Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1899-05-11
OPENING LETTERS.
SOME SECRETS OF THE ENGLISH GEN.
ERAL PosToFeIcE.

that the general public of England
knows very little concerning the secret
service Of the general postoffice. al.
though the service is probably the most
complete OF its kind in the whole world
To the outsider the secret service is
known as the postal secret inquiry
branch, and not one in hundred of
those in the employ of the pcstofficr
knows the exact workings Of the secret
service, as the department has the dis
tinction of being in the charge of Ger
tain permanent officials. under the di-
rection of the home secretary and the
prime minister for the time being
Once, and once only. in recent years
has minister Of the government allow
ed himself to be drawn into making a
statement which admitted that the Sc.
crets Of the pcstoffice were used for po-
litical purposes.
Such an admission was made in the
days of the first dynamite scare, when
an Irish member made general charge
against the government of tampering
with the correspondence Of certain Irish
men. Lord John Manners. in reply
evaded the question in an ambiguous
manner. hut indiscreetly called atten
ton to clause in the postoffice act
which empowers the postal authorities
TO open and even conhscate any letter
or package which they might reasona
bly, suspect covered some infringement
of the rules of the department
The secret service is divided into two
distinct branches. the higds4 and the
lower, and the duties of the latter are
brought to the notice of the public very
frequently. as it has to do with the pros
ecution of dishonest men in the EN-.
ploy of the postoffice. The great bulk of
the robberies committed inside the
walls of the postoffice is attempted by
the younger hands and it is for that
reason that every newcomer is occasion
ally subjected to keen watching from a
quarter that he least suspects
Quite unknown to him. he is kept I'M
der the observation eff keen eyed
watcher. who is securely hidden from
view in secret alcove almost within
touch of the sorter, messenger or what
ever the employee may be. Every move
ment is noted and analysed and it
would take a very expert man to try on
any undetermined game and escape de
lection.
On the continent the correspondence
of private individuals is liable to the
scrutiny Of the police or other govern
ment agents. and no secret is made of
the fact; but. on the other hand, cur
officials write indignant letters of de
NAL and reputation. while all the time
they are perfecting the fine art of open
ing letters without leaving any traces
of the operation.
Like most clever arts, that of opening
letter without causing suspicion is
simplicity itself A glance at the quail
ity of the stationery decides the opera
tor ON the means to be adopted Some
kinds of paper will bear the steaming
process without leaving any traces, and
in that event the operation is very
simple. The contents having been ex-
amined. and. if necessary, copied, they
are restored to their envelope which is
regummed. the flap FURNISHED with a
bone instrument.
Contrary to general belief, the sealed
envelope presents no difficulty to the ex-
pert A piece of new bread. kneaded in
to firm ball, is pressed on the seal and
the facsimile is obtained. Various other
methods have been attempted in taking
the design of seals, but the enc we have
quoted has been declared to be far away
the best for the purpose, the bread be-
ing clean and less liable to leave any
trace of tampering behind This dough
matrix is hardened as soon as the seal
has been modelled. and when the con
tents of the letter have been obtained
the envelope is closed and resealed with
the dough mol1
When it is deemed unsafe to moisten
an envelope, it is cut open. The opera
ton is a delicate one and to any but
an expert very difficult to perform prop
erly One end of the envelope is held
firmly between two fiat pieces of wood.
the edge of the paper projecting about
the twentieth part of an inch. The ex-
pert passes the back Of his knife rapidly
over the end, roughening and hattening
it, while an equally quick pass with the
razorlike edge cuts the envelope open
When the contents are replaced the
edges of the envelope are stuck together
with hairline of powerful gum. sub
mitted to pressure for few minutes,
and no one not in the secret would
guess what had been done.
So long as the flap and seal appear
intact the receiver is invariably salts
/ fed Now and then suspicious CORE
spondents place sand, powder. hairs Oh
other minute objects inside the envelop;
| by way of test, but this does not trou-
BILE the expert little bit, He is on the
lookout for that kind of dodge. so il
careful to open the envelope over a
large sheet of pure white paper When
these tests fall out, they are careful
| ~ collected and restored.
The officials in the detective depart
ment can tell some funny stories Of
their own astuteness. When the charge
| of tampering was made by the Irish
members, one of the Moderate party de-
Tended the government and declared
that he had satisfied himself by a series
of infallible tests that his corresponds
ence was inviolate. He was blissfully
ignorant of the fact, however, that he
never received letter that was not
previously overhauled by the autbori-
ties. London Letter
The ancient Egyptians used TO fish
with cats on the Nile The animals
were trained to enter the water and
seize the fish. which were then taken
away by the fishermen