The Royal Mail: Its Curiosities and RomanceHyde, James Wilson
History
The Royal Mail: Its Curiosities and Romance
Hyde, James Wilson
Postal service -- Great Britain
"The most destructive and important case of robbery in connection with
Mr Fawcett's plan, introduced some two or three years ago, for
facilitating the placing of small sums, by means of postage-stamps, in
the Post-office Savings Bank, came before the Bristol magistrates
to-day, when Ellen Hunt, a domestic servant, about sixteen years of age,
was charged with stealing a large number of letters, some of them
containing cheques, the property of the Postmaster-General. Mr Clifton,
who prosecuted, said the robberies were of a very extensive character,
and might have been fraught with the direst consequences. They had been
discovered in a singular manner, no money having been missed: but a
large number of circular letters, addressed by the Bristol clerk to
officials requiring to be sworn in connection with the School Board
election this week, miscarried. Inquiries were made by the Postal
authorities, when it was found that all these circulars had been posted
at the Redcliffe district office, where the prisoner was the servant of
the postmaster, Mr Devine. It was the custom of Mr Devine to place the
key of the letter-box in a secret place for the use of himself and his
assistants; but the prisoner discovered it, and the circular letters
were found in her possession with the postage-stamps off them. They had
been removed for payment into the Post-office Savings Bank on the forms
by which a shilling's worth of postage-stamps saved up by
school-children and others is now accepted by the Savings Bank
department of the Post-office; but the most serious part of the case was
the fact that in the prisoner's box were discovered the bundles of
opened letters now produced by Detective Short, and containing cheques
already discovered to the amount of £74, 16s., all of which had been
sent through the same post-office. The charge was laid under the 27th
section of the Act, but formerly a prisoner would have been liable for
such an offence to transportation for life. Some evidence having been
given, the girl, who was hysterical throughout the hearing, was
remanded. Apparently no effort had been made to deal with the cheques,
but the detective stated that the numerous letters had been opened."
_Tale of a Banker's Letter._
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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