Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1896-10-17
TRYING TO ROB UNCL ESAM
Thousands of Bogus Claims Against the
Government Investigated.
HOW LOST LETTERS ARE TRACED
Recovery OF Money which Disappears
I'm the MniIs-The Percentage
LoHt-snmpic Instances OF
mi Fictitious Demands.

One of the interesting branches Of the
Post Office department is in the office of the
fourth assistant postmaster general oil
which Robert A. Maxwell Of New York
(sometmes called Smiling Bob'D Is the
head. The office has been In existence only
six years. 1t has charge of the secret service
Of the Post Office department particularly
and the first man to hold the place was pro-
NOTED from the position OF chief OF the sec
ret service to be the postmaster generals
fourth assistant. Mr. Maxwell was his sue
cessor.
The most remarkable cases which this
secret service bureau has to handle every
year, relates the Philadelphia Times, are
the claims for money to the malls There
are actually people silly enough to believe
tina they can send an empty envelope
through the mails, and then by claiming TO
have enclosed a sum OF money IN the en-
velope, persuade the government TO give
them that amount. Hundreds OF cases like
this come into the hands Of the post office
inspectors every year.
In the first place, II these people had en-
closed the money in the envelope and 1t had
been lost In transit, whether through acci-
dent or through theft, they could not re-
cover It, The government Is not like an eN-
press company II does not make good
losses. 1t is not even responsible for troubles
caused by delay In delivering letter,
though this delay is really the result OF
carelessness. telegraph company which
does not exert due diligence and accuracy in
delivering message is liable to you for
damages. So Is an express company whlch
loses your property In transit or delivers IL
80 unreasonaby late that you suner loss.
But the government undertakes no RESPONSE
n and In
ter and the letter is lost or stolen or de-
stroyed in transit you have no redress. This
is not the law in other countries, ana the
Post Office department has recommended 10
congress the advisablity OF insuring the
contents OF registered letters. Congress has
taken no action in the matter. l believe
Il has never considered II seriously.
ONE WAY OF DISPUTING A BILL.
Another class OF cases which ranks with
the claims for loss of money In transit is
quite as numerous great many people
send letters through the mail addressed to
creditors. Il enclose So to pay your bill,
q woman will write to her dressmaker. She
encloscs the bill but no money. When the
dressmaker writes that the money was not
received, she will disclalm responsibility for
the loss which she will say occurred In the
postoffice; and she will refuse to pay the
bill. These cases are aggrevating, because
they take up so much of the time of the
postoifce inspectors. The woman who re-
ceived the letter is sure to make COM
plant, and one OF the inspectors must be de-
tailed to investigate The inspectors are
detectives They make inquiries at the home
of the woman who claimed to have made the
remittance. They investigate her character.
They ask her to prove by witnesses that she
really enclosed the money as she claimed
to have done. They arrive at the truth In
a surprising number of Instances. There
are many other cases which are supposed
to be OF the same class, but in which moth
inu ha m on nj fhn
Postoitice department can do Is to say II Ia
sorry. OF course 1t never offers to refund
the money.
The postofice inspectors looked up more
than 100000 cases last year and more than
half that number were cases of letters that
had gone astray in the ordinary course of
business complaints about letters that
had really not gone astray. The depart
ment has to take the word of the complain
ant every time until the matter can be in
vestigated To every person who says a
letter in which he was interested as sender
or sendee has disappeared the department
sends a long printed form to be filled out
and then sends inquiries to the Offices
through which the letter passed ana tries
to trace II. OF course, individual letters In
the ordinary mail cannot be traced with
much success. because there Is no way OF
Identifying them among the millions OF let |
tiers handled every month. But II IS remark |
able that nearly 5000 registered letters are |
reported astray every year. Inc complain |
ants in about $500 cases tell OF the dis |
appearance of the registered letter ard in
about the same number claim is made that
the letter was rihed in transit. Then there
are complaints about delay. wrong delivery
etc. Last year, out of 1901 cases investi |
gated, there was no ground for complaint
in l,2S2. In 99S cases in which there was
loss 1t was recovered through the dead let |
ter office and through sources outside of
the department, and final loss was proved |
In only 1852 cases.
This is not a big percentage. The depart |
ment handled 10, ISL 900 pieces Of registered |
mail last year and the loss was only one in |
1924 pieces. II your registered letter is |
lost you may regard yourself as quite dis |
tinguished-you will be one in about II 900 |
LOST MONEY RESTORED.
The Postofllce department restored to its |
owners last year SS,941. The amount of