Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1885-11-12
A DETECTIVES MAP.
HOW A PoSTOFFlcE INSPECTOR
STICKS PINS THROUGH THIEVES.
Catching Hallway Postal Clerks Who
Steal Letters Containing Mopey-Lo-
eating the Mischief - Detection
Made Certain-Caught at Last.

Cnief inspector Sharpe, tne ncdu oA lus
detective service in the postofiice depart
ment, resigned his Office several weeks ago
to engage in private business. His resigna-
tion was accepted, to take effect Sept l.
His record is that of capable officer. He
is an east Tennessee man, tall and spare IN
stature, and in appearance and manner the
typical detective. During the war he was a
Union man, and did good service. As de-
partment officer he has been terror To
rascaIs, and has hunted many of them out
OF the service, even when sheltered by strong
political infiusnca.
One of the most impostant duties oil the
chief inspector is to detect railway postal
clerks who steal letters containing money.
To accomplish this Col Sharpe follows
simple but ingenious systsm, which he ex.
plainei the other day TO the writer.
ITO catch the thieves" he said, ii had
constructed large railroad map OF the
United States, which hangs in my office.
Now, supposing man mails a letter in Bos-
ton for Kansas City containing $50 very
bad practice, but people will do it The let
ter never reaches its destination, and pretty
soon we get a complaining letter stating
the circumstances.
"Now, if the supposed case were an isolated
one, we probably could do nothing. The
letter. in going from Boston to Kansas City,
would pass through thirty or forty hands,
and it would DO useless t. try and fix the
blame But the Boston mans case is not
isolated Every day we get from one to
fifty similar complaints from all over the
country, and this fact. as you will see, en-
ables us To locate the mischief
FIRST we ascertain exactly when and
where the missing letter was mailed and its
address Then we are ready for the map
spoke Of take the Boston mans letter
and bunch Of similar complaints, and
then | begin TO stick pins into my
map / know Just the route which a letter
would take TO 20 from Boston To Kan
sas City, and / stick pins along 10 sketch out
this course. Then | take the next com
plant. Perhaps tnis Is from man VINO lost
money transmitting IL from Mobile To Chi
cago. Very well. 1 trace out the line such
"A letter would take. The third, perhaps
was sent from New York 10 San Francisco,
the fourth from New Orlean 70 Buffalo tie
fifth from Saginaw City 10 Paila iepnia, and
so on Now, before very long the map be
gins to look quite interesting. The pins are
srrewn all over the country. but We notice
ons track--say, for instance. betwssn Chi'
, cago aud leveland-where all the lines
unite. That's where the thief Is.
"Knowing now where the stealing j. going
on, We All wise our most trusted man IN tha
divisio1-we have 10 trust somebody, yot
/ kuow-that there j. trouble in this section
/ and tell him TO keep a sharp look out W.
| inquire into the habits and associations oi
the clerk, and we are, perhaps, able tC
/ spot the man at once. At other times it u
/ more difficult But we always fetch MIN.
/ Detection l. certain"
"But don't the clerks know Of this sys
tsm.'
Perfectly wsll,' replied Col. Sharpe.
"Then why do they stealf' was asked.
"Ah. there you ask me too hard n ques
tion.n said the Inspector I'm sure | can
tell. only know they do. and the histor,
OF almo.t all cases is the same. A posta
/ clerk will be tempted and will steal lettel
that he feels has money in it For the mex
few days he is scared To death. He think
everybody reads his guilt iE his face, am
he is certain he will be caught and put II
prison. He resolves never TO steal another
letter, and possibly he does not But gen
| orally in about a month or two months hi
fear and remorse have worn off. Evidently
| he has not been caught and is not suspectst
A good chance comes and he steals another
letter This time he does not wait montf
before he tries it again. And before long h'
is stealing all the letters ne gets hold o
which contain money. About that time
am sticking pins into my map. IL Is sur
death. Sometimes we get more than one
as fishers VIII now and then land two u
three fish at once when the biting is YER
lively. We caught three in two weeks ono
in different parts of the country when W
supposed we were after only ONE
"But why do men keep ON stealing whel
they see others caught, and understand tina
the machinery Of detection Is so perfects
again asked the reporter.
"As said before replied the inspector
'that can't answer, except in this way
Every rogue thinks himself little smarte
than anybody else. He sees that others ar
caught, but he thinks that he is too cunnin
and can cover his tracks,