The Weekly Minnesotian

Ingenious Thefts from Letters. Robberies of bank notes and securities contained in letters, have long been frequent in the post office of Prussia, but it was always easy to see, by the state of the seal, or by rents in the paper, that the letters had been opened. Recently, however several merchants of Berlin received letters which had contained treasury bills, but which bills had been extracted with such skill as to leave not the slightest trace on the letters capable of being detected by the most practiced eye. The police having made investigation, arrested a few days ago a letter-carrier to whom suspicion pointed, and they found on him a large sum in treasury bills, for the possession of which he could not account. He at last confessed that he had taken them from letters; but for a long time he would not say how he had contrived to do so without leaving the trace behind: At length he stated that he had done so by means of a long needle, which he introduced into the letter—and stuck into the folds of the thin paper inside. He then turned the needle round and round, carrying the paper with it, until he had brought the whole into the form of a small roll, and then he had no great difficulty in extricating the paper from the letter on the needle. He was committed for trial.—Galignani.