Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-11-21

New Methods to Re Adopted by Uncle Sam
for Protecting the Mail.
DOBBERY FROM STREET LETTEH


New Methods to Re Adopted by Uncle Sam
for Protecting the Mail.
poBBERY FROM STREET LETTER
~ boxes. for which crime a formidable gang
was jailed last Week. h an evil which occasions
the Post Office Department increasing annoy
ance. The percentage of mail lost in this
manner seems to grow steadily.
There are several ways of accomplishing such
thefts. When receptacle of the old style is full
letters can be pulled out Of it with the fingers.
Another method often practiced by expert
operators IL to drop in a thin piece Of sole
leather which has been rubbed literally with
wax A string is attached to the leather, and
by this means it is extracted. with one more
envelopes adhering to it. In point of effective
ness this plan is inferior to the simple plan Of
saving off the paddock. Having secured the
latter it is easy enough to make key from it
that will open all the boxes in the city. The
only trouble is that the operation is su,e to ex-
cite remark.
vAnfoUs WAYS
There is nothing THAT can prevent man
from opening letter brx If he has mind to"
said Superintendent. Pollock. who directs the
entire delivery system Of the country, to a
STAR reporter yesterday. "He can take an Ak
ne can bride a carrier and get an impression of
the key. There are II. 900 carriers in the United
States, and il cannot be expected that all of
them are incorruptibie. But, for that matter,
1t Is entirely impossible TO make the locks safe.
II is not practicable to put a burglar proof
lock on every letter box. Locks for the pur-
pose have been offered US which cost as much
as 50 each, but we find that forty-cent locks
serve the purpose equally we'll. In fact we
gave up costly locks long ago. The only pro-
ha nm isfs inf rad-
ness that attaches. in the view of the people at
large, to a receptacle fastened by government
authority, to disturb which is a felony in law"
IMPERsoSAr1Na LETTER CARRIERS.
Still another method frequently practiced
for robbing mail boxes is by the personation of
carriers. Thieves 60 about openly in the day
time in postmen's uniforms and collect the let
tiers, having duplicate keys. According to the
present system this is very easily done. For
example, in New York city there are 1, 165 letter
carriers. They do not even know each other
and 1t Is a ready explanation for counterfeit
to say to an inquiring citizen that he is a Sub
shtute But all this is TO be remedied before
long by the appointment in every big town Of
postal patrolmen, each OF whom will have COM
mand Of a squad and be constantly occupied in
patroling the district wherein his men are col
Letting and distributing. He will know them
all. OF course, and the opportunities of thieves
will be considerably lesseped.
THE KEYS
It MAY seem strange that the Keys to all the
mail boxes are made exactly alike, SO that one
key will open them ALL but of course the rea-
son is that postman can hardly carry about
with him 100 or more different keys letter
carriers key is very sacred object, however.
The loss OF 1t is regarded as a serious affair and
usually the unlucky man is deprived Of his en-
ployment as q penalty,
IMPROVED BOXES,
Before long letter boxes Of very improved
patterns are to take the places Of those now in
use. For the latter the government has a very
surprising sort Of contract which compels
Uncle Sam to purchase for the present GER
tain pattern and none other. Although there
are other styles far preferable in every way
the Post ONCE Department is not permitted to
buy them. Meanwhile inventors all over the
country are constantly Offering devices OF
their own, under the i'm preston that there is
no obstacle to their acceptance if they are
found available. The contract referred to runs
out June 80, 1893, and not until then will it be
possible to introduce anything better.
COMBINATION BOX.
Within six weeks there has been offered to
the department street mail box which is con-
sidered the most perfect apparatus for the
purpose ever produced. II works with a time
lock and an automatic arrangement always
sAo"s euc uouF lOF TIC next cOllcCtlOn. When
letter is dropped. in passing down to the re-
ceptacle beneath it receives a stamp indicating
precisely the moment at which it was posted
This stamp is printed on the envelope in the
shape Of a dial like a watch face, with hands
pointing to the hour and minute. Beneath is
marked the year. the month and the day. All
this is done without any human inter-
vention save to wind up the mechanism once in
twenty-four hours. Thus each missive posted
tells accurately how long 1t took to arrive at
the post office. The box is made of pressed
steel, and to open it would require cold chisel
and kit Of burglars tools In the delivery
division the time-registering apparatus has al
ready been adopted for recording the punctu-
ality or otherwise Of clerks. Each employe
when he arrives touches the instrument. takes
out the marked blank with the dial and date on
it and writes his name across it. placing it
thereupon on the superintendent desk for
filing.
THE FIRST LETTER BOX
used in this country was adopted in 1868, with
the beginning of the delivery system. 1t was
Of tin, somewhat resembling tea caddy, and
WAS placed, not On street corners but in such
convenient localities groceries and drug
shops. Doubtless the earliest type of mail box
was hollow tree, utilized to this day for SINH
lar purposes by lovers.