Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-02-10

IAH--L than two billion dol
.Mh =. lars worth of them
| WG-- in value originally
represented are now
stored away in the
various buildings be-
longing to the Post Office Department at
washington, occupying thousands Of cubic
Feet OF precious space To hold them all
would require several ordinary-sized houses,
and still they continue to pile up 1t is the
same way with many million dollars worth
OF postal notes. Inasmuch as they are
vouchers for money paid out, it would hard
~ DO to burn them. The government, in
relation to the money order system, acts
as sort OF trust company. Citizens place
their cash in its hands, and the Cancelled
orders are evidence of the fulfllment of the
trust.
BESIDES, things are constantly happening
which render 1t necessary to refer to the
back-number orders. man writes to the
department. saying: II am the admins
traitor of the estate of John Jones' Among
his private papers 1 have found certain
money orders. dated some years back.
Please send duplicates. in order that may
cash them" Now, 1t frequently happens
that the orders discovered In such ways
are from ten TO twenty years old. BY turn
ing to the files 1t can be ascertained in q
moment whether these securities have been
redeemed or not.
Or perhaps William Smith will write: 1.-Two
years ago James Robinson Of Podunk sent
me money order for $50 1 did not re-
ceive 1t. Kindly furnish me with a dupli-
cate" The order referred to is looked I'D
and found in the files Cancelled, bearing
William Smiths signature to the receipt
Smith, on being informed of this fact, de-
clares the signature forgery a post Of
fee detective is then put on the case and
investigates It. May be he decides that
Smiths claim is good; but since the money
order system was founded in 1865 there
have not been more than 200 cases of for
gerry of this description.
When a money order Is missing, a dupli-
cate can always be obtained. Three hun
dred such duplicates are issued by the de-
partment at Washington every day, on an
average. The originals disappear in all
sorts Of curious ways. Farmers, through
mistake, frequently keep them as receipts
instead of forwarding them through the
malls. After awhile the unsophisticated
agriculturist is dunned for payment by the
Keeper OF a store in a neighboring town.
Why" he says, II sent you the money by
=
ceipt in my pocket" With that he exhibits
the money order. But it often happens
that the payee. learning that cash awaits
him at the post office applies for a dupli-
cate. Railway postal clerks sometimes
steal letters and find money orders in them.
To get rid of them, they burn them. Then
the owners ask for duplicates.
COuntcrfeiting Orders.
In the history of the money order sys-
tenn only two instances of the counterfeit
Ing of these securities have been recorded
The first and more remarkable case was in
1878. John N. Young, who had been employ
ed in the money order division Of the Chi
eago post office, thought that he had dis
covered way to get rich easily. His
scheme. being without precedent. might
have been fairly successful, if he had work.
ed it skillfully; but he carried it out very
clumsily indeed. For $50 he hired a drunke
printer to set up type for an imitatio of
the regular money order blank. This was
not difficult, inasmuch as the kind Of blank
used by the department has always been
severely simple. However, the type setting
was 50 badly done as to call attention al
most Immediately to the fraud.
Nevertheless, the swindler managed to
obtain cash for a number of his orders
They were for $50 each-the maximum al
lowed at that time. All of them bore the
stamp Of Oshkosh, Wis. They were to be
paid to fictitious names in indianapolis
Springfield Qll) and other cities. Young
managed to steal a number of official en-
velopes and advice blanks" to help out his
game, but he had none of the regular post
office stamps and SO was obliged to employ
ordinary postage stamps for mailing his
letters of advice to postmasters. This was
calculated to excite attention
The rogue applied for the money at the
different post offices under the fictitious
names which he had employed. He would
have been caught In Cincinnati, but the
postmaster. who had been warned in ad-
vance from Washington. stupidity let him
get away when he presented his bogus or
ders, telling him to call again. OF course
he did not come back. Finally he was
caught in Florida On his way north he
jumped from the train but was subse-
Quently recaptured and eventually landed
in the penitentiary. The docket Of papers
embracing the history of this case at the
Post Office Department here includes a, let
ter from his wife, which is one of the most
pathetic bits of writing imaginable She is
so evidently lady. though united in mar
riage to this scoundrel whom she has tried
her best to make something out Of Her
future is hopeless. but she still clings to
him.
To Beat the System.
Among the $1,000 postmasters in the
United States are a good many dishonest
ones, of course. Such men are continually
trying to beat the money order system. AS
a rule, each one imagines that he has hit
upon new trick which is not likely to be
discovered. Perhaps the most common
swindle attempted is to falsify the accounts
For example. postmaster will sell an or
der for s96. In his memorandum of the
transaction. included in the reckoning
which he sends to the department at Wash
ington, he sets down the amount as SO.
This leaves him $50 ahead and some time
may elapse before the classification Is dis
covered. However, it is sure to be found
out when the original order for S98 is com
pared with the item of So put down in his
account, and he is called on immediately
to rectify the discrepancy.
Postmasters frequently get into trouble
over their money order accounts without
any dishonest intention. Most of them are
poor men and are apt to be pecuniarily strap-
ped at times. For instance the functionary
In control Of the mails at Snoopstown
Ohio, who keeps a country store, owes a
bill Of $500 for goods to a concern in New
York city. The firm in question having
failed to get its money by dunning letters
threatens to swoop down upon the delin-
quent with suit at law. The situation
being desperate the debtor uuiets his i'm