Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-01-02
MAILS SECURED FROM THEFT.
Why II IL Worth While for People to Register
Letters and Parcels.

Letters and Parcels.
SNHRISTMAS TINE IS THE SEASON
~ when there is food in the streams Of
registered packages passing through the
mails, said an official Of the post Office to q
STAR reporter. MANY people are deferred
from sending valuables in that way by the fact
that Uncle Sam gives them no insurance of
safety in exchange for the fee OF 10 cents re-
quired, save for extra precautions taken. while
a registered parcel or letter always advertises
itself on its face something worth stealing
When q mail car or post Office is robbed
almost invariably the registered matter is
taken.
Although this is true. yet such occurrences
are comparatively infrequent and the precau-
tions exercised are SO thorough as to render q
registered letter or package many times safer
than one that is unregistered. Not one such
parcel or Enclosure in $1,000 goes astray. The
system is so arranged as practically to preclude
the possibility Of dishonesty en- the part of
postal employees. Every person who handles il
must give his receipt for it. and if it is lost we
can put our hand at once on the spot where it
disappeared. With ordinary mail matter the
case is very different A missive sent from
Washington to Chicago which does not reach
its destination NAV have disappeared at any
out what has become of it are comparatively
small. But the moment registered letter or
bundle is missing we can go right TO the person
who had it when it vanished and hold HIM re-
sponsible. Where a theft occurs we know ex-
actly at what spot to begin our search for the
thing stolen, and We are very likely to get Il
back.
There is a class of people who make use OF
the mails for paying debts without cos. to
themselves. alleging that they have sent money
which never reached the persons to whom il
was addressed. In numerous cases of this sort
we have been able to prove by the checks which
govern the registry system that claims thus
made we're fraudulent and that cash stated 10
have been iuclosed in registry envelopes was
actually not SO. Another class of persons we
have discovered who make similar excuses for
the non-payment of social Obligations by de-
claring that they have replied TO correspond
ents on specified dates. In instances OF this
latter sort there is sure to be inquiry at the
other end, and very often We have found out
such cheats, even where no question Of regis
tering or of the transfer Of value was con-
cerned.
REGISTERING MoSEr.
strangely enough, the British postal guide
gives advice against registering money. 1t is
| a common practice in that country to send one
| other half in another. In 1850 the Postmaster
General of the United States advocated the
abandonment Of the registry system on the
ground that it was fruitful only of danger to
what it was designed to protect Fortunately
this was not done, and since then the system
has been greatly extended. being made in 1875
| to include all classes Of mail matter. The gov
eminent itself utilizes the system to O vast ex-
tent. During the last fiscal year il sent BY
mail 2, SOC. 600 pieces of registered matter by
| the Treasury Department alone S925, 900 600 in
| bonds, currency and revenue stamps were
| transmitted. In the same twelvemonth only
| 2S7 pieces of registered mail matter were lost
by the dishonesty OF post office officials, which
does not seem very many when il Is considered
that $4,000 persons in the service handled
Is, 600 600 registered pieces during that period.
There was q curious case Of stealing regis
| tered mail that occurred a while ago in Texas.
| The pouch WAS robbed repeatedly between q
small town and an army post, which were about
| l25 miles apart This distance was trayersed
| by ten stage coaches to and fro, each of which
| did a portion of the way. The trouble became
so serious that officers of the garrison did no,
dare to send money home, and two Of our in
spectors were put on the case. They were LED
! to suspect that q certain man named Hanl
| Smith was the thief, partly because he was the
| only driver who happened to be on duty or
every one Of the occasions when the robberie,
| took place. OF course, the difficulty was Il
| find out on which stage OF the route the stoler
! letters disappeared. Perhaps the most puzzlins
thing about it was that the registry pouch al
ways trEiFeu apparently lntact-
1.-The inspectors fixed their attention upor
Hank Smith and found that he was accustomed
| to 60 when off duty to town across the Mexi
can border and indulge in wild dissipation
| blowing in as much as Sl50 night. SO they
had no doubt finally that he was the guilty
party, and they became entirely satisfied on the
| point when they discovered q lot of torn up
letters and registry envelopes concealed neal
| the road which his coach traversed daily His
route lay across lava desert totally unin-
habited, and a more favorable spot for such
doings could not well be imagined Together
with the torn envelopes and letters were found
| several broken registry locks. When Hank
was arrested two or three such locks were found
in his pockets. 1t was thus rendered clear tina,
his method had been to steal some of the locks
and having smashed the one ON the registry
pouch with a stone to snap q new one on in
place Of it. Thus the receptacle always seemed
to be in proper condition at the end of his
trip. He got three years in prison for bis in
genuity."