Curious Letter Stealers.

Auckland Star, Volume XVII, Issue 142, 19 June 1886, Page 4

Curious Letter Stealers.

Certain letters, relates Mr Hyde, in "Tho Royal Mail," which ought to have reached a booksollei's in a country town, not having been received, it was concluded, after inquiry, that they had been duly delivered, but had subsequently been withdrawn from under the street-door, which was furnished with a slit to receive letters, but had no box to. retain them. During subsequent alterations in the shop, however, when it was necessary to remove the flooring under the window, the discovery was made of thirty-one letters, six post cards, and threo newspapers, which had been carried thither by rats I The cornora of the letters, etc., bearing the stamps, were nibbled away, leaving no doubt that the cum upon the labels was the inducement to the theft. Severallettera contained cheques and money-orders. But raf s areold enemies to letters, aa is known in the Post Office ; for in the olden times when sailing-ships were in use as mail-packets complaints were made of the havoc caused by " rats " to the mails conveyed in these ships. Nor are rats the only dumb creatures who have shown a"literary* turn in getting possession of post-letters. Some years ago a postman was going hia rounds delivering letters in Kelvedon, in Essex, carrying a registered letter in his hand, ready to deliver it at the next house, when a tame raven—a worthy compeer, if not a contemporary, of the Jackdaw of Bhiems—suddenly darted down, snatched it from his grasp, and flew off with it. The bewildeied postman could only watch the bird while it mado a circuit over the town which it did beforo alighting ; and bo soon as it got a suitable place it set to work to analyse the composition of the missive by tearing the letter to pieceP. The fragments were shortly afterwards collected and put together, when it was fouml that pait of them were the remains of a cheque for £30 which was afterwards renowed when tho Bingular affair was made known