The Nome nugget., 1902-02-22
Detecting Envelopes Which
 Contain Newspapers.
HOW IT IS DoNE
The Hercuiean Labors of the Hawk Eyed POstoffiCe Officials at Skag. way to Prevent a Stray New sraper Being Sent Through the Tails.

Abraham Lincoln once sai that ytu can fool all the people some of the time: some of the people all of the time: but you can't fool all of the people all of the time. Neither can you fool the postoffice employees. and the local boys are no exception 10 the rule. says the Skagway Alaskan of November l3.
 Yesterday afternoon an Alaskan rep resentative happened to fall through e door of the po>toiiice into the little place behind the boxes. Harry Re 'n- hart, the stamp cancellOr and all-aronnd ass .stant p"stman, was working away at the sorting table. First be would pick up a large envelope. Carefully his eyes and hands would pass over it.. Perhaps a gleam wOu d light up hi> eagle eve, and with hiss he would pit f,rth these stagcdOm words. "At last villain. have you." And bitl, Miss Envelope would hit the high spots and snuggle away in a big box heath the table.
 The scribe got excited. He looked for knife, for he did not know but that l. lhave-you-villain gleam iii Harry s eye would light on him, and it would be all off with the reporter in bunch.
 Time and time again large envelopes would find their way underneath the tab,e in box marked "Nit.' Then the pencil shower got an axe and sauntered up to the table and timidIy said: "Why. slave, dost thou put big >lzed envelopes in wonder boxlets? :"
 The coming postmaster general looked the newspaper man up and down, from his head to his COW hides, and. as his eye lit on the axe. he said: "l'hey would fool Uncle Sam, but not your Skagway uncle. You see those enve.op, $? Well, they are for points below Dawson. They contain letters think not. They are full of papers, and you can't send papers this time of
 the year to any place between Daw, on and the lower river, Nome included. Met thinks many will wait for the letter that never came; that is, they will have to wait until the steamer, hegin to run in the spring, tra-la.'
 "But.' queried the news gathorer, soto vooe, ''don't you ever make a mistake and throw some letters in the box :"
 "Never," replied Harry. "There is aiw ls printers ink ,meIl about the envelope that can detect when sack is thrown from the deck of a steamer nto the wagon al the dock even. My smell is educated. When in (oubt l tear little hole in the corner of the envelope and find out. But have only Il ade che mis ake, and that was over a year ago.
 Tt Was this way,' Harry went on. "A nice, fat envelope came in the mail. L was for Fort Yukon, and postmarked RGti erdam. Germany. 1 felt it. Gee whiZn, thought, there must be dozen
 al CTS in this, but was not sure. l. ni. hl be etter written on meat Il arket paper.
 "I tore it open. Holy Moses. Dc you >mell that funny, nauseating air ill the pO.,ottice. Well it was caused by that letter being opened. It contained cheese, l. mburger cheese. It was ir crumbs an it raL out of the envelope That was the only II islahe, but ti.al was enough. pay attention to post marks. and il one con e, from Gern any 1t goes down the lii Q, scat.'
 From the above it appear, that nc papers can be sent while the mail is being carried over the i,e 60 points be- low Daws'n. Many. have. no doubt taken this method to smuggle papers as it were, through the mail, thinking hat it would pass as letter. but il does not.