El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1919-07-05
FREAK LETTERS
IN nut FILE =
Amateur Detectives Crowd
Department of Justice !.
With War Advice.


BY FREDERIC J. HASkIN.
Washington. D. c. July 5--Fantas
tic results we're expected to accru'
when. during the war. the fedora
government asked each OF its 100.
100000 citizens TO constitute himself
a Sherlock Holmes sor the detection
Of the disloyaL Good service resulted
as z whole. but the call, to a certain
element was like extending an inVi.
ration 70 a banquet to the nations
hobo horde. Those men and womeT
from coast to coast who have the
letter writing mania, those people
who may possess brilliant minds gone
wrong, or dwarfed minds reaching
out beyond their sphere, grasped ths
occasion as long sought opportu-
nifty.
So the department OF justice, which
through its bureau Of Investigation
snforeed the espionage act, and there
lore became the clearing house for
such Information, found itself the re-
ciplent OF wagon loads Of epistIes
from the erratic, letters from lunatics
notes rom the nutty. So numerous
were these communications that It
became necessary to establish what
It dubbed its nut" file and there to-
day may be seen a most remarkable
collection Of letters from these mental
saw Crown Prince.
Here is one, for instance, which ar
rived q month after the armistice WIS
signed;
The crown prince has landed n
the United States. I saw him a few
days ago. I am sure the stranger is
the son Of the kaiser. The physical
resemblance is startling. have been
carefully supplied with an accurate
description Of the crown prince. and
! an convinced that my Identification
is correct
-He was well dressed, and wore
long tan well tailored. close fitting
broaocloth coat like those usually
seen at the races in England The
walk Of this man was also identical
with that OF the crown prince as de-
scribed in the newspapers. He walked
with a slow, staggering stroll, al
most strut. with q heavier bearing
on the right foot.
He was a little taller than the
crown prince usually seems, but he
was very much ike him indeed. His
manner, however, was very nervous,
as though on the alert The peculiar
itE Of gait showed that OF an officer
accustomed TO wearing a sword and
OF IL.
The man who might have been his
royal hiEhness might also have been
only German officer bearing such
resemblance, who purposely came
70 America 10 parade around nd give
out this suspicion in order that the
real Wherea5o OF the crown prince
may remain sti1 a safe mystery"
This letter came from q woman IN
Mississippi It is typical II might
have been Of importance It had TO
be studied as did all of its kind. Often
Intelligence and had 10 be investi-
gated The fact that il belonged in
the nut file had TO be established
Cause Much Work.
far 1-e- u
TO a course in the psychology OF the
unbalanced. but it likewise required
much effort Some OF the letters con-
tain as many as 5000 words. Most
IS to how the war should have been
fought and how the department /
should cope with pro Germans in this /
country The department would have I
needed a force OF agents as large as
the army to investigate the charges I
made in these letters.
often a well written communication.
making accusations Of pro-Gerrnan I
tendencies and activities. would be in I
vestigated only TO find that the
stance. is telegram addressed to I
president Wilson and referred to the .
department OF justice for investiga- /
7 have come 70 my president and I
my flag for protection and justice !
For Gods sake heed ny appeal Have I
always been an honest, upright. clean (
woman Some persons have an often /
sive film in which is used ny features
Please have this film coufiscated-"
The woman was found to be Of IN 4
sound mental condition
Al sorts OF ingenious devices TO 4
help win the var were offered to the 1
department This one came from=a
Ny sister lzs. l1ritten to you sew
eral times SO = viii not have 70 in
troduce myself don't know much
about war, but 7 believe 7 can put you
the Germans use everything they can
think Of to destroy our men and dis
able Us. and II we have a trap set
for them II might do some good. NY
plan is this; To have large supply Of
heap guns made to shoot automati-
. Ny Iszadathe with buckshot and
-lzell- '--a14eal them with leaves and
straw, leaving only the muzzie ex-
posed Place them OF the top Of the
trench and have an electric wire con
neeted TO the trigger. When the Ger
mans charge the trench. the guns
could be discharged by some one sew
sral hundred yards behind the line. /
This would give the Huns a dose Of
heir own medicine"
Could Cure aAffIuence.s
Another man claimed that he knew !
III about the f'flu" germs Ee wrote.
you VIII forgive me Il ] take the
lDerIT TO Insult you For poor
worker. you VIII be indulgent to me. I
According to me, affairs are going
Inc. because the influenza now has
truck only me and all the doctors
n the country don't know what to do [
have the cure. The pharmacists are I
tightly excited only because they are I
lfraid / VIII stop ths epidemic Soon {
hen I VIII no longer need to work {
n this prison. as I viii give AL my J
merry to study the serum Of the
spanish affluence dnf1uenzal. Il you
10 not understand my offer Il IS not ]
NJ fault. for never had the distinc- ]
ion TO ever attending college" J
In many instances men and women
wrote the department. offerfn~ fheir
ervices- One woman wanted the de- I
iartmenr ITO squeeze ne into Ger S