Litchfield enquirer., 1876-10-12
THE TRlcksTER rR.ckED.

The fall of John Middleton from tho sunny heights of renown was broken by g brief lodgment on an obscure peg in the postal serv1ce. Though still young. he had enjoyed varied experience. and, like many others travelling the downward road from better days, affected to hold fin sz- preme contempt the humble position
 which now supplied him with bread. Sharp, reticent, unprincipled, an adept in trickery and chicane, he found in the lower strata of frontier politics field we'll suited to the exercise of his gifts, and early began to look forward to high pre-. ferment as within easy reach of talents like his. But. as often happens where advancement is sought at the expense of virtue, dissipation with its concomitant vices grew so much more rapidly than
 honors that he was nnho,sed by bad
 habits near the outset of the race. Before reaching thirty. Middleton had
 managed number of jobs in the legisla.
 tive lobby; had made several visits to
 Washington to represent the interests oi
 sundry bands of philanthropists whose
 hearts burned to supervise the distribS-
 tion among the Indians of the bounties of
 paternal government; had made the sc-
 quaintance of half the magnates at ne
 national capital, and had learned the fal-. ings and foibles of the weaker vessels wlo
 are disposed to regard the public treasury
 as happy contrivance for the relief of
 impecunious patriots. For four years he
 was chief deputy United States marshal
 for one of tho Western states. and after
 wards filled a similar position in one oi the territories, having virtual control of the office, as his principal was sot who paid no attention to the business. At odd intervals he also attended to the 'sstill
 work" around two or three Indian agen- cies. f f1l ~ 1>
 The drunken marshal at length died, and was succeeded by sober man who turned Middleton adrift. Now Middle ton, in the days of his splendor, had won- derful facility for making money. but his habits were very expensive; so that when the tide turned, his pockets were empty. Governor Halford, upon whom he had some mysterious claim, then took him in as private secretary,-a position he was we'll qualified to fill, as he had talents, experience, and literary capacity.-but his bad habits had now become so invet. crate that the governor was constrained to look about for means of getting rid of him. Accordingly the wires clicked and clicked back again, and the deed was done, Middleton receiving an appoint ment as mail messenger on the road from Wilma to Tilsit. a distance of sixty miles. Like many other frauds foisted as pen sioners on the revenues of the department, he was to have no keys, but was to ride in the little room set apart for storage of two or three pouches, tell stories, drink whis- ky, and settle the affairs of the nation, in conjunction with other travelling politi- clans as worthy of confidence as himself. The ostensible business of the messenger was ito guard" the mails, and that was al, the office being of course entirely un- necessary except as means of livelihood for vagabond who had fallen so low that he could no longer earn his subsistence in the legitimate pursuits of business. I
 Special Agent Furay happening to trav- el that way, and feeling outraged at the imposition practiced on the government, informed the messenger that the mails must be distributed. or the place would be discontinued; but Middleton laughed him to scorn, relying with absolute conf- denee eIe1ss npon the impregnabillty of his fo.lt for and came; but the messenger thrust them into his pocket, and said nothing, having resolved not to soil his dignity by throwing" letters for Furay or any other man. s.i: t
 As sworn employe of the department, Middleton had free access to the terminal offices, neither postmaster knowing that he was provided with key. Both were offices, and it was the cus- tom of Wilma to remit all surplus funds every Monday by registered letter, direct. ed to the postmaster at Tilsit. The train started from the latter place in the morn ing, ,.and, remaining about an hour at Wilma, returned in the afternoon. s
 While lounging around, Middleton had often seen the postmaster at Wilma inclose large sums in such letters. The packages were uniformly placed in the through pouch, which it was-his special business to guard on the road. Having become familiar with the routine, and duly reflect ed on the rules of evidence, the fellow concluded that here was rich placer on which he could raid with impunity. He saw no way in which the robbery could be legally proved, and for mere suspicion he cared not straw.
 The plan rapidly took shape, and it was not long before the experiment. was tried Within three weeks after the receipt of the key, the only package which left one morning was stolen. To avert suspicion, the messenger kept away from the office on the occasion, coming up only with the mail wagon just before the departure of the return train. Under the circumstan- ces how. was he to know," he triumphant ly inquired, s'what was in the pouch ?'' On this particular Monday the postmaster was too busy to go out and hunt up large bills, and hence deferred the remittance of the surplus money order funds. It so happened that there was but one regis tered letter, in the pouch. This was di- rected to the postmaster at Tilsit, and would naturally be mistaken for one of the rich douceurs which had excited the cupidlty of the dishonest messenger. Tine letter, however, was mailed by citizen, and contained but ten dollars. It was sto- len on the road.
 The next day the postmaster at Wilma did remit his surplus, amounting to five hundred and fifty dollars, in five hun dred dollar treasury note, and five ten dollar bills. all new. of the Scandinavian National bank of Chicago, which had re- gently been established, and was then put ting it's fresh currency in circulation. Each note was fully described on the cir cular provided for the purpose, the orIgi- nal Delny tfaOSmlGteO WlGH 6u0 money, and duplicate retained at the office of mailing. The package, however, shared the fate of its more humble predecessor of the previous day. Great was the con- sternation- when it was learned that two registered letters had been stolen on two consecutive days. The postmasters at
 Wilma and Tllsit. the marshal of the terri
 tory, and Middleton, wrote to special
 agent Furay. and they also wrote or tele-
 graphed to the department, winch in turn
 forwarded the communication to the same
 officer. He was then absent from home, working up a'case at long distance from
 his base of supplies. and of course knew
 nothing of this fearful clamor.f for his pres
 ence and aid. On returning ten days
 laters his wife ran. to, the cars to meet him,
 and fhrustinga package of papers into
 his hands. calculated, excitediy, 70,
 John !-big robbery !-Tilsit !-quick r The train was moving away, but. seiz- ing the bundle, he hurried after it. and
 succeeded in getting aboard. after a des.
 perate race, reaching Tilsit at midnight. The next morning he began the investi. 1 patiOU in earnest Ooino over tha prOund