Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-01-06

their methods. and, instead of taking the
letters entire. opened and took the contents,
resealing and forwarding. Inspectors were
sent over the routes, spending sleepless
days and nights, and the only facts gath
cred We're that the letters passed through
many hands, and that thefts did not
abate Men were watched and Swallowed,
but to no purpose.
Finally one of the inspectors procured at
a wholesale drug house a quantity of diff
ferent kinds of drugs, which were care
fully labeled and placed in the travelling
grip. The inspector started out a sup
posedly trip of inspection of the offices
along the routes where the letters were
being stolen. He made an examination of
books and accounts, and while doing this
he managed to slip and mix n little of one
of the drugs in the mucilage bottle, using
a different drug for the mucilage at each
Office, and making a memorandum which
would show just where the drug was used.
He watched results, and pretty soon New
York merchant produced letter which
had been opened and rified of large sum
of money. The inspector took the envel-
ope. tasted and smelled the mucilage; took
out his little look, and in moment told
just the Office where the letter had oeen
monkeyed with. He lost no time in getting
to the Office in the Mexican Rockies. Decoy
letters were started over the route, and the
postmaster went for them like a hungry
duck. The result was that within two
weeks the inspector had his bird hooked on
to pair of handouts, and he was sent to
the pen.
"There are two successful ways to catch
a postal thief" continued the inspector
Zone Is constant watch, and the other de-
coy letters; with these and large supply
of patience, the game can nearly always be
landed after time. 1t often requires
months, and sometimes years, to catch one
Of these thieves. 1t is one OF the most an
Il Hnr,lf JipnC nj W.
a man ever engaged in, and requires the
most earnest application. Not single cir
cumstance or detail must be overlooked or
neglected. OF course, luck helps us out
sometimes, as the case in certain
city where several inspectors were trying
to ascertain who was stealing hundreds of
letters. There came up heavy rain which
caused a leak in the roof of the building,
and the water soaked through the plaster
ing right over the distribution or asserting
ROOM workman was sent up to look
after the damage, and he MANAGED to KICK
a hole through the plastering. The super
intendent of the building was asked to let
the work Of repairing stop, which he did,
and one of the inspectors climbed to the
loft. and from the L.g hole ne couid watch
the men at work. He was rewarded by see
ing a clerk slip letter after letter In his
pockets. Hurrying down from the LOFT he
walked into the room and arrested the
clerk. taking from his pockets more than q
dozen letters. 1t didn't take long to send
the thief where short hair Is the style.
ain some Of the larger offices tremen-
dously big baskets are used in the sorting
room. An inspector hid in one Of these
baskets and succeeded in locating slip-it-
in-my-pocket letter thief. When the in
spector emerged from his place Of hiding
the clerk fell In a dead swoon to the floor,
and IL was several minutes before he could
be told that his name was Dennis. He
went over the way in a gallon"
Pest Office burglaries give the inspectors
some hard rows to weed and the burglaries
of Offices increased last year to 1,SO2, which
was 221 more than the previous year. The
assistant attorney general anproyed during