The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1869-11-19

ed, he came in, and tcld him that was
q detective agent, and wished to satisfy
myself of his honesty by going through
the house, to which proposition he readily
assented, alleging that everybody in the
Postof1e was anxious to see the depredator
secured, and he concluded by saying that
as should possibly want to search up
stairs he would 60 up and unlock the
trunks, closets. etc.
As he went up stairs, slipped after
him, in q minute or two, and peeping
through the crack of his bedroom door, l
saw q hand glide from underneath the bed,
and it was as quickly withdrawn.
Mr.. Adams" said ], "what are you do
ing by that bed? Come out this way"
"Why, 1 was unlocking the secretary
here, to give you chance"
l felt under the bed bottom, and brought
out large bag of gold
"Adams, this is q good deal of gold for
q poor letter carrier to have on hand.
What were you doing with your arm un-
der that bed?"
"I surrender" he said; it's no use. /
robbed the mails for q good while, and
threw the envelopes into the Patapsco,
supposing the tide would take them out,
but it carried them only as far as the oppo-
site side of the harbor."
He plead guilty to robbing one letter,
and by the aid of a smart lawyer, got only
two years in prison, was pardoned out
and actually recovered at law the gold he
had stoleni
ONLY ONCE THIEF, BUT FOR $4,000.
You would be surprised to see, some
times, continued Depro, how people be-
come thieves by the mere habit of hand
ling valuables, which are exposed by some
body's carelessness. A short time ago, q
package of bonds to the amount of $40,-
900 was stolen in the New York City Post
Office. They had been sent from Newport,
Rhode Island, and were for soldiers
widows warrants, etc, 30 tina. the outcry
was natural, and it came from all sides.
The bonds were too bulky to go inside an
envelope, 30 they were tied to the envelope,
but this TACT we did not ascertain till we
found the thief The package was put in
d-backed envelope, signifying "regis-
tered" letter. Now at the Postofice a
mail is tumbled upon large table, and
consecutive clerks go through it energeti-
cally, each picking out his portion. First
of all comes the clerk of registered letters
which are always important letters
and him we surrounded with spies for two
years, in vain; for nothing was seen in
any place or at any time to give US wink
of evidence that he was the culprit.
The real thief-let me anticipate-was
the newspaper clerk, who handled that
mail some time afterward. The red
backed envelope turned undermost in the
ransacking, and left the wrapper on top, so
that the registry clerkmistook it for COW
cred newspaper. He therefore left il, and
30 did successive clerks, till the newspaper
sorter came along. Discovering this prize
among his books and newspapers, the lat
ter was seized with sudden impulse to
steal it, and it was at once transferred to
the pocket of his overcoat, which was
hanging close by.
The thiefs name we may call Tippy
Ramsdell, and, when he got home and
opened ii, the poor pauper was 80 over
come to find himself possessed of $40 900
instead of ten-dollar bill, that he was
frightened out of his little wits. He hid
the bonds for nearly two years, and we,
meantime, having exhausted all means Of
detection, had given up the task.
Suddenly we received a dispatch ::
"Bond number 1864 has turned up"
We traced it to the New York house of
Jay Cooke & Co. 1t was q small bond for
800, and the clerk at Cooke's remembered
well that it had been presented by boy
named Ramsdell, clerk for bounty
agent in Park Row, who said that he found
it in the park.
Ny mind went back at wink to the
hitherto unsuspected name of Tip Rams
dell, the boorish newspaper cfrk. knew
that he had a brother at Elizabeth, and
that this brother had spry son. So
arrested the boy, and myself and another
special agent went separately to work
with him. The boy had been well drilled,
and nothing could shake his story that
he had found the bond in the Park, while
my colleague tried every means to bring
out the truth. Then went into him.
"Boy where did you get that bond?"
"I found it, sir, in the park
"You lie, you rascal! Tell me who gave
it to you, and if the rest are given up no
body shall go to Jail"
He still protested that he had found it
in the park. l talked to him awhile and
found that he was not bad. boy; that he
had been to Sunday school, and had some
moral ideas, and pictured to him hell in
all its material horrors Of sulphur, and
thirst and fire.
"Now," said I, "I mean to, make you
take an oath that will send you there if
you swear false"
The boys lips turned white. az can't
take that oath" said he; 81 can't 60 there.
My father gave me that bond and told me
to sell it.
We took the boys affidavit and arrested
his father, who had become the custodian
of Tip Ramsdell's secret, for Tip being a
poor shyster, without mind, had nearly
died of this awful responsibility of wealth.
The brother, Crosby, being little sharper,
but not more honest, had bought some ink
to cancel the name on the bonds and then
had made venture with No. 1854. We
found half the bonds ON Crosby and half
on Tip, and as we had promised the boy,
we let the poor pair Of thieves up as un
worthy of further notice.