The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1855-12-19

An interview was then heId with tn
clergyman who witnessed the mailing O
the letter, and from him were obtained tn,
facts already stated. Concerning the writ
ing. of the document, aud its deposit i,
the letter box In a perfect state, after tn,
money had been enclosed, he was ready
and willing to make oath, aud had be beer
called upon he would have done 80 In al
sincerity and honesty. ssss 4sa 81
In reply to an in Iuiry whether be useC
more than one sort of letter paper, he in
formed me he had but one kind in hi
study for several months, and at my re
quest Immediately brought in seyera
sheets, of it.. A comparison of this will
the sheet upon which the rit1ed epistlt
had been written showed that the latter
! was totally different article from the
first. The shape and design Of the stamp
the size of the sheet, and the shade of the
paper, were all unlike. Moreover, the
waters used at the bank where the hundred
dollar note was obtained, and the letter
containing it, sealed, were very dissimilar
to either Of those which appeared upon
the "post-boy" letter. Bs
| From the consideration of all these
facts, ] was satisfied that gross, and
contemplate fraud had been psrpetrated
by the writer of the letter, and lost no
time In proceeding to the village where
the parsonage lived. / calPd upon the
postmaster, and made come Inquiries re-
lating to the character and pecuniary cir.
cumstances of the person in question:
From the replies made it appeared, as
have already stated, that his reputation in
community was good.
thought it might be possible that in
so small place could ascertain whether
he had lately passed hundred dollar note
as he would likely have done, if it was
true that be had not enclosed it in the
New Haven letter.
Calling at the store which received
most of his custom, l introduced myself
to the proprietor, made a confident of him
to some extent, and learned that the very
next day after that on which the afore-
said letter was mailed, its author offered
him in payment for barrel of -four, a
hundred dollar note on the bank from
which bill of the like denomination had
been obtained as before mentioned, in ex
change for the "snall trash" The mer-
chant could not then change it, but sent
the -four and changed a bill which he sup
posed to be the same few days after
ward. t. sa sads a3iast II f
Armed with these irresistible facts, l
proceeded to call on the adventurous de-
.ceiver cf the clergy, who attempted to
make one member of that body second bis
intention to cheat another. 50 Insatiate
archer! Could not one sufhce" sgf
"Mr. T." said 1. after some preliminary
conversation, Its TO use to mince mat
ters.. The fact is, you did not send the
money in that New Haven letter. You
offered it the day after. you pretended to
mail it, at Mr. G e store You see I've
found out all about it, SO [ hope you will
not deny the truth of the matter"
then gave him his choice, to send the
hundred dollars promptly to his New
Haven correspondent, or allow me toprove
in public manner, the facts 10 my pos
session.
Being thus hard pressed, and finding
himself cornered, he confessed he had pre-
pared the letter which was received at
New Haven--postscript, double waters,
and all-before he left home, and that
"uiie CIoSsiuS Tue sIreet AtoiH 1uc odhh W
the postofice, he substituted this for the
ona be wrote in the clergyman's study !!
He promised to send the money, and pre-
tended to have suffered severely in his
feelings on account of this dishonest act.-
There is no United States law provid
ing for the punishment of such an offence,
but public opinion and private conscience
make nicer distinctions than the law can
do, and often meete out well-deserved
penalty to those who elude the less subtitle
ministers of justice.
In the present instance, the foregoing
story was made public by direction of the
Postmaster General; and the author of the
trick, unable to sustain the indignation
and contempt of the community in which
he lived, was compelled to make a hasty
retreat from that part of ths country.