The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-11-02
HIDING IN NEW YORK.

In a city Ike this there are at all times
thousan ds OF persons who, for one reason
or another. Ieg1timateiy or illegItimately,
! temporarily or permanently wish to con-
ceal or withhold either their identity or
their whereabouts, and there are many
ways in which this can be done. says the
| New York Evening Post Entirely aside
/ from the problem OF eluGing the vigilance
| of police and detectives, actually living IN
hiding or disappearing from sight. which
/ are the exQedients OF the really criminal
classes. men can generally manage 70
keep themselves 10 themselves If they
want 70. Perhaps some questionable act
or plan is at the bottom Of such desire,
! perhaps there are business reasons but
quite as often. probably, the chief motive
! is the desire not 10 be bothered u
is an impossible wish 20 crafty in the
country. and this fact goes good way 20
explain why certain classes Of people
flock 70 the cities.
Private letter box agencies, Of the kind
( that played such an important part IN ev-
! iderce in the AIolineux trial, were up 10
few years ago, one of the chief resources
/ for all sorts OF shady transactions ana
ciandestine correspondence. There were
| between 80 and 80 Of these places. most
of them in cigar stores or small shops.
1 box could be rented for FIVE dollars a year
or Whereabouts. and II implied the right
/ 10 have mail addressed 10 that partieu-
I lar street number just as though the
recipient really lived or did business
there. Il does not require much mag
( nation to see to what abuses such
I scheme would inevitably lead CHIEF
Devery. before he was chief spoke as the
practical policeman and net the graf
ter when he said that if the postohice
/ department could succeed in closing UP
these places il would perform one OF the
most useful acts possible for the city
! When Postmaster Van Colt was first APP
pointed his attention was drawn Torcibly
( TO the subject by his accidentally going
/ into ore of these letter-bOX agencies ct
! bore the SIGN OF an umbrella mender(. 20
! get his umbrella repaired. He tried 20 get
/ a bill through congress against them, but
] failed In his next term as postmaster.
/ however, a general order form the depart
ment at Washington accomplished the
! same result without legislation. On
certain morning about two years ago,
/ the mail addressed TO all the agencies
vas stopped simultaneously, and notices
( sent. saying that the addresses could get
their letters by applying at the general
] pOstOhice- There were about 1000 let
i ters held UP in all. and the character OF
the subjects TO which they related can
1 re guessed from the fact that only about
/ 900 OF the letters were ever called for.
/ The rest went TO the dead letter office.
Since then, attempts to go into this line
! of business have been promptly sup
pressed. 1t is q successful preseXt, how
ever, in some Instances, to have letters
! addressed TO the bona-fde tenant at
/ certain address, an inner envelope bear
/ ing the name or the assumed name Of
the man who does not care TO get these
particular letters at MS home or office.
Z Once IN a while the sign Letter boxes
( rented" is still to be seen on sNie
street.
! The general delivery or poste restante
/ is primarily a convenience for travellers
and new arrivals in the city who have
not yet fixed upon a place Of residence,
yet some people use it who have regular
and permanent addresses which they
might lust as well use. So long as
person Is identified satisfactorily, the
I authorities cannot refuse 70 deliver mail
matter Some OF the recent cases Of
threatened kidnapping in which the
/ blackmaiiers hired small boys TO go 10
/ the general delivery for answers 70 their
propositions VIII occur to newspaper
( readers in this connection. In each OF
/ these instances detectives were waiting
at the window when the letters were
handed out.
The telegraph as it Is well known. is a
I common carrier, and through It the
/ 'greengOods" games are usually con-
Quoted The lotteries, since they moved
out Of this country and were denied the
use Of the mails have resorted TO the eX-
( press companies. Both these methods,
! for purposes Of private business. have the
disadvantage that a receipt IS required
from the receiver, and il is too easy 20
ind him again.
The recent 1oolToom raids and the
revelations concerning the system of tip
ping off" have revealed the usefulness Of
the telephone 70 those classes who do
not live exactly in the fierce white light
of publicity. Some of the telephone
numbers Of these places are not in the
telephone directory, but one Of the best
1 known gambling houses IN the city is
there, entered as it's proprietor resi-
dence. To entirely different reasons,
however, are 10 be attributed the hun
dreds Of private telephone numbers
which are omitted from the book and
known only To those whom the subscriber
I chooses to tell. Usually these instrU
ments are in residences. and TIE owner
to save himself and his family from the
annoyance Of being 'rung up By Tom,
Dick and Harry. simply orders the num-
Der omiSsed from the published list. Most
men Of wealth and position have teie-
/ phones in their houses, yet comparative
l ~ few Of them viii be found alongside
the same mems office numbers. There
are a number Of business men and law
yers who have, besides the regular teie-
L
private telephone wires, the numbers or
which no others know. On these they
can cali mp others. always being sure Of a
clear line at once, but cannot be called
up by outsiders. IT Is Ike "a turnstiie
gate good for exit. but not for entrance
Just exactly the same desire Of bust
ness men and men OF affairs % keep
their homes as completely disconnected
as possible from their daily activities is
shown 10y a careful examination Of the
city directory. II either o. a mans sd-
dresses is omitted. IL is almost always
that Of his house. The agents sent out
by the publishers to collect and verify the
addresses say that this II their greatest
difficulty. often. even q personal letter
fails 10 secure the home address o.
man who IS only too glad 10 have his
place Of business inserted r. the direc-
tory. IN only about a hundred cases
in the entire city has information as %
q mans business been refused point
blank for this years directory. In such
instances the entry IS. Jones, John Gre
fused -W. - S." one reason Tor
the requests 70 be kept oct of The a.
rectory entirely IS a widespread but en-
tirely erroneous belief that this wiz
secure complete exemption from jury
duty.
Recovering the Lest.
Horuhy--'- hat was a curious request of
Dyman. The Delta Earazine failed.
won know ard Re azred rhat re rfght