Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1868-11-04
Rob BERI AOR-
DINARY.
How the Merchants, Steamship
owners and Ra IrOad Conn
psnies of N-W York Have
Been SVindIed by
artmen.

During the past twelve months many
of the large mercantile houses of New
York, whose customers reside in the dis
tsnt sections OF the Union, particularly
IN the South, West and SOuthwest, have
been perpiexed at the singular regularity
with which they have been spprised
that cases Of goods received by their pur-
chssers did not at all agree with the in
voices accompanying them; that not
only were there grievOus vsriances
with the bills in the number of pieces or
quality Of certain articles bought in good
! faith and expected to be received, but
there were substilutions of merchandise
Of inferior qualities that pointed to
criminal negligence on the part Of the
shippers or gigantic rascality of the car
rieEs. Scores Of cases are on record
among the extensive dry goods firms of
our city where those who bought mer
chandise from them have instantly upon
/ their receipt advised the sellers thai
| packa 6es OF silks, valuable cloths and
I nner qualities of clothing had certain
| pieces missing, and that in the places
thereof were substituted pieces OF mis-
ersble stuffs, such as Canton flannel, un-
biesched sbirtings, etc., and as q conse-
quence settlement Of the matter was
demanded, there must be reductions
upon the bills or the missing pieces sup
piled. Such Information to the business
firms of our city, whose transactions
amount to hundreds and millions of dol
lars annusliy, recurring with great regu-
lsrity, perpiexed them severely, and at
once they invariably appealed to the
pOrters OF their establishments, aud
closely questioned them in regard to the
manner Of packing and delivery of such
fana
never could be obtained the least infOr-
nation and then in despair the mer-
chants would turn to the buyers, and in
many instances deny the statements, or
to the carriers Of the merchandise, and
after representing the circumstances and
producing the receipts, showing that
such and such cases or packages of goods
were shipped in good order" accused
that the property had been stolen IN
tr0nsitU, and therefore demanded pay
ment. Steamship companies, whose
vessels ply southwark, have thus been
appealed TO, and where payment has
been refused suits almost countless in
number have issued, thousands Of dol
lars thus being spent In litigation and,
OF the other hand, both on vessels, on
railroads and in the stores where the
goods were purchased, innocent persons
have been dismissed on suspicion of be-
ing interested in the crime. Again, bust.
ness connections of long standing have
been permanently severed, as the sellers
OF the merchandise, reposing csnfdeEce
IN their employees, questioned the hon.
esty Of those that purchased them, and
thus engendeTed i'll will that never could
be recoUeiled.
To that extent have the merchants Of
Nng .nrt
such complaints, and so many have been
the lawsuits against steamship and rail-
road owners within the past few months /
that, after the coCsultalion, it was de- I
cided to call to theii aid the services Of
the police, IL possible to unravel the |
criminal mystery surrounding these /
cases. In accordance with this resoIu- I
ton detectives Farley and Eustace, Of |
the Central Office, Mulberry street, were /
detached to work up the matter and fix 1
the hiame upon the guilty parties. With !
this end in view they have laOOred Eeal- /!
eusly, and yesterday afternoon effected |
such arrests Snd were witnesses of such |
criminal actions that the mystery con- |
neeted with the shipping Of dry goods |
from New York, with the result alluded /
10, Is now no longer inexplieable, but |
very plain. The blame has, during the |
entire time, been placed to the credit of 1
the wrong parties. Neither porters, |
shippers nor buyers have been the guilty /
persons, but upon the shoulders of the /
csrtmen who have been entrusted with |
the shipping Of the goods rests all the |
criminality. Their n1Od1s operdndi has /
been rs follows. After receiving the /
cases for shipment from their stores ssin /
good order" instead of proceeding TO the |
vessel or freight depot where they could /
ship them, they would drive to certain
"fences," or places where stolen goods
are received, and there would leave g
case or cases, as the boldness of the ma
nipulator suggested, aud opening it
would, in police vernscular, "weedh it,
or extract certain pieces, and from the
"fencemann obtain goods Of q very infe-
rior quality, which were substituted; the
case or cases would then be nailed up
and shipped in "goOd order.n The ar
rests referred to are these: Messrs. T.
] acksOn 6s Co., of e5 Chambers street,
are "boss cartmenn and own many carts
and employ several meD, among them
one Miohal Feeney. Yesterday be was
sent to the clothing house OF Msssrs. Ais
berg, Jordan & Co, No. 81 Walker St,
and obtained six or seven csses OF goods
for a Southern port. Instead
Of driving to the point where they
could be shipped, Feeney drove his cart
to the ''fencen of Samuel Liebeck, No.
l43 Laurens street, whore he left one of
the cases, and then drove his cart to the
corner OF Thompson and Houston streets,
left it and returned to Liebeck's place
aud went in. The detectives, who had
"piped him." after waiting
certain time, and calling to their aid off,
-
tered the "fence," and there found
Fesney had broken open the case, and
Dne.haif OF its scontents-hne res0y-made
already upon the floor, and
articles of a cheap character In readiness
% substitute therefor. Feeney acted as
4 thunderstruck at his arrest, and made
} clean breast Of it, eonfessing that he
nad been engaged in this work for twelve
months past, and that h alone knows Of
about $4,000 worth Of goods thus stolen.
He gave the detectives the names of 9TH
sr operating cartmen, and from this
knowledge brothers "Gus" and John
Mckee were also appTehended and lodged
With him st the Central Office.
These arrests exposed system Of vii
Amy the boldest and shrewdest in the
annals of crime, and the detectives Con
1ected with the case and tue msrchsnts
who have suffered feel that 1t will never
Do known how much has In this manner
1een stolen, the number Of innocent per-
ons that have suffered snd the business
,uemiss that have thus been made
There will be additional arrests soon and
till more extended developments are ex-
,ected. It Is due to Messrs. T. Jackson
y Co. to state that they are innocent of
he yillainy that their servants have been
Engaged in.
The query now arises in the early stage
# this remarkable criminal case: Win
lot certain steamship and railroad COM
,snies take legal action and cause many
merchants OF our city to make restitution
Il the moneys they have paid on account
# supposed robberies of goods while they