The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1903-05-12
Stamp Clerk Asserts That
WeII-Dressed Man Handed
s.Missive to Him to Be
Weighed.

NA'AiC ~ y - ~ ~ ~ ~ -
That Of a Well-Educated
American.
NEW YORK, May 12.-From the gen
sraI postomce yesterday came what may
be a cIew to information regarding the
sender OF the mysterious letter OF warn
Ing which led to the discovery of the
Internal machine on the Umbria's pier.
Harry Lyons, a stamp clerk al win
dow No. il, on the Park Row side of the
office told of a we'll dressed. prosper
ous-looking man who came to his win
dow last Saturday morning. with let
ter addressed TO Commissioner Greene,
Police Headquarters. New York City"
This man did not buy q special delivery
stamp. but wanted 10 know if the 2-cenJ
stamp already on the letter would be
enough 10 carry it, IN taking the letter
TO weigh it, the clerk saw the address.
Clerks Statement.
- was on duty at window No. II last
Saturday said Mr.. Lyons, from a
M 10 p. m. Some time in the morn
ing a well dressed man. looking to me
like a business man, handed in letter
and asked if the stamp on il was enough
to carry il. l took the letter in my
hand 10 weigh il, and in that way saw
that ii was addressed to Commissioner
Greene, police headquarters, New York
don't think there was any street ad-
dress given. I said that a 2-cent stamp
would carry il, and handed the letter
back
Probably I shouldn't have remem-
bered anything about it. only it seemed
little funny to me at the time that Il
man who looked like this one should ask
that question, when the letter was light
l can't describe the man or his clothes
You know, we see hundreds of men in a
day here. I don't remember whether the
address was written with lead pencil or
with ink, and I'm not at all sure that
there was an old issue stamp on the en-
velope.''
Stamped at Home
The letter which was sent to police
headquarters bore a two-cent stamp OIL
the old Issue, none of which have been
sold from the postof1ice for twelve weeks
terday. Following ont line of reasoning
that the letter was evidently written
and the envelope stamped at The writer's
home. with stamp for some time in his
possession, and that when he purchased
the special delivery stamp, he might
have displayed the letter IN some way.
a list of the stamp clerks on duty last
Saturday was obtained
The half dozen were interrogated about
any purchasers OF special delivery
stamps on last Saturday. and. while
there were many sales nothing definite
was learned until Mr.. Lyons made his
statement regarding the lettet.
Ca-yalho's Opinion
Previous to this. the only information
concerning this mysterious letter at the
detective bureau was that the postmark
allowed it had been mailed. at the general
postofhce. at II o'clock, and the opinion
OF David Carvalho the handwriting ex-
pert, that the writing indicated that an
American. well educated, had written il. |
apparently trying TO disguise his hand !
This new information entirely dissipates /
the Malta theory and doesn't lend much I
weight 10 the Fenian suppogition On the /
other hand, there is no motive apparent, /
and the police and the Cunard line au-
thorities can find none
Robert Floyd, acting agent Of the
Cunard Line. said yesterday that under |
no circumstances could the internal ma
chine have got aboard the Umbria.
Wouldn't Have Taken It.
= want TO emphasize that point" he
said. 1T could not have been taken on |
as cargo. because every bit Of our cargo
must be accompanied by invoices. and I.
we VIII not accept anything from per-
sons We don't know. Now with passen-
gers baggage, it's a little different.
Trunks and packages come down 10 our
piers IN all kinds OF ways, sometimes
in wheelbarrows, and you will readily |
see that we couldn't hold up every ex-B
pressman until he shows US where hef
comes from. So we take the baggage,
and put II on the pier.
Not one piece, however, could be
taken on the steamer until the passenger
came along with his ticket and the
baggage was properly checked, addressed
and labeled. Every other line takes the
.Sanae precautions. Now, as 10 motive,
ub against solid facts here. and | prefer
10 let the police 90 the theorizing The
Mafa theory IS absurd The line has
nothing 70 do with Italians as 4 nation
As TO the Fenians, our relations with the
Irish are OF the most pleasant kind. We
have had no trouble with any employees
no labor troubles OF any kind and there
is no one who has cause for enmity
against :he line"
"a Dastardly Outrage"
Commissioner Greene talked freely
regarding the attitude OF the police de-
partment toward the dynamite case
While he would not tell the exact lines
OF work, he said that everything pos
sible was being done 10 run down the
persons who sent the internal machine,
! ID that the efforts would not stop until
80 persons were caught. He char
-ized the act as q dastardIy outrage,
said that as much energy would be