Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1897-04-15
STEEL LIE TER BOXES,
REASONS WHY}THEY ARE CON-
sIDEREDAsUPE y
A Very Convincing Observation-Disclosures
Light Blqw Required to Break tho
Back of an Iron Box-A Million
Boxes Are Now In Use.

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- IDS were recently
4 opened by the post
(ZLNI@ master general for
!H8<SS9lIk supplying street let
N<HSlSSt ter boxes for the
S2HN coming four years.
/, E[1& The number Of
,NA ~ boxesin use is close
.NS3 to 1000, 900. With
A4 q the loss from break
! a age and those de-
manded by natural
increase Of population, 1t is estimated
thatth contractor whose bid is accept
ed will be called on to supply 400, 600 or
100000 before 1901, says the New York
Tribune. The boxes in ordinary use are
made of a cheap quality of iron. There
are three sizes. It may not be gen
orally known that letter tox Is
patent affair. That is the fact; so, too,
some of the improvements recently
made are covered by separate patents.
In such case the patentee, or the
owner of the patent, assigns his rights
to the government for the time the
contract is to run. In addition to the
bids received for iron boxes, some pro-
posals for steel boxes were put in, and
1t is said that steel boxes can now be
obtained at lower price than was paid
for iron ones under the contract soon
to terminate. The advantages OF the
former, it is asserted, are that they
would prove more durable, and that
it would be less easy for thieves to
break them open. When Mr.. Wanna
maker was at the head of the post
Office department he was favorably I'M
pressed with the idea of using steel
boxes but when new contract was to
be made, near the close of his term, he
did not think he would be justified In
imposing the additional expense on the
incoming administration. In connec-
ton with this matter an interesting
story is told by man in this city, who
has had for some time business rela-
ton with the postoff1ce department.
The incident took place in the time of
a former acknowledgement, and In
his Office. This is the way the tale
runs, as narrated by the New Yorker:
II was in the Office Of the postmaster
| general, as was also another man who
had some interest in the then existing
contract for letter boxes, and in urging
the advantages Of using steel for that
purpose I told them that it was an
exceedingly easy thing to open the
boxes in use and extract the mail.
Why said I, I can open one of those
boxes and take everything out Of 1t
in four minutes by the watch OF
course, they were incredulous, and the
other man offered to bet 500 that it
couldn't be done. refused to bet, but
it was arranged that the trial should
be made right in the Office. went
downstairs to make my preparations.
They consisted in getting fairly heavy
piece of iron and a block of pine wood,
both of which could easily carry in
my coat pockets without attracting at
tention. In the meantime they fixed
up box, put a lot of stuff in it and
put on lock. Then they went out of
the room and locked the door. At the
end of four minutes they came in with
a triumphant air. was sitting in the
postmaster-general's chair, quietly
.whtstli1g. The box lay "on the floor
4 and alongside of it lay all the mali
they had put in it. The head of the
department looked dumfounded. The
other man fairly turned pale. How
did you do it?' they asked as soon as
they recovered from their astonish-
ment. I waited long enough for them
to become impatient. Then lifted the
box and turned 1t over, showing the
back had been broken in. AS soon
as they went out of the room I took
the box on my lap, laying the front
down. Then took out my block and
piece of iron and, with single blow,
which did not make noise enough for
them to hear'it in the next room, broke
open the box and removed the contents.
The whole operation did not take half
the time had asked for. The post
| master-general was convinced after
that that it was not worth while to
spend large sums of money in provid-
ing letter boxes with expensive locks,
when they could be so easily broken
into if one wished to get at their con-
tents. OF course, it may be said that
no thief would undertake such a job
On the streets of city, with the chance
that policeman might hear the blow.
But man with a pal might easily
avoid the danger of detection at an
early hour in the morning, for only
q light blow is required, the back Of
the letter box being very thin-hardly
thicker than sheet iron" Inquiry at
the postoffice showed that no attention
had been given to the question of steel
letter boxes and that the matter had
never been brought to the notice of
The officials by the Washington author
tiles. Several years ago there were
number Of boxes on the extreme west
side of the city robbed by being broken
| but such things are rare. The official