The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-11-17

noticed by the fox. who for once had De-
come the hare 10 did not interfere with
The shutting and locking of th- door The
detective outside held AZ hls ear t1e re-
crlFer OF the telephone. being tnus en-
auled go hear tke whole cJuv r-at-on- i
iutulsne4 the evidence desired, which "a-
sLilcleut 20 obtain the conviction of the
wicked attoruez- When confronted hy
lnt lu-uc tor with "a statement OF wat
Doe had overheard and AN exhibition of the
means employed. the lawyer Gl once made
fuil confession.
q he business OF distributing obscene lit
erafuf-- and pictures through th- mails has
been carried -u hitherto almost with inn
punlty. such matter IS sent out chiefly
from New y ORR and chicago. The Post
Office department is making every effort
ID suppress this a1omina bile industry. so
well calculated TO corrupt the morals of
the young Of both sexes. During the last
year many persons engaged iu it have
Dttn successfully lTcScrut ei- the sentences
lmposed ranging from three TO eight years.
Inc oiiela4 records of the postoitlcc de-
partment show that the practice of rob
plns mail coaches and railway postal cars
IS steadily increasing Train robbers have
grown more boli and whereas formerly
they piled their vocation I'm remote and
isolated parts Of the country. they do not
ana near lhe largest cities. Statistics on
this subject cOV=ring tine last ten years are
more than ordinarily interesting. In 1sS5
burglars broke into 4lS pOstOthces, in 1893
more than three times that number of
pOStOfflces We're robbed 55l iu all. Tn 1885
eighty postofiice burglars were ar
453. During 1885 6fty-four mail trains and
mail coaches have been held up and rob-
bed. siNty-n.ne letter boxes have been pill
lagel ana 40 man pouches have been lost
cut or stolen. such depredatiOns are stead
ily increasing.
The detectives of the postofice depart-
ment have been doing some great work
recently in the suppression of the green
goods business. Heretofore the operators
OF this kind of swindle have been located
in the east, and chiefly in New York city
Finding the metropolis too hot TO hold
them recently, they have established
headquarters in the west Three gangs
one located at Oakland, Cal, one at Hills
dale, Mich, and one at Chicago, have been
broken up through the efforts Of the gov
eminent haWkshaWs. one Of the most
enterprisng OF the gangs had headquar-
ters at Sacramento and Oakland. 1t add
ed some new features to the old fraud
Letters and circulars We're sealed, adj
dressed and stamped: but, instead of de-
posting them in the mails, the sWfndlers
themselves Cancelled the stamps with DO
gus postmarks, after which the envelopes
were cut or torn open. This gave the let
tiers the appearance OF having been reg
ularly mailed, received and opened by
the addresses. The letters were then
dropped about in cities and small towns
where they would be likely 10 be picked
up by prospective victims.
person finding one of these letters
would naturally infer that il had been
received, opened and lost by the addressee.
1t was intended that the finder should
then avail himself of the opportunity to
obtain for a small price counterfeit money
printed from stolen government plates and
indistinguishable from the genuine one
advantage of this idea was that it aid mon
render the operators amenable for viola
ton Of the postal laws. However, the
subsequent correspondence with the vic.
Tins was carried on through the mails
1t was an ingenious scheme, and to con-
Wet the criminals was no easy matter
POstotfice detectives entered into CORE
spondence with the swindlers and the let
tiers which the latter wrote We're photo
graphed, to be held for evidence i'm court
cHE FwIf
original documents might be returned, as
requested by the green goods men. Ii
they had not been returned. suspicion
might have been aroused. In this manner
a deal was arranged, and it resulted in
the arrest Of two of the criminals. who
We're afterward convicted and sentenced.