Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1875-07-01
Mail Robbery.

For some time past it has been evident that
there has been tampering with the U. s.
Mails at some point near this place. Money,
checks, drafts and money orders to the amount
of several hundred dollars have failed to ceme
to hand, according to advices received. This
loss has mainly occurred to the Collectors Of
flee, and they had become so frequent that
complaints were made to the Post Office De-
partment at Washington. The Department,
ever on the alert to protect the service, de-
tailed Special Agent to make an investigation.
Arriving here Tuesday of last week he placed
himself in possession of all the facts relative
to losses that could be ascertained His first
move was to satisfy himself by sending decoy
letters and otherwise, that no little irregular
tiles took place in the Postal car between
Barnesville and Bellaire. Warnocks, being
an office of distribution, and being the only
office through which some of the lost mail
passed before it reached its destination, was
the next point to claim his attention. Under
some pretense he found it necessary to stay
there awhile and incidentally watch the man
agement of the Office. 1t was soon ascertained
that young man about Is years of age
named Charles Williams, a son of the Station
agent and acting postmaster, assisted when
inclined in asserting the mails. Some of
his actions led the agent to suspicion
him as the guilty party. The tes-
tfmony of the Agent before the Com
( missioner, developed portion of the plan by
which the alleged robberies were committed
The boy, In the handling of the mails, would
scrutiniZe carefully to whom letters were ad-
dressed, whether to one in the habit of getting
money in that way, how they felt, looked, &C.
Once satisfied that a letter contained money,
he would secrete it in his clothes, and when
an opportunity offered he would pass to the
rear of the house to privy, where he would
open the letters and abstract anything of value
and then throw them into the vault. The
Agent observed this movement on Wednes-
day. In the evening he went to Barnesville
and constructed an ingenious graphing appa-
ratus with a fish hook in the end, working
like pair of pinchers, by which he could fish
out lost letters, and returned to St. Clairsville
on Thursday evening accompanied by Deputy
P. NJ, S. B. Piper, of GAINESVILLE, who he
had ordered to his assistance Before day.
light on Friday morning, the Agent with S.
B. Piper and Collector Cope started from
this place, arriving at Warnock's about day
light They at once proceeded to the privy
vault, where, with the aid of the apparatus
mentioned, they succeeded in recovering a
number of envelopes, letters, &C., which went
to strengthen the belief before expressed.
The father of the boy, Mr.. Williams, was
now notified of the meaning of the proceed
ings by the Agent, who requested to see him.
The boy, who was in bed, was awakened, and
dressed himself, and turned over to the Agent,
who took him to the scene of operations and
charged him with the crime. According to
the Agents testimony, he partially confessed
to him that he had opened few letters and
received small sum of money. He was at
once brought to this place, where he had a
hearing before U. S. Commissioner Tallman,
and upon substantially the evidence we have
referred to, he was held in the sum of So, 900
to appear at the U. S. Court at Cincinnati
Much credit is due to the special Agent,
who so adroitly and in such short time work.
ed up this case, for the matter has been a
great source of annoyance for some time, to
business men,
The boys father, Mr.. John w. Williams,
who is known as correct and honorable bus
mess man, and his family have the sympathy
of the community in their trouble. Could we
do our duty as faithful public journalist
without recording the facts, we would gladly
spare them the chagrin this publication must
| cause.