Evening star., 1896-12-14
BLACK LETTER SUPPRESSED
Method Of Coercing Debtors Which Courts
Have Declared Unlawful.
Some Of the Curious Devices by which
Collecting Agents Have Sought to
Outwit the Lcgislators.

The sign of the black letter is to pass
away and many a man will be delighted to
know 1t. This Is no mystical sign of Sc
cret order, as one might surmise. 1t is
merely an envelope of solid black with
name written across it in white ink. In one
seeing an envelope of this sort for the first
time there is aroused feeling of curios-
ity; but there are those who have seen
them often that they came to be a
source of deep displeasure and dismay; for
i was the fatal and never to be forgot
ten sign that money was owing which
r:::st be paid at once or there would be
trouble.
But now the United States government
has decided that the black letter is a mark
of ignominy that can no longer be coun-
ed. The post office authorities
throughout the country have been notified
that no more black letters can go through
the mails. and all are warned that a heavy
penalty awaits the person who tries to use
the mail in this manner a collecting
agency.
The sign Lf the black letter was the lat
est idea of the people v no make a business
of collecting bad debts. In former years
there were many other devices. One enter
prising man started Ii by sending to people
who owed bills postal cards on the back
of which was printed a skull and cross
bones. These pcstals with their grueSome
symbol came 10 be so numerous that Con-
sress decided to make it unlawful to send
through the mail any postal card bearing
dun in any such way that it may be
read by Others than those for whom ii is
intended
After that the dun man used an en-
velope. but put various fantastic devices on
tia ouside which were assumed to be un-
derStocd only by the guilty conscience of
the person who owed bills and refused to
pay them. But in the course of time
'''s post oifict officials discovered the in>
tent of these new envelopes and the letter
carriers could recognize a dunning letter al
q glance. Congress then took further ac-
ton and made 1t unlawful for any envelope
to bear words or designs which suggested
that the person to whom it was addressed
was regarded IS professional beat
Then came the sign of the black letter.
The man who originated it made a great
success. Before 1t became generally under
stood it merely looked like a sign of death.
But when two three of these letters had
bee n received by single person, and the
servants. eighborS, letter carriers and
tradesmen began TO see exactly what it
:.ieant, the man was usually willing pay
MS debts rather than have the black sign
come near his house So the time came
very quickly when the black letter answer
ed all the purposes that the postal cards
and strangely marked envelopes had done
before they were suppressed, and the law
makers found their legislation futile
The doom of the black letter was sound
ed by Judge l.. Thomas assistant attorney
general lot the Post ONCE Department.
who ordered that all matter of this de-
scription be excluded from the mail. He
gets his authority from decision rendered
by United States district judge. in whic h
IL was held that all persons connected with
the postal service understand that the
meaning and object of such procedure is
to coerce payment of money by thus ex-
posir g the pei son addressed And now
thet the order has gone out that all black
letters shall be thrown out as unmailable
| matter. it only remains to be seen what
Will be the next method adopted by the
professional collector