Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1897-06-23
d. 8 SECRET SERVICE.


READY at an instant'g notice to seize any
person who might make a mo'sion 10
draw weapon. Twcnty-four OF the
Washington police were also detailed to
duty about the White House. All this
has been changed by President Nc
Kinlcy OF course there Is mere or less
danger from cranks. but to Mr.. Nc
Kinley's war service, perhaps, may be
attributed his disregard Of It, and GER
tainly the change Is one that pleases
the fancy OF the people.
Notwithstanding the exemption from
this kind OF duty, there is enough for
Uncle Sans secret service to do. as
will be seen from this historical sketch
Of II written by bright Washington
correspondent.
| The secret service had its beginning
| in June, 1861, when Lafayette G. Baker
was appointed by Secretary Seward as
an agent to gather information in the
Southern Confederacy. Now and then
| the detectives OF this organization,
whose proper business Is the catching
OF counterfeiters. are called on for other
work. They have been working, re-
Gently. on the thefts Of valuable auto
graph letters from the Library Of Con-
gress. the full extent of which has not
yet been ascertained. II Is said that
not a single autograph letter Of Lin
coin remains In the collection. Not
long ago they were employed TO investi-
| gate the stamp stsa ling business which
was discovered in the treasury. The
stamps. worth money as curios. were
cut and torn from old documents.
| Eventually 10000 of them We're recov-
| cred through dealers TO whom they had
been sold When II Is suspected that
government employe is disS3pa;irAS toe
much a detective Of the secret service
| IL apt to be detailed to shadow him, al
the request Of the head Of the bureau
| IN which he works In this way ii Is
| aseertained just how he spends his
money; the number and kinds Of drinks
h takes: IL he plays the races or poker.
and whether he has other vices. II
the report Of the detective Is unfavor-
able, the cmploye receives warning
The mysteriousness Of the means Of In
formation in cases Of this sort adds
much to the effect OF il.
| Nearly every one Of the executive de-
partments has its corps Of detectives
The Hawkshaws Of the postofIice de-
partmeut are among the cleverest III
the business, and they are constantly
kept busy in chasing thieves and per
Icons who use the mails for various dis
honest purposes. Local newspaper re-
| porters have discovered that the new
Washington rostofIice. now nearly fin
| ished. is provided with a system of
peepholes by which the clerks and car
riers can be watched without knowing
4 Il. The peepholes are connected with
| q secret passage and stairs ascending
from the basement This idea does not
seem wholly in accordance with nine
teenlh century notions. but it is fact
4 that all postofices are built with such
peepholes for the secret supervision OF
Iemployes The rifiing Of letters is very
common form of theft. and many
mystery Of this kind has been solved by
placing a watchful eye at an artfully
| concealed hole in the wall OF post
office.
| one of the most interesting discover
les Of this sort was made AT Whining
ton \. c.. where much trouble had
been caused by the rifling of letters.
The perpetrator of the thefts was
clerk, who made a full confession on
being detected in the act. He said that
|
cer.aining whether or not letter con
| taincd money. This seemed so ey-
| ,raordinary that the detectives induced
him to give an exhibition of his powers
| for their benefit ana instruction.
Though blindfolded. he picked out,
without a mistake. seven letters that
had banknotes in them from a pie of
| four hundred and odd. OF course, old
| bills have a very peculiar and percep-
tible odor. which is chiefly due TO dirt
accumulated in passing through many
hands: but this clever thief was able
to smell new bills through an envelope
with equal certainty. 1t is said that an
expert is able to tell If a letter contains
money by the feel" and another
method is to draw thread with knot
on the end of it through the envelope.
when some of the fibre paper of the
notes will come with it.
The mere fact that eight hundred or
more postoftices in this country arc
robbed every year. affords a sugges-
ton of the amount of business to which
the detectives of the postal service are
obliged to attend. But large part Of
their time is occupied in efforts to pre-
vent the use of the mails for fraudu-
lent and otherwise Objectionable
purposes. Some of the most diff
cult cases are made by women who
write anonymous letters. Nearly all of
that sort of work is done by women,
and usually jealousy is the motive. !
Again. much trouble is caused by per- |
sons who send immoral literature and
indecent pictures by post. There is the !
green goods industry to be attended to. |
not to mention an immense variety OF /
minor frauds. such astswindling matri-
monial bureaus and claim agencies for
mythical estates. Mail-box pilfering is
a regular industry, very hard to sup
press. An old method consisted in
pulling the letters out of the box by
means of a piece of waxed sole leather
on a string. but now the favorite dodge
is to personate a carrier with false
key
Notwithstanding all that the govern
ment detectives have been able to do
thefts in the treasury have been frequent
and in some cases very large. In June.
1870. a sneak thief dropped his hat over
package of $40 notes in the issue room.