The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1884-09-11
ROBBlNG POUCHES.
the POSTAL THIEF sQusAls.
iuu re't Of M Confession He Attri.
hutr- IIis Disgrace 10 tnmhliug-
Temptation Leading 10 HUN
SI,1Gn In Cash itc,

tor, who arrested John Mpntolin, the
veteran mail clork at Taylor, n few days
since on the charge of ronbing registered
letters aud the general mail, arriN ed In
the oity Saturday night, and from him a
lIER Nm reporter learned that Muntolin
had made q confession which Is given
below, Montelin has been brought here
for safe keep ng. lie was the oldest and
perhaps the most trusted clerk In the
service, aud when the news of
his arrest was first published In the
HERALD, n few days ago, his friends
were slow Ia believe It.. Ills operations
were extensive, and the hammer IN
which the inspector Terrified out tho rob
berry and trapped the Inlet 10y docOy let
ttrs entities him To credit.
THE CONF SSiuN
~ MOntolin reads rs follows;
lANLul, IENAS, sept, u, lNNi,-Cnpt, W, L.,
smith, pustDtiuc Inspector, Austin. Tex:
My DEAR SIR: Having known YOU
for many years past as United states
officer, n having always received the
kindest treatment ~ your hands, and
believing You nov entertain feelings Ol
sincere sympathy and pity for me and
my unfortunate family In my present
great trouble, | feel it is my duty to my
Government ana tho people that have
So grossly wruugcu, 10 make, al my W.
NUlitlun, his my voluntary statement,
by my own hand, concerning the many
d%epredatiOns committed by mo during
tho past three months, while acting rs
railway postal clerk between benson
and Taylor, Texas, and . ut the same
time desire TO state to you the many
causes, which have led me, step by step,
to commit said dcprcdntionS.
Sometime in last June, owing to sick
ness in my family, | commenced drink
ing hard, and the next step in my down
fall was gambling, and in consequence
of this last step, | was frequently, while
in Denison, in the company of gamblers
and bad characters, and having lost con-
siderable money, ! was compelled Ia
give my note Tor various sums lost by
me. The gamblers being like all OF
their class and kind, utterly Ncarless,
commenced pressing me to the wall, and
threatened to expose me If ] did not pay
my notes ut once.
This being impossible and fearing eN-
posure and consequent disgrace. | COM
mcnced robbing registered and ordinary
letters, hoping thereby to pay oil u @
debts mentioned and avoid disgrace ana
exposure, and ] fully determined to quit
stealing when said debts incurred by
gambling were paid of.
But the effort and promise was more
than could perform, and | continued in
my evil ways, until arrested and
brought to justice by you yesterday.
During the first month of my depreda-
tons | don't think | robbed more
than five or six registered packages, and
| don't think any of them
contained over $50. After. the
month of June my depredations
became more Numerous. and during the
inonlh OF August, l robbed several reg
stored packages and ordinary letters
Two of the registered packages which !
robbed in August, contained $500, OF
which amount l distracted $3.50.
Said packages were mailed at Alice
Wee, Indian Territory, and were adj
dressed to some parties at Clifton, Bos-
que county, Texas. Of the many regis
tered packages and ordinary letters
robbed by me, | am ofthe opinion ! stole
from them between 81 900 and $1,000.
The most of this amount was obtained
from registered packages, for ordinary
letters rarely ever contained over 80 or
$40.
Ofthe five dccoys or test letters placed
by you in the United States
mail, and which struck me
on my run yesterday morn,
ing riled four out of the five, and all
the money, $500 taken from them was
found in my possession by you when
you arrested ne in my room.
Before ! conclude this unfortunate
narrative, | desire to again state that
my downfall and consequent disgrace
to myself, unfortunate children and
heartbroken wife is largely due to the
gamblers of D%enison, and i hope all
men, young and otherwise, will take
warning by me and shun the saloon
and the gambling table.
AS far as i am concerned l cannot eN-
pect for clemency, but | do hope and
pray that my government will take into
consideration my unfortunate and heart
broken wife and our two helpless
children, for they have not committed
any crime and deserve sympathy and
mercy.
The evidence OF my guilt is in youl
hands. 1t is full and complete and !
have no defence to make or offer, and
hope that you aud the department you
have the honor to serve will have mercy
and compassion upon my poor wife and
children, and will pray the to give
me the lightest sentence, and in return
for this clemency | will promise you
now to use every energy in my nature
to become an honest, upright, law-abid'
ing citizen. Ii IN future you or any
other Inspector of the post-oflice depart.
ment require any further infor,
nation concerning my recent
depredations will gladly give
you all the information in
my possession, but at the present time
am not in q condition or state of mind tC
describe the registered packages and or
binary letters which were robbed by me
but hope to be able to do so when l over
come my present excitement and ex-
IRENE nervousness.
The foregoing is a full and free con
~fession made by me and am willing
and anxious to do all in my power Il
repair the many wrongs committed by
me while in the railway mail service
| am sir, yours very respectfully,
JOHN MoNTFIIN.