The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1906-12-07
USE OF DECOY LETTEKS,

There have been several arrests ant
convictions Of local postal employe,
recently for mail depredations, and il
discussing these instances a postofflc.
inspector said: g.
although we use the same old bal,
in catching postal offenders, and the
novoice at the business and the ole
hand knows what it is as well as we
they keep on just the same until the
time wora but deadly certain decoy
letter, lands them high and dry in
the penitentiary, to wonder and lamen,
at their leisure why they were 80 weak
and foolish to bite at it.
"The decoy letter is such q simple
thing that the average citizen may
wonder at its effectiveness or why the
thief doesn't succeed 10 lodging it.
1t is the greatest silent thief catcher
in use by men who make it their bust
ness to spprehend their dishonest fel
lows, will always remain so, and
doesn't need improving to insure its
stability in the criminal world.
"There is an angle of delusion in
matters criminal as in honest affairs
and the postal thief's slant is that be
thinks hs will not be discovered; at
the same time he knows perfectly well
that complaints of missing letters are
invariably made to the department
and that the departments machinery
for the investigation is practically
perfect, based upon years Of expert.
ence.
"The postal thief, emboldened by
initial successes and elated by the
pleasant novelty of having in his
pockets ready and easy money for
which he did not have to work, goes
along merrily until the innocent ap.
pearing "decoy letter. is silently slip
ped in the mails, to find its way to
his hands as surely as does the fish
torpedo to the steel magnet OF the
battleship's sides.
"Do they try to dodge this missive
of danser7 Oh, yes, they do try.
The explosion does not necessarily
follow the launching of the first letter.
If a postal thief is suspicious of q
letter he will let it 60 through, even
though be is morally certain that it
contains the coveted cash he is after.
In these cases the 'decoy' continues
its part of the silent detective just the
same. If the dishonest employee al.
lows it to 'slip BY it tells the inspec.
tors at the other end of the line i. its
mute way that the employee Is 'on,
they just send another, and still others
if necessary, until the inevitable GER
tain one lands in the pocket of the
thleving employee, then to change its
role of detective to documentary evi.
dence,' which winds up the career of
the victim OF bis own cupidity.
"The 'decoy letter. contains all the
outward, and inward for that matter,
appearance of an ordinary piece OF
mail intended for the addresse, who
may be some private citizen or bust.
ness house whoss mail 10 being tam.
pered with. That's how We get 'em.
They can't tell the difference, it be.
ing q case of all looking alike to me.
Only = postal thief is naturally eau
tious, and doubly so if he thinks he
10 being watched. But they don't all
look alike to the postoffice inspector
in charge Of the case. Their private
esrmarks are as big as house to the
inspectors, and when they are shown
up in court one by one I guess that
they look about twice a. large to the
thief on trial."-Washington Star.