The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-12-26
MAILS ARE EASY TO ROB.
But Few Postal Thieves Ever Escape
Final Detection,

"Postoffice thieves may work unde-
tected for months. perhaps years, but
they are sur to be entrapped and pun
ished i'm the end" aid an old detective
of the postoffice department. And /
may add" he continued, no thief
is harder to catch han the one who
robs Uncle Sans mails. Their methods
are ingenious, the plumber Is easily hid
den or destroyed and their rascality is
we'll masked by the honesty and integ-
rity of associates"
Postoffice thieves are not arrested
every day. although valuabl letters
and other articles are stolen almost
every day. and an army of shrewd in
spectors are on the alert. Positive
proof of guilt must be In the possession
of an inspector before an arrest is
made. In almost every instance ar
rest means conviction. A p~ostofice en-
ploye never knows when he Is being
Swallowed. Even when not under sus-
picion OF theft he may be watched out
side OF business hours to see IL he IL
spending more money than his salary
will permit and II ne is galloping with
a fast gang. 1t sometimes happens that
an inspector may not be able to prove
his man a thief and the accused is
turned loose with "A verdict of mot
guilty" as his certificate OF honesty,
but that man is not wanted by the post
office department any more.
FUN Jill DbllA VI z 4 II IN
full that there are so few thieves among
the many thousand clerks who handle
the mail first and last. for great temp
tations constantly rise as they handle
the millions of valuable parcels. II is
known that these clerks soon learn 10
tell by the very touch of a letter
whether IL contains money. II so in
clined, 1t would be an easy matter for
the dishonest clerk to slip letters into
his pocket and open them i'm the pri-
vacy OF his room. That the cases of
dishonesty are comparatively few is p
high tribute To the moral qualities OF
p~ostoffice clerks.
Years ago resumed the inspector,
as he rehlled a beautiful pipe present
ed to him by ex-Inspectors Booth and
Whitesides, ION one OF the old star
routes out i'm New Mexico hundreds Of
letters containing money. drafts,
checks and other v%aluables were stolen.
At first letters and all disappeared. but
thieves changed their mode OF opera
tion and simply stole the contents, re-
sealing the letters and sending them on.
As letters pass through the hands OF
many clerks. IL is always difficult 10
locate the thief. Months OF faithful
work resulted in nothing being discov-
cred as 10 the Identity OF the thieves.
and the riding of letters continued.
Finally there was a happy solution
OF the trouble. One of the inspectors
procured a quantity of different kinds
of drugs and sent other inspectors over
the entire route with instructions to
make a O of book Investigations. AMI
while thus engaged TO place some OF
one kind OF drugs I'm the mucilage bot
tie at each office. taking care to make
a memorandum which would show at
what office the drug had been placed.
IL was not long before n registered let
ter came through with the money gone.
The Inspector put his lips to the seal
OF the envelope. tasted the mucilsRc.
referred to his book. and at once named
the office at which the particular drug
had been placed in the mucilage. Then
a lot of decoy registered letters went
TO that office, and the dishonest post
master secured the contents and the
Inspectors secured him. This. I think.
was one OF the cleverest pieces OF work
ever done by the department. The in
spector who put IL INTO execution was a
fine chemist and kne exactly what
kind of drugs To get.
There are but two successful ways
10 catch a postoffice thief-constant
watching and decoy letters. With these
and patience the game will be landed.
although IL often requires months and
sometimes years. IL is one OF the most
annoying and difficult ltT - OF detective
work a a ever engaged in and re-
quires the most earnest application. Not
n single circumstance or detail must be
overlooked Sometimes luck helps Is
out OF our difficulties. I remember once
In a city not very far from Washington
things were in a fearful state In the dis-
tribution division % the office. IL an
peared a though We would never catch
the fellow who was making away with
valuable letters. one day there came
up a terrific rain and with this came
a happy thought 10 the inspector. He
carried a bucket OF water into the loft
and threw IL on the overhead plaster
! inst over the distributors. Naturally a