Federal Crackdown on Train Mail Security
Postal authorities issue strict new guidelines for railway employees to stop the 'frequent robberies' plaguing the Northern Pacific lines.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The frequent robberies of the mails have caused the Post Office Department to make more strict regulations for their prevention. The following circular has been sent out by the department and repeated by the Northern Pacific Railroad, with instructions to all employees who handle mails to be governed by it: 'The Post Office Department holds all persons entrusted with the handling of the mails responsible for any losses that may occur through exposure to theft while in their charge. Any person who shall have taken charge of the mail and shall voluntarily quit or desert the same before he has delivered it into the post office or to some known mail carrier or messenger shall be punishable by a fine of not more than $500 and imprisonment for not less than three months nor more than one year.' The necessity for a close surveillance of the mails entrusted to your care is therefore apparent, and you will be expected to give this duty strict attention at all hours. In case you are short a pouch, you must deliver in place of the same a shortage slip. Every pouch due to go forward must be sent out without fail.
“The necessity for a close surveillance of the mails entrusted to your care is therefore apparent, and you will be expected to give this duty strict attention at all hours during the day and night.”
In 1892, mail security was a massive logistical headache for expanding railroads, where the 'mail car' was often a tempting target for bandits. Today, while train robberies have shifted to the digital realm, the fundamental tension between efficient public transit and secure resource protection remains a staple of civic governance.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.