The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1885-10-02
P0STOFFICE REGULATORS.
THE EXPERIENCES OF A VETERAN
INSPECTOR.
Thrilling and Sensational Cases-A
Truthful Thief whose Sentence
was not Carried Ont.


mail robberies in this village resulted in
the arrest of young Pierce, is one of the
most experienced men on the force,
where he has been employed many years.
There arc sixty mail inspectors in all,
whose duty it is to "check up" the &C.
counts OF postmasters where negligence
or crookedness is suspected, and to fer
ret out embezzlemeut and thieving The
inspecting of postmasters' accounts is
comparatively easy, and young men are
assigned to it, as the main qualification
necessary is an accurate knowledge of
bookkeeping. The old hands are en-
ployed as detectives, and all the quail
ties necessary to the spying out of the
most intricate cases are required.
Inspector Adsit's many years expert
ence, if recorded in the plainest, most
unimaginative way, would make a volume
much more thrilling and sensational than
the fanciful detective stories published,
! while at the same time it would give
touches of human nature in its most
varied passes. Mr.. Adsit, though natur-
ally uncommunicative, is an old news
paper man, and he told one or two of
his experiences while enjoying a cigar
and waiting for the II 30 train to his
next base of operations in Northern New
York.
"About two years ago." he said ~
had a job given me in Michigan which
had troubled the department a good
, deal. They had been losing money from
registered letters which must have been
taken out by postoffioc clerks at Port
Huron or just over the line at Sarnia, and
| finally traced it to the former place.
There was a boy sixteen years old who
worked through the night at the office,
and | had reason to believe that he took
the money. l sent four decoy letters
! from separate stations, mailed so that
they would be sure to pass through his
hands on a certain night. In a memo
randum book took a record of the date
and number of the bank bills put in
each one, and made the hand
writing in no two letters alike. | de-
cided then to watch the postoffice all
night to see that no one else went there
! The time selected was a bright, moon
| light night in September, and, as luck
would have it, there had been a series of
| burglaries there just before, including
| the blowing up of a couple of safes, so
that the police were wide awake. l be-
gan on my beat up and down the alley,
and soon saw that a country policeman
was watching me. 1t was not very long
before he walked up to me and in a very
knowing as well as pompous way said :
! We'll, where are the rest of your gang
] You might as we'll own up now as
surred him that | was not burglar, but
was on to watch the postoilice. Come,
that's too thin, ne said 4 saw the post
] -. Il 10 f,rhe l., +,1,l
/ to watch the Office myself. Come now,
G. long with me, and he started for the
station house. If there is anybody in
the world don't give secret to it's a
policeman, for they are sure to tell
everything they know. So | tried to cvade
his attempt to discover why | was there.
| argued, threatened, showed him my
commission and did everything else, and
/ after working for nearly two hours freed
myself by consenting to having a man
put on to watch me. And he
actually hired a man to watch me
on the corner all night! In the morn
ing went into the postoiiice and, find
ing the suspected clerk asked him 10
show his registered letters. l looked
them over and picked out the four had
written.
"'Paul,' said l, now give me the
money. He got mad and said he had
none. then made him take off his coat
and vest, which | searched without sue
cess, but found a roll of bills in his
trousers. l picked out several and
showing him my memorandum book,
made him read and compare the marks
on the bills and then on the book for
himself You've got me, and that is all
he said. l opened my letters and found
that he had taken the money from three,
and had put back the bills in the fourth.
He did not know that / wrote it, and |
asked him why he did not take the $25
in that letter. Read it, he said push
ing it over to me.
ut read as if from poor boy about
the clerks age, who was returning $25
he had borrowed from neighbor to help
him to a town over the line. 1t was
written to his mother and told in pitt
full way how hard he had worked to save
it and how he was saving money for her
The letter had touched him. and he left
the money, l could not tell him that the
letter was a fancy of mine TO test his
conscience. And he is the only one |
ever arrested whose sentence was not car
o lICu Oll. lIS nav 81 IlulIN manly quail
ties that the judge held the sentence over
him on his good behavior, and the money
he didn't steal helped to free him.
"The most of the criminals we find are
under thirty years of age, and although
there are a great many women in the de
partment | never knew of but two who
were dishonest. You see they are not
tempted to spend money as boys and
men arc. Extravaganza has been the
cause of the ruin of almost every one |
have arrested. | believe it was the same
thing that led young Pierce to steal, al
though this instance is by no means a
marked one. lie went with the boys
who had rich parents and could not af-
ford to keep up with them in style.
II met with a sad case at lpsilanti,
Mich, few years ago, " continued Mr..
Adsit. "Thc postmaster who was one
of the leading men of the city in social
and religious life, was found s., 800 short
in his accounts, and l had to fight him
for nnorlv tXvN dave n tNrnvaDt hiS nOp,-