"An enviable nickname," said Judge Lawrence. "Now,[Pg 42] tell me, sir, is it your custom to weigh all letters and packages that are handed in at your window for registry?"
"Yes, sir; we are required to do that."
"It is a precaution no registry clerk overlooks?"
"Yes, sir. You see, the rules require us to see that letters and packages are sufficiently stamped before we make out a receipt for them. If the letter or package is overweight, we call the sender’s attention to the fact, and he must supply the deficient postage before we will accept it."
"I see. Then it would not be possible for a man to hand you a sealed package weighing over seven ounces, and bearing only three two-cent stamps and a ten-cent stamp for registration—you wouldn’t give him his registry receipt under such circumstances?"
"Certainly not, sir," replied the postal clerk. "The package, being sealed, would have to go as first-class mail; and if it weighed a fraction more than seven ounces it would require sixteen cents postage in addition to the registry fee."
"Thank you, Mr. Adams," said counsel for the defense, opening a wooden box and producing a small pair of official post-office scales. "Now, will you please take these scales and this watch and tell the jury how much the watch weighs?"
"Exactly five ounces, sir," replied the witness, after he had carried out these instructions.
"And now please weigh this leather watchcase, and the box it was sent in. What is their combined weight?"
"Two and a half ounces, sir."