Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-01-05
STEALING REGISTERED LETTERS.
How the Dishonest Postoffee Employees
Are Sometimes Caught.

! "There is one place in the postoffice ser
| vice where stealing can be carried on with
! little fear of detection" said one of the
/ division superintendent recently, and
| that is in the registered letter department.
| The opinion of almost every one is that
the safest way 10 send a letter or package
I is 10 register il. But there is a loophole
through which the mail can slip with
great ease. The weak part Of the system
/ Is in the receiving department. Say that
a registered package is received at the
postofice from some place out of the city.
II passes to the clerks in the regular way
for distribution II Que of them is dis
honest he collars the package and. Of
course, does not send the notice Ia the
person TO whom 1t was directed. Not re-
ceiving any notice the owner does not call
at the office for the package. and the per-
son sending it, having perfect confidence
in the delivery system, believes il To have
been safely delivered. No complaints are
made 20 the office and there is no trouble.
All the thief has 10 do Is 20 satisfy the
department which has check upon him.
and this is done by forging the name Of
the owner OF the package To receipt and
sending ii TO the proper authorities
is it easy for clerk 10 pick out a let
ter containing money!
Eyes They VIII do il as certainly IS a
cat Will scent fish head in al ash bar
rel. It's all done by the sense Of touch.
y clerk must not DC seen weighing up
letters. but must 20 through pile with
all possible speed. AS his flugers glide
quickly over the letters. IL he has been
long at the business. he viii know intui-
lively n letter which contains anything
TINT ro9aEps t,paxar, {cft t,-irf,fp "a.
usually the case with money II may not
be money, but if il feels Ike T.. that is
enough. and the letter Is deXterousiy
dropped on the floor or slipped into a con-
venient place. where 10 can BE- picked up
without exciting suspicion
How are the thieves usually detected"
by means 81 decoy letters These let
ters are fixed up IN the inspectors Office.
Marked money IS put into them. A bag
that comes 20 the Office IS opened and the
decoys are put in before the bag Is sent 10
the distributing department The bag
comes TO the suspected clerk in the reZu-
lar way Search Is made for the decoy
in the place where II should be II Il had
been properly distributed II not found
the clerk is searched, and ~ the right per
son was suspected the money will he
found on him II is hard 10 work decoy
on an expert thief. know Of one man
who passed thirtyfy decoys before he
WIS caught In fact he let them slip by
50 regularly that he oiisarmed susplcion
and the decoys were tried on every other
clerk. Complaints were coming ia all the
time and the case was pulling
None Of the clerks would touch de
coy. Finally the first man suspected toak
one and was arrested He confessed and
said that he could tell deooy every time.
because 1t did not have the marks ~
travel on IL, and the stamping WAS smooth
and sharp, showing that a stamp rarely
used had been applied 10 the letter and
not the one regularly used in The course %
business
There Is mere or less stealing all the
time In the postofiics. but such close
watch Is kept on The men that the amount
stolen u now comparatively small
Thieves crop 0ut in the iuoss unexpected
places. and men IN good positions are
sometimes caught sacrificing their good
name, home and future Tor petty sums Of
money. New York Evening sun