The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1875-04-09
FRIDAY. APRIL ., 1873.

4 Washington dispatch gives the
following particulars Of the fraudu,
.lentIy obtained mail contracts in
Texas:
Tho detection of the criminals was
obtained through a clerk in the office
uf the Second Assistant Postmaster
General, named William Sickles,
who has charge Of tho Arkansas and
Texas routes. Kettles, who is the
chief conspirator, had succeeded in
obtaining sixty contracts for carrying
mails in Texas. He had been so
successful in COrrupting the clerks in
the department, that he became bold
and assumed that all the clerks were
corrupt, and that they cOuld all be
used for his purposes. The lettings
in which the frauds occurred, COM
mcnce on tho LIST of July next, and
those for Texas had been awarded.
or these, Kettles and a man named
Trouplin, of Michigan, succeeded, by
fraudulent means, in obtaining sixty.
Encouraged by his success in the
Texas routes, Kettles approached
Sicklcs, and after exacting from him
a solemn pledge of secresy, informed
him that he wanted to bid for some
OF the Arkansas routes, and asked
Sicklcs to inform him what the
amounts of the lowest bids were on
certain routes, which no described
Kettles, at the same time, promised
Slcklcs Il liberal reward If he would
render that service. SickleS declined,
and informed Kettles that If no at
tempted any clandestine movement
In the Arkansas routes, he would ex-
pose his rascality. Kettles, however,
succeeded i'm entering his bids clan
destinely after the time fixed for
opening the bids for the Arkansas
routes. These bids not appearing
when the examination was made,
Kettles complained to Judge Will
shire, the Representative from Ar
kansas, that he had put in several
bids for routes in Arkansas, which
had not Appeared. Wiltshire COM
planned to the Assistant Postmaster
General, and in looking over the bids
Kettles Bid could not be found.
Slater, the clerk who was making
the research, was then Informed by
SicklCS, in confidence, of Kettles
overtures, and that, in consequence,
he had thrown out Kettles bids.
This was laid before the Postmaster
General, and the matter then rested
till Tyner assumed charge Of the
office of Second Assistant Pos master
General. Three weeks ago, the Post
mastcr-General received an anOny-
nous letter, stating that frauds were
being committed, and a counterfeit
stamp of the department was being
used, and that by connivance with
the clerks the figures of the lowest
bidders were obtained by outside
parties, and that by means of the
counterfeit stamp, bids could be
slipped in which had not been before
the officers. Tyner'5 suspicious were
aroused, and he Immediately com
menced an examination of Kettles
bids. The marks on the bids did
not seem to be entirely regular, and
the official stamp.was submitted to
the Treasury experts, who pro-
nounced it genuine. The Post.ORce
Department was not satisfied, and
special agents were charged with the
case. The Baltimore engravers were
visited, and a clue was found which
led to a Washington engraver named
Iutz. He confessed that he made
the counterfeit stamp for three men,
and those three men were subse-
quently proven to be Kettles, the
contractor, and Channel and Rath-
roth, employees of the department.