THE POISON PEN

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXXII, Issue 12538, 27 April 1935, Page 9

THE POISON PEN

Mr. Haring has boon studying liis profession since 1888. IT is trained eye diseovers innumerable subtle discrepancies between the actual handwriting and an imitation. Another detective method that he uses is to assemble separately all the letters ol the alphabet contained in the anonymous letters, and arrange them in a column parallel with samples of the suspected author’s known letters. Seen thus, side by side, in an enlarged photograph, differences are noticeable even to the layman. AN ENGLISH CASE. A case in point occurred in England. when the inhabitants of -Sutton became agitated over an epidemic of anonymous notes. Many towns- j people, including Canon Caffevata, a Roman Catholic priest.- and his housekeeper, Miss Dewey, received scurrilous letters of mysterious origin. A Airs. Ti •gwell was among those I who received abusive, cards. Due to a similarity in the handwritings suspicion fell on b ather CafTerata s housekeeper, and she was committed for trial. Through lack of evidence the ease was dismissed. However, the libellous cards continued to arrive, and Mrs. Tngwell- having receiv-. od several more, her husband took the matter up. Miss Dewey was again committed for trial. The evidence was not- convincing and she was acquitted. Despite the fact that, after the trial, Airs. Tngwell continued to receive the poison-pen letters, some began to suspect her as the author. The police and the postal authorities -joined forces. A trap of marked stamps was set. The stamps, marked with invisible ink, were sold to none hut members of the Tngwell family. ’.-tjOanon Cafferata, who was the heaviest sufferer, now received two libellous cards bearing the marked stamps. The police not tightened. They watched Airs. Tugweil’s house. * and one night when she strolled light-heartedly forth, the detectives saw her drop two letters into the previously-emptied mail-box. The detectives extracted them, and one letter proved to be addressed to herself and one to a friend. Both were apparently in tho handwriting of Miss Dewey, and both contained slanderous messages. Airs. Tug well was arrested and . charged with sending letters, through ( the post having thereon words of an . indecent, obscene, and grossly offen- , sive nature. Besides the marked stamps and the testimony of band- , writing experts that the questioned ■ letters were a clever imitation of , Miss Dewey’s writing, Airs. Tngwell was so careless as to leave in her poe- j ket a twisted piece of blotting paper , with the impress of many ol the ( words of the libel on it. j The evidence was quite strong enough to send Annie Tngwell to ( priso.n for twelve months. As her ( sentorivce included the phrase,, “with j hard labor,” doubtless the lady’s tal- ( ents for .imitation were then turned f to a less .malicious purpose. ‘.■BLACK HAND” LETTERS. ] 1 Sometimes large communities are ( agitated by a series of letters, like ( the famous wave ol “Black Hand j letters which flooded New York several years ago. Or they may be about f purely family matters, to be dealt with privately. t Air. Haring told of such a ease j -that was brought to him. The lamjjy and neighbors of a woman lwl received scandalous letters abeut h ,j i j from an unknown and nppa'nrly d- ] liberate person. Guesswork as to _ their authorship having bid A, they } came to Mr. Haring for professional r advice. The letters were broig'it -n g for his examination, and, as m the case of Airs. Tugw dl, *bc postal an- £ thorities set a trap -J mi.irc.S'M ical- £ } y marked stamps. The . result at &>otb investigations pointed indubitably to one man, a respected citizen , and a member of the woman’s own < family. Even in the face of facts, i the family, were incredulous. They could not believe that he would de- ( liberately foul his own nest, After < an hour of denial he broke down, and , confessed that he had written the | letters for . revenge. I Motives of jealousy and revenge . J usually actuate the female anony- • mojiß letter writer. .Wives occasion-, allyNfise this means to wgrn straying husbands. . . .“Only' a. short tune ago,” A* 5 Haring said, “a. prominent man camd j to. me with several anonymous letters , which he had received, containing ! warnings against his secretary. I i confirmed his suspicions that they - were. in 'the, handwriting of his own ,

wife.”" _ T -. . . A curious case happened m New York five or six years ago.' Over a period of four years the attention of

HOW WRITER WAS CAUGHT * T\7TIY <lo people'write anonymous letters? The postal autliorit- ’ ] - es shake their heads; they do not know. And psychiatrists disagree. The meat of one man’s belief is poison to the next. In the opinion of Mr. J. Vreelnnd Haring, authority on questioned handwriting, anonymous letter-writing is often an early manifestation of a mild form of insanity. Mr. Haring was the expert called hv the prosecutor to examine the letters in a recent New Jersey ease, when -Mrs. Von Moschxisker accused Miss Sarah Mowed of writing her some twenty-five blackmailing letters.

THE RED CARNATIONthe police and postal authorities was called to a series of letters received all over the country by women in every class of society. On oblong cards, they read :—- “Pin a red carnation in your bosom to meet, agent after 8 p.m. "Walk slowly on Lenox Avenue, between 130th and 189th Streets, stopping three minutes at- each intersection. An agent, will quietly accost- you and convey you to my residence. Whisper password, ‘Sweetheart.’ ” It suggested the work of some national gang of white slavers. An exhaustive search for the author went on for three years. A constant watch was kept on mail-boxes. Decoys waited, and attractive policewomen strolled .nightly up and down those nine Harlem blocks wearing the designated floral badge. Rut whether they said it with flowers or whispered the magic password at even- corner, nothing happened. No fiend came forth to his undoing. Finally, the watch on the mail- : boxes had results. And, as he was j in the act of mailing his latest batch j of mash notes, the detectives nailed ! their man. He was Oliver Dillon, a i slender mulatto with red-dyed hair, j When they arrested him a sorry j smile crossed his face. “Yon got me,” he said. “That's the end of a lot- of pleasure for me.” Tie proved to be a trafficker in women.