Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-11-30

ing under the head Of
n n Immoral" OF course.
all such stuff is eX-
cludeu uy law from the mails.
Gen. Jones may be said to edit the Index
EXpurgatorius of the Post Office Depart
ment. This is The list of books and other
publications which have been formally and
forever shut out of the United States mails.
1t includes a large number of works more
or less well known.
The Post Office Department complains
that New York is the chief center for the
production and dissemina ton of indecent
literature. Some of the concerns engaged in
this business have Objectionable books or
pictures to dispose of, or else have various
articles intended for Illegal purposes. Ad-
Nert!SementS of such stuff are sent to all
sorts OF peope-t o young men at college, to
school boys, and actually in some cases to
young ladies at boarding school, lists of
whose names are easily obtainable. 1nves-
uSation of the subject has resulted in the
discovery that there are persons who pur-
sue this sort of industry for sheer pleasure
and not for gain. Instances of such
treme moral turpitude are not so rare as
might be supposed. Not long ago a man
was was senteneed 10 twenty years In prison for
habitual indulgence in the pastirne of writ
ing improper letters to girls in boarding
schools
Punishing Offenders.
The Post Office Department. has found it
self embarrassed by the difficulty of secur-
ing the conviction of criminals Of this sort
in New York. Oddly enough. it is some
times argued with success in behalf of the
defendants that the stuff sold or otherv se
circulated by them is too disgusting to be
dangerous to morals. Anyway, the &C.
cuSed are apt to eyade punishment and by
their escape are rendered more bold and
Ina lac Ct,yur
passed a law making such offenses con
tinuous' from the place of mailing to the
pace of destination. This means that the
offender may be tried at any place through
which his interdicted mail matter has gone
in transit. The naughty pamphlet posted in
New York and addressed to San Francisco
miy render the sender liable to a trial by
jury in Chicago or Buffalo.
There are 10000 postmaSters in the United
States. If any one of them discovers that
improper matter is presented to him for
mailing. he must refuse it. Not to do SO is
to render himself liable to reprimand, and
perhaps dismissal. .,.
Sealed matter bearing letter postage can
rot be tempered with in the mails legal
ly. but it ceases to be sacred when it has
reached the dead letter office. The letters
and packages that come into that office are
first receipted for in book, and then they
go to long table at which a dozen clerks
sit. There they are opened with great rapid
uy and deNterity. If one Of them. is found to
contain money, the latter is put aside, and
the same is done with checks, drafts, deeds
and mortgages. All such valuableS
placed in safe, and the letters accompany
ing them. if any, are filed together with
memoranda to the cash and other pre-
c:ous contents. The rest of the letters. con-
shutting the bulk Of them. are transmitted
to the returning division. where three young
ladies. who are experts in handwriting, eX-
ercise their imagination on the addresses.
A Fiery Doom.
Now II 10 NOT dc ira bIa that ha ipiaoaot
matter contained in occasional letters and
packages should come under the eyes of
these young ladies. Consequently, all such
stuff is taken out at the opening table and
put aside. including flash" books and PAM
phlets, photographs of what Is called the
fancy" sort, etc. This material is put I'D
in bundles by the clerk in charge of the
opening division. and eventually it Is con-
Neyed to large furnace in the basement of
the Post Office Department and there burn
ed to ashes. Now and then a sample is pre-
served to be carefully jacketed and filed
away; but this is only done where the de-
partment has made a decision that was
rather a ''cioSe" one, the question of ad-
mission to the mails being decided on a mar
low line. Such examples serve as prece-
dents fer action when similar things come
up for decision.
Many prosecutions might be based upon
the contents of letters and parcels that
re ach the dead letter office. But that office
is entirely divorced from the legal business
of the Post Office Department. The seal Of
confidence rests upon all matter thus re-
Ceived. and is respected by the government.
The penalty. by the way, for sending indie
cent stuff through the post is a maximum of
S5.MD fire and five years at hard labor for
each offense proved. Thus a person who
makes a business of violating the statute
may easily get himself sent to prison for
half his life.
Immense numbers Of cigarette pictures.
If nr loss INN
to reach the dead letter office. This fact
was due chiefly to fad for collecting such
photographs that was exceedingly popular
among hoys. The youngsters exchanged
them by mail. All of those received at the
Pest Office Department We're burned in the
furnace. OF course, the producers of these
pictures ventured close as they dared to
the line of actual indecency
The cigarette manufacturers entered into
arrangements with photographers by which
the pictures We're turned out on an enor-
nous scale. The photographers went into the
market and purchased all the photographs
suitable for their purpose that they could
get, including portraits of actresses.
dancers and even society women in ball
costume. Girls We're even hired to pose
The photographs obtained were mounted in
sizes matched on huge cards. 100 or more
camera and reproduced on a smaller scale
From the resulting NEGATIVE whole sheets
were turned off. the little photographs be-
ing afterward cut apart and delivered to
the cigarette manufa cturer. lin this simple
lions. -