Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-12-26
NEW POSTAL FRAUDS.
Queer Facts and Figures About Mr..
Wanamaker'S Department.
LATEST TRICKS OF SHARPERS.
The Green Goods Business Grows and
Thieving increased
RUIN FROM THE FOUR-POUND PACKAGE


sing word" puzzle, which has be-
come such craze in England, strikes
this country, the Postofice Department
will promptly shut it out of the
mails Such guessing contests would be
excluded on the same ground as any other
speculation in chances, so that this new
form of gambling is not likely to be success
fully introduced on this side E the water.
The Louisiana Lottery is still active, but
its tickets and literature are transmitted
exclusively by express, being sold and dis
tributed by local agents in various towns
and cities. This the Government does not
care to interfere with, so long as the
swindlers do not attempt to employ Uncle
Sans post for their purposes.
The Postmaster General has finally for
bidden the certifcation of money orders
lnd registered letters from this country to
William Lord Moore, of London. This
nan has ior many years pursued very
Or roftably the business of a .''claim agent"
for supposed American heirs to properties
In England The postohice authorities feel
no little anxiety on account of the rapid
increase in the number of robberies of post
Offices During the last fiscal year more
than eleven hundred postofices were pill
laged by burglars
Mail Robbing Is Growing.
When it is considered that during the
previous twelve mouths only S6S postoffices
were entered bv thieves, it will be seen
how fast this form of crime is growing
Notwithstanding the long terms of i'm
prisonment prescribed by law for highway
robbery, 49 stages carrying the mails were
held up and robbed last year. Only the
most reckless and dangerous desperadoes
attempt this kind of exploit, and for the
capture of such criminals q standing re-
ward is offered. During the same twelve
month 345 mail-pouches were cut and their
contents stolen. Of course, more or less of
the pilfering of the post is done by postal
employees, 231 of whom were arrested for
such offenses.
During the last fiscal wear $4,000 letters
were dropped for mailing without any ad-
dress whatever on the envelopes. Inas-
much as this represents an increase of II
per cent over the previous twelve-month, it
would appear that the public is becoming
rapidly more careless in the conduct Of its
correspondence.
At Christmas-time money is sent through
the mails in all sorts of queer ways Bills
are concealed in fingers of gloves and nit
tens knitted by elderly female relatives
Sums in cash are Inclosed in boxes of candy
and wrapped up with merchandise of all
kinds. Coins are inserted in pieces of
pasteboard. In Europe they are usually
sent that way, because over there it is
against the law to transport anything made
OF gold or silver by post Bank notes are
sometimes rolled up like lamplighters and
laid in the fold of letter.
1hieving Employees Become Expert
This is an excellent way to manage where
bills must be sent in an envelope, because
their presence cannot easily be distin- |
guished by feeling or smelling. Thieving |
employees in postofices sometimes attain |
such eIpertness that they can readily detect 1
either an old or a new bank-note in a sealed |
letter BY smell One clerk who was caught |
in such depredations while ago satisfied |
the curiosity of the detectives who cap |
tured him by selecting without a mistake,
though blindfolded, seven missives con-
tanning bills out of 400.
The Fourth Assistant Postmaster General |
in his report issued few days ago states
that the Department is making no headway
against the most important of all frauds |
which are conducted through the mail
namely, the; ''greengoods" business. In
fact, this nefsrious industry seems to be
growing rapidly. 1t is positively known
that the whole of this fraudulent enter
prise, which extends its operations all over
the United States, is conducted BY a single |
gang In New York, the head of which is
somewhat notorious sporting man, and 10
evidence can be obtained against him.
Hard on Country Merchants.
The provision Of law which allows four |
pound packages to go by mail is a cause of |
much complaint. The system causes wall
ing and gnashing of teeth among shop
keepers in small towns. They are being |
ruined by it. Suppose, for example, that a
woman living in a community of few |
hundred or a few thousand inhabitants
wants to buy dress for Christmas. Instead |
Of purchasing it at the local shop, she writes |
to great drygooGs firm in the nearest large
city and procures samples Having selected |
the stuff she wants, she sends on a money
order Tor the price and gets in return the
material at cheap rate by mail. Thus the
huge metropolitan emporium fattens at the
expense of the provincial merchants In
return for the taking away OF a great part
of their business bv Uncle Sam, the ex-
press companies have within recent
years become important rivals of the
Government IN the transmitting of
money. Their rates are much less than
those charged bv the Postofice Department
for sums exceeding S15, and it is partly for
this reason that the Department contem-
plates reduction of about one-third in its
prices for money orders above SIS. At this
season of the year the outflow of cash from
the United States to foreign countries by
postal money orders is enormous Irish
Americans particularly send great sums
Just before Christmas to their relatives in |
The Green Isle. About So, 900 goes to
ireland annually from the United States in |
the shape OF money orders
Millions for Europe's Paupers.
Striking balance between the s., ZOO, 900
received in foreign money orders by this
country yearly and the S13, 1000, 600 sent
across the water, it appears that we con-
tribute nearly 81 200, 900 a month to the
support of pauper Europe. Money orders
20 years old and more are sometimes offered
TO the POstofice Department for payment,
OF course, they are not valid after the lapse
of one year. but duplicates are always
Issued in such cases.
The people of this country used during
the last fiscal year more than L., 000, 000, 900
postage stamps and paid nearly $50. 900, 900
for them. They are all manufactured by
the American Bank Note Company, in New
York, which supplies them by contract at
, COST to the Government of cents and a
traction per ZOO.
During the last year so mail clerks were
seriously inj ured on the rail and 112 were
Tightly hurt. Five were killed-two in |
one by the fall of a train from q |
irestle, and two by putting their heads in
out of the doors of their cars
But this was q small death rate, as NAV be seen
oy the fact that during the first three
months of the present fiscal year Is postal
-seL 4zA.1 I