The Cairo bulletin., 1910-05-23
WROTE LETTERS
TO HERSELF
CLEVER DETECTIVE WORK UN-
VEitED WoMAN'S SCHEMES
IN ENGLAND.
Case Of MRS. TUGWELL
Police Tracked Her BY Means Of
Chemically Treated Postage
Stamps on the
Letters.

London, May 22.-An extraordinary
story, which might have been lifted
frDm the pages of one Of Sir Arthur
Conan-Doyle's famous Sherlock
Holmes novels was told at the SUIT
ton recently, when Annie Tugwell,
wife of the local register of births
and deaths, was charged on warrant
Of libelling Canon Cafferatas the Ro-
man Catholic priest at wellington
The case is a sequel to a libel ac-
ton brought by Mrs. Tugwell against
Annie Dewey, the Canons house
keeper. 1t was alleged that she was
the author OF three letters in which
accusations We're made against the
character of Mrs. Tugwell. The girl
was acquitted and subsequently,
after inquiries at the instance of the
director of public prosecutions, Mrs.
Tugwell was herself arrested.
MIR. Bodkin, who prosecuted on be-
half of the treasury, stated that after
the letters began to be circulated
again, and the police took steps to put
a stop to what had then passed out
OF tho range of ordinary private
libeis
The libels were enclosed in en-.
yelopes bearing half-penny stamps,
but sealed down." he said. Accord
ingly the police became possessed of
4 a numbeR of nfahaifpeany stamps.
ut was known where the Tugwells
purchased their stamps. and so these
were handed to the sub-postmaster
with instructions that they were only
to be sold to members OF the Tugwell
household
Before that the police had resorted
to chemicals There are certain
chemical preparations which can be
written with an ordinary pen, but
which leave no mark and are IN no
way affected by color. A second
chemical will at once bring ont that
writing.
A servant at Mrs. Tugwells house
bought six half-penny stamps, and
was handed those which had been
marked in this way.
THE first recipient of one of these
marked envelopes was Canon CAT
ferata. It purported to be signed by
Miss Sullivan. That name appears
In at least two of the letters alleged
in the last trial to have been sent to
Annie Dewey
Treated With Chemicals.
THE stamp was treated with the
second chemical | have referred to,
and so the first of the six stamps was
accounted for.
Another OF the stamps was on a
letter sent to Mrs. Wesley, in Car
shalton road and then came a letter
addressed to Mrs. Tugwell herself in
exactly the same handwriting as the
other letters,
''The police seeing that the stamp
was half-penny one. treated 1t with
the chemical, and another marked
stamp was accounted for.
"A few yards from Mrs. Tugwells 5
house," continued Mr.. Bodkin, lis a
postoffice letter box, and Inspector
Ward arranged that it should be
watched.
"On April 16, about 5 o'clock Mrs,
Tugwell was seen to go to the front
door of uer house, look up and down
the road and then go indoors again.
At five minutes to nine she did the
same thing. Directly she went in
doors the second time postoffice Of
fetal was requested by Inspector
Ward to clear the letter box.
lie did so and minute or two later
Mrs. Tugwell came out again, and
dropped two communications into tile
empty letter box. She returned to
the house, and the box was at once
oeened and the letters taken out.
Whose letter were in precisely the
sam, handwriting as the letters 4
imveNMeviously referred to, and both
bore Salf.penny stamps One was ad-
dressed to Mrs. Wesley. of Carshal.
ton road, and the other to Mrs. Tug
well herself.
Mrs. Tugwell was committed for
trial,