St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-02-09
STRUGGLE WITH RED TAPE.
Trials of u Man Who Mailed a
Silver Half Dollar to England.

Next time William Arnold wants
back number of some British weekly
he will inclose a S. bill in an envelope
and mail it to the publishers. He has
just had a little experience in foreign
trade that makes him feel that way
Every Friday on leaving the bank
downtown he drops into a news store
and buys lot of technical papers. His
hobby is naval affairs, and he knows
more about battle-ships and cruisers
/ than many a naval officer.
In an issue of a London paper G."
not long ago, there was a long article
descriptive of two new fast steamers.
The copies for sale here were gone
when Mr.. Arnold called at the news
store. Next day he stuck half a dollar
into a hole in a piece of cardboard
He also wrote a note to London pub
Usher asking for a copy of the paper
Then he covered both with an envel-
ope, put a five-cent stamp on the cor
ner and dropped it into a box hung on
lamp post. The paper costs the Eng
llsh equivalent to a quarter, and Mr..
! Arnold believed he was quite liberal
in renting another quarter for ex-
penses and postage.
A bulky letter with an English
desk by the postman the other day.
When he cut the end open, letter,
square of English postage stamps, and
his own envelope dropped out The
/ envelope was a sight. A big blue
! cross was penciled on it's face, along
with half a dozen stamp prints show
ing various figurs and letters. On the
back a little printed notice covered the
flap. 1t read:
"Caution-Valuable Enclosures should
never be forwarded in unregistered let
tiers, as they incur serious risk there
/ by, while If sent in registered letters
/ they are practically safe With the
! view of giving greater security to such
packets and to protect the servants of
the poStoff1ce from temptation, all let
tiers undoubtedly containing coin, Jew
elry or watches are registered even
though no application has been made
for registration, and in such cases a
! special registration fee of pence is
levied. This letter has been registered
because it contains co1n.'
When he laid that down he looked
q, the stamps. There were just eleven
OF them, all stuck together, each of the
value of one penny But the letter was
a revelation. After politely informing
Mr.. Arnold that the paper was out Of
print, the writer explained: From the
envelope which covered your letter.
and which 1 now return, you will see
that we had to pay 1 shilling and 1
penny before we could get it from the
postoffice, as it is contrary to postal
regulations in this country to inclose
coin in an unregistered letter, and the
practice of the postoff1ce is to register,
the letter 'compulsorily and charge a
special fee of pence. Your letter was
over weight, and the charge for this
was pence, making up, as above stat
ed, l shilling and l penny. I send you
herewith English stamps, value II
pence, as the balance of the shillings
RENTED by YOU
Mr.. Arnold figures that he has re-
ceived for his half dollar
One letter of explana ton.
Eleven useless English stamps.
one beautifully marked envelope.
One lot of experience
He is looking for copy of the paper
yet.