The daily intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Territory [i.e. Wash.]) 1876-1881, 1878-10-30

THE PURLoINER OF 1900 LETTERS
FINALLY CAUGHT BY WELLS, FARGO
& CO.'S DETECTIVES a SHARP
CHINESE BOY THE cULPRIr-rHK
STOLEN PROPERTY REcOvRRED-
EsTABILsHNRHT OF CHECKS TO PRE-
VENT IRREGULARITIES IN THE
FUTURE
For four month past. large number
Of complaints have been made with
j. j. Valentine. tho general Superin-
tendent of Wells. Fargo & Co., in re-
gard to missing letters that failed utter
ly to reach their destination. Letters
containing checks, drafts, gold notes.
legal tenders, and small amounts OF
gold, would Be sent from various points
in the States. aud would never be
heard OF afterward. Similar letters
from this city have disappeared. In
proportion TO their amount of cor
respondence, the Chinese seem to suf-
fer the most. Letters of acknowledge
ment of valuable communications for
wsrded. being not received, the senders
would, of course, quickly detect the
loss. The amount Of vexation and de-
lay resulting from this state Of sffairs
can Of course. be readily appreciated.
In some cases checks would be sent
payable to bearers for large amounts.
and the recovery of these was, of course.
thought to be impossible.
Various plaDs we're put in execution
for the purpose of detecting the thief or
thieves, but without any result. En-
quiries were insulated into the private
characters aid habits of sll the employ.
es, and st least three were discharged.
One carrier acknowledged having
taken the CONSENTS of three or four let
ters in the shape of small gold pieces.
but utterly denies having taken any
letters containing checks.
Complaints would reach the Office
that letters containing checks had not
reached their destination, but the mys
terious part Of it was that the checks
never came to light. As far - could
be traced, by means Of lists forwarded
from agencies, and counter signed by
messengers entrusted with the carrying
of the letters, which list Vas verified in
the main Office. the letters came
through all right and were sent out for
delivery-but were evidently purloinsd
after being put into the boxes Of the
merchants to whom they were adressed.
The dismissal Of messengers effected
no cure for the trouble. Occasionally
. letter sent forward from the San
Francisco Office would 60 sstray. but
not often, the great loss being felt in
the transmitting from country offices.
The most efficient attache Of the olice
was sent out on the routes to ascertain,
it possible. whore The crooked work
was done. but decoyed letters passed
through all the hands without molss-
tation. and when Mr.. Crowell reported
that his letter had been tracsd to the
countsr and ont OF tho olkce for deliv-
cry. there seemed to Be an impsns-
trsble mystery. But lortunstely
the decoys answered the purpose to
direct search In another qusrter-for
after delivery ct destination and re-
turn to Office, in accordance with pri-
vate agreement. three letters were
stolen from the shelf where they had
been placed. Il was now evident the
thief sometimes operated directly in
the main Office.
With this clue Detectives A. W.
Stone and J. B. Hume laid . snare,
which resulted in the discovery OF .
boy. Hoo. who had besn employed to
assist tue Chinese interpreter Of sub
scriptions in the collection Of mail mat
ter and in delivering parcels to Chinese
merchants. had privileged himself of his
privileges behind the counter to note
bulky letters, and watch for their de-
livery to customers. Alter manipC-
lating the letters, to ASCERTAIN il they
contained au sxtra piecs Of Paper land
10 this he seemed to possss : fioeness
Of touch like the silk spinuers). he
quietly followed the messenger and
made q collection on his own account.
In some csses be clipped packagss Of
letters in his pocket while apparently
gathering only his own mail for
Sacramento street. Detectives Stone
and Hume discovered Tarm Kuen Hoo
in the act Of purloining lot Of letters.
and then made sure they had caught
the thief. He was followed out OF the
Office and then arrested. On being
searched, f0rty-ouc letters were taken
from his person. oil Of which had val
liable contssts. On going to his room,
he opeued trunk for the officers, In
which they found one thousand and
American letters. and one
hundred and flfty Chinese. They were
all opened, but net one check bad been
made away with. though there were
hundreds Of them, amounting 10 value
10 many thousand dollars. 4 complete
list ives made and will be issued for the
benefit of correspondents who have
,rede cpnplaint. Il wss oely Tarn
Kuen Hoos great ignorance Of Ne En-
elish language that prevented him from
using the checks.
xsiarQs number OF letters had never
hern stsmpei. showing that he bad
stolen them before they had reached
ths msin oiios. This hs could do. -
!, - he custon. whsn he Vas sent
ont ia deliver letters in the Chinese
o..rser.. for tho s.hs a rousenieeee e
c,llsct letters from the merchants
-h;ch' NAV desired 10 ssnd away. he
iietsctisa was rendssed The neFs diia-