovery
of her husbands S guilt. She was at
tackled with violent form of brain
fever, from which she never recov-
cred. She died just before her hus
bands conviction
"wHY DID I REsIGN?'
"Well, because that girl was the
daughter of my sister, whom / had
not seen since she left the old Vir-
ginia home to marry the man she
loved, in opposition to her fathers
wishes, twenty-three years before,
and the news of his daughters death
and son-in-law's disgrace was too
much for my delicate sister, and she
died before | found out the facts. II
was hard blow. and, having n ten
der heart, / resigned" Around the
walls of
THE DISTRIBUTING ROOMS
of the Postoflice in this city are I'M
bedded a number of iron screens,
which appear TO be so many hot-air
registers. TO the unsuspecting and
uninitiated the registers appear to be
perfectly natural objects of the archi-
lecture and would attract no particu-
lar attention, but the willy robbcr of
the mails knows full we'll that an in
spector is most likely secreted behind
some of those screens watching his
every action. Behind these screens
are small closets, which are reached
through a series of intricate and
secret passageways leading from
the office of the inspectors. If
an employe is suspected a keen
eyed minion of the inspectors
department keeps continual watch
until satisfied of the guilt or inno-
Cence of the suspect. When caught
in the act, the thieving employe is
brought TO the inspectors quarters,
searched, and then placed under
bonds for appearance before the
United States Commissioner, or, if he
fails TO procure the necessary bonds,
is thrown into Jail to await trial. The
proofs Of his guilt are kept in the inn
mense safe in the inspectors room, to
be produced as evidence against the
accused at the trial. The preparation
of
DECoY LETTERS
and packages in the inspectors pri-
vate Office is an interesting procedure,
but it is as secret as the movements of
the allegorical Father Time. If a
business house in town has been
missing iemittances sent in unregs-
tered letters, the inspector secures one
of the printed envelopes of the firm,
marks il so it can be identified, and
sends il to q distant town to
be deposited in the mails. That
particular envelope is traced through
| 10 its destination, if it ever
reaches there, and if some
unfortunate appropriates its contents
for personal use" it's all day and
several years with that unfortunate.
! Other similar ''decoys' are sent, if
necessary, as occasion requires. The
| handwriting on the various envelopes
differs greatly in size and general APP
! pearanCe, to suit the particular case
| upon which the inspectors are work
| ing. The packages which are to act
as decoys to the thieving clerk are
slillfully gotten up and very decep'
tive in appearance,
The methods adopted by the Clerl;
Of thieving propensities in robbing the
! mails are many and widely different,
| but the most difficult case that the in,
| spectors here have had to deal with
occurred about six or seven years ago
About that time certain firm had
been missing remiuances which had
been forwarded to them by theii
country customers, The value of the
| contents of
THE MISSING LETTERS
| would average about $40 per diem
The facts in the case we're reported tc
the inspector in charge, and he sci
one of his most skillful and intelli
gent assistants to work on the ease
For two weeks the stealing OF thi'
firms letters went ON, but no cleN
could be gained as to who was doing
the thieving. One day the puzzled
inspector was walking through Tho