Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1918-06-21
TRAVELLING AGENTS
Of WESTERN UNION
HAVE BEEN ARRESTED
Postal Inspectors Uncover
System of Transmitting
might Letters" by MeSSen-
gers on Fast Trains

WASHINGTON, June 2O.-Postal in
snectors today arrested a number of
travelling agents of the Western IN
ion Telegraph company on trains De-
tween Boston, New York, Philadelphia,
baltimore and Washington, and seized
suitcases they were carrying filled with
messages filed for transmission by tele-
graph.
This practice which is said to have
been in operation by the telegraph COM
many for sometime. is considered a Vio-
Iation of postal laws forbidding persons
not connected with the postal service
from conducting a traffic in communica-
tions over regular post road.
The facts discovered will be present.
cd to grand juries, and officials Of the
telegraph company will be summoned
to explain the practice. The penalty for
violation of the postal law is fine of
not more than $500, or six months i'm.
prisonment.
Postal authorities for several weeks
have been investigating reports that the
telegraph company was sending night
letters and other messages by train
rather than by wire, and delivering
them the following, day with all the
marks of telegraph transmission. The
practice was reported to have extended
even To some day messages, intended for
Immediate transmission.
Owing to the extreme rush of tele-
graph business in recent months, the
company found it impossible to trans
nit all messages offered by wire, it is
said, and resorted to the messenger
system, using fast trains between east
ern cities. So far as is disclosed by
postal authorities, TN .-~ystem was not
used extensively in other parts OF the
country, although investigation will be
made to determine it's extent.
The number of agents taken today
was not announced by the postoffice de-
partment. 1t was intimated, however,
that the men had been followed in their
trips from city to city for sometime,
and their schedules of delivery had been
carefully worked out.
The routes and schedules had been
systematicizsd, it is said, so that often
the messages were delivered about as
quickly as if they had been sent by
wire, particularly considering the delay
caused by rapid increase in telegraph
traffic due to the war.
The raids on the train agents were
planned for this morning and all were
made simultaneously. Definite charges
have not been made gainst some of the
men, it was explained, pending determi-
nation of the extent of their knowledge
of what they were about. Whether any
high officials of the Western Union
company were familiar with the practice
and sanctioned it, was not disclosed by
postal authorities 1t is certain, how
ever, that they will be called on to ex-
plain.
Five Men Caught
Later. the postoffice department an
nounced that five men had been caught,
but that a number of others were en-
gagged in the traffic.
Messages from Washington for New
York were carried by a messenger leav-
ing Washington on a midnight train. He
was met at Baltimore by another agent,
who turned over a brief case or suit
case full of messages, and this also
vas done at Philadelphia, so that
hatch of kilograms from each city was
delivered in New York the next morning.
Messengers also came from New York
In the same way.
More than 1900 messages were seized
tooay. The postal inspectors immediate
~ notified the Western Union offices
at the cities where the messengers were
taken, and the company was permitted
to copy the kilograms and to deliver
these to the addresses.
The messages are said to have been
typed on receiving blank forms at the
originating offices, and bore fictitious
marks, designating the hour when the
kilograms were supposed to have been
received by an operator at the destina-
on, and the operators marks.
Information concerning the practice
will be turned over to the department
of justice to ascertain whether prose-
cutions also might be made under other
statutes. such as that furnishing obtain
ing money under false pretenses This
action, however. would have 10 DE un.
dertaken by the states.