The record-union., 1898-01-07

/ 1t may be of interest to add a few
| words as to the manner in which let
terS are opened by the Black Cabinet.
al the more as the art of opening
| closed envelopes without leaving trace
| OF their having been tampered with is
| put little known. In some instances
the knife Is inserted just beneath the
| seal, which is deftly removed, and
then pasted on again after the en-
yelope has been ungummed and pasted
| up again. Sometimes a fresh seal is
| made; for the equipment of a Black
Cabinet comprises stamps and seals of
almost every conceivable description,
and there are few red or black wax
seals CT any Importance that pass
through its hands Of which an impress
sIons not taken in soft wax But in
the majority of cases, especially where
there are large number of letters to
be examined. the procedure is of a
much more summary, and yet of a more
ingenious character. The envelope is
slit with an exceedingly sharp and thin
| steel knife. 1t is slit at one end. that
| is 10 say, not quite at the end, but
within an eighth of an inch of the
told, and the cut is made with a knife
|
! 10 leave the largest surface possible to
/ the two edges of the cut paper. Through
| this slit the letter is extracted. read
| ana then replaced, paste of a special
character prepared for this purpose be-
ing tlpereupon applied to the two lips.
which are closed together, leaving as
little trace Of any scar as we'll healed
slight cut or scratch on the skin
/ 1t iS tho fac of tInsa
not on the back, that the slit is usually
made, and an additional postmark or
tWo perhaps slight smudge as WELL
serve to efface the trace of the viola
fuon OF the letter SO completely that
1t would require almost a microscope to
discover where the cut had been made.
Besides, people who apprehend that
their letters may be tampered with al
most invariably examine the seal. the
back of the envelope and its folds. Few.
save the initiated ever dream of look
ing Tor the trace of any cut on the
face of the envelope.
AN ATTACHES EXPERIENCE
Perhaps it may occur to the reader
to inquire how the writer of this ar
ticie happens to possess so much tech
meal knowledge of methods which even
though employed by a Government can
only be described as questionable in the
extreme. In response to this [ can only
briefly state that during the earlier
portlon OF my official career it was
considered necessary by my chief to
keep watch on the intrigues of certain
exceedingly INSCRIPTIONS, and more or
less openly ayowed, agents of foreign
power Through detectives it was
round how and through whom they
received their letters, and after that
lle oiacK cabinet was set to work. and
every communication they received was
known by my chief before they received
II themselves. All these communica-
tlons were brought in the first place
10 mysef by the head Of the Black
CABINET and it is to his explanations
that am indebted for the knowledge
Whlchfl possess of the methods of his
department.
IL was likewise during the early davs
OF my official career that I became mi
llated INTO the mysteries of carving
Government dispatches to and from for
elgn capitals, attaches being often used
Tor the purpose when a regular messen-
ger does not happen to be available. I
aIWays remember the first bag of dis
patches that was intrusted to nv care
was warned to be particularly careful
ana TO make point of handing it to the
ambassador to whim it was addressed
IN person. | scarcely slept a wink
throughout the entire trip. so impressed
was l with the sense of the Importance
OF the contents of the bag, and appre-
hensive lest it might be stolen from me
by agents of some foreign Government.
reached Vienna in the morning and
dining that same evening at the EN-
bassy table scarcely knew whether to be
mortified or to laugh when the good old
Embassador-it was Sir Andrew Bu-
chanan-thanked me across the table |
with a sort of twinkle in his eye for the |
shirt collars which I had brought him |
from London. adding that her .ladyshfp |
was equally obliged to me for having |
brought the tea. AS 1 had delivered no |
other parcel to Sir Andrew but the |
Foreign Office bag Of dispatches, l am |
fain to conclude that both tea and shirt |
collars We're inside that bag, and that |
the dispatches had taken up a small |
place indeed therein. On another occa-
sion the diplomatic bag which l brought |
back from Brussels contained a lot of |
biscuits of peculiar nature, baked at a |
royal palace at Brussels and destined |
for the table of her majesty at Windsor |
Incidents such as these, and number |
of others of an analogous character, |
ended by convincing me that an attache
is far from enjoying, either in the eyes
of his chief, of his chiefs wife or in that |
of the Government which he endeavors |
TO serve, the Importance which he h m
self fondly imagineS that he possesses |
for some time after joining the Line"
but not for very long. The Embassa- |
dress especially If he happens to be good |
looking is apt to treat him as a species |
of tame cat, not to say lapdog, at times, |
however, conceding to him rather less |
consideration than she is wont to ac- |
cord to these two domestic animals The |
ambassador seems to regard the attache |
IN the light of a mere boy, Which is ex-
tremely disconcerting; while TO the vet |
eran Secretaries the attacha is more or |
less butt of witticisms and jokes, |
which he finds it difficult to appreciate |
in their humorous light. Still, there are |
some compensations in the life Of an at |
tache, and among those who DO not |
know more about his profession he is
able to pose as though weighed down |
and overwhelmed with the burden or the |
state secrets that are locked up IN his
breast At such times he is, of course,
in his element and in the seventh hea-
Ven of delight.
THE UNIFORM SELDOM USED.
Save in time Of war or international
difficulties, the English Queens Mes
sengers'' and the Continental 'Cour-
riers de Cabinet rarely wear the uni
form m which thay are entitled and |