The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-04-07

son as J. j. smith is known to live in this
community. However. q large amount OF
mail was received daily bearing his name and
deposited in box So, but 1t was noticed BY the
postmistress that it was never taken out III
daylight but always at night. This fact be-
came known to some Of our people and coup
ling it with the secluded life that Mr.: Henry
was leading suspicion was aroused. The post
mistress, ever :,icrl in the discharge Of her
duties, iclt persuaded that something was
wrong, and that box 50 was being used for un-
lawful purposes. This opinion was strength-
ened when her eye fell upon an advertise
ment in the Police Gazette, which read us fol.
lows:
GREENBACKS lS lcJ nSfS'sa nv Is to !S gStnEns days
Addrtss Box Sj, Rock Hill, $. o.
Knowing that the postal laws forbade the
use of the mails for fraudulent purposes, Miss
Wood the rostmstrcs>, wrote the postal au-
thorities at Atlanta informing them Or her
suspicious and asking for instructions. Pend
Ing an answer to tlstt letter, she conceived the
idea of writing dccoy letter with the hope
Of uncovcring the fraud, If any was being
letter, dating ii at Pleasant Valley, Lancaster,
Co., S. G., and signed thereto the name of Ed
Williams. The letter was addressed 10 81. j:
Smith, box So, Rock I'm $: c." and asked asked
tisemlent IN the Police Gitz. lie. The letter was
placed in box IS. TWO days afterwards let
icr addressed to sd Williams, Pleasant VAL
ley, Lancaster Co.. $. CO.. was found in the
diup box at this place by the postmistrcSs
w!io opened it and found enclosed Il circular,
as follows;
Rock HILL, S. G., 1856
My DEAR SIR: Yours Of recent date to
hand, and as take you to bca gentleman OF
Il speculative disposition. ard one who would
be willing to make n lot OF money rapidly,
provided it could be made safely, make
known to you the speculation referred To IN
your letter. IN case you do not engage In the
business, trust you will not violate The trust
imposed in you. Ii you enter into this cX-
change business, You can make money faster
than in any other business. You can MAKE
all the mOLcy sou want In Il short time With
perfect safety. The goods want yo!!! en-
change arc very fine limitations OF "Cnce
SANS Grcenbarks." 1 have them in No /, ,,
and SO, also the 10 & 90 Doll silver bills.
uinr, and there is saLso!utcly NJ fear Of de!cc-
ton. You can get il,cm at 10 Doll per 100, or
$50 for - Doh, and 1909 Doll Tor Is Doll. l
will not sell, or send cat less than 500, price
10 Dol. II you want to make money very
fast advise you to raise all the money. you
can and send it on at once, and get large
stock of the goods while the opportunity
lasts, as no one can tell how long that may be.
Send money In Il plain envelope, marked II
not received in days return to you, in this
way, il not delivered to me it Will lie Return
cd To you, ana will be entirely safe. Under
no circumstances will | receive or sign for
RcaiStcrtd Letter or Money Order, as the Au-
thoritirs might get proof against ME tn!t
way. I:oping to Start q business that Will
prove mutually prOltaElc,
l ain yours IN confidence,
Address carefully J.J. SMITH,
and return all LOCK BON o.,
communications. Rock HILL
SC.
This circular was forwarded to the postal
authorities. w. c. Eoykin, Postotlice In>pec-
tor, WAS sent to Rock Hill at once with IN
structiuls to work op the case. Upon his ar
rival here he conferrdcd with the poStmlstresS
and the next morning swore out the warrant
" A n time he SWOrc out
search warrant and when Henry was arrest,
cd on the street on "Wednesday last and
taken to the EonlmisSlonerS once, Inspector
Bny4sin and Deputy Marshall Z: J. Pride at
once went to Hcnrys house and instituted
thorough search of the building. No money
of any description was found III the mouse
but one room bore the appearance 0I pclllS
an office with quantities Of letters and papers
scattered about Among the letters were u
number addressed 10 ]. J. Smith, box So, +. l..
Turner, box 70, W. II. Martin, box e3, and
these letters Il number Of circulars, like the
one printed above, signed j. j. Smith, were
found, together with the plate and press by
which they were produced, lot OF blank pa
Several of the Letters mentioned above were
from persons who had enclosed ten dollars III
answer to the "Greenback" advertisement,
and asked that the hundred dollars OF "tnclc
Sans GrecnDackS" he forwarded at once.
After the seized property had been carried to
the commissioners office Il thorough search
was made of the person OF Henry anu thc
following, property found, viz; twelve nun
dred and twelve dollars in United States
Bunk Notes, of the denomination OF 20, slO,
>2u, and $50, nine letters ready for nlaiing,
and some opened letters addressed to various
names
At the preliminary hearing on Wednesday
afternoon w. Il. Wilson, Jr., Esq., appeared
for The defendant. Mr.. Boykin, the l'"stolflce
Inspector, was the lirSt witness called: lie
gave in detail the information obtained from
the puStmistress and IN account of the Selz.
urc OF the property found in the possession of
w. NJ. Henry, which consumed the time OF
the court until 10 o'clock at night. The fur
thcr hearing was adjourned until tn. next
morning, when the liO>tnistrcsS was called.
She stated the rUSe she used to discover The
fraud, together with Ecr reasons for so doing
She testified that the mail in box S3was never
taken out in day light, at least not during Of
flee hours. She had observed frequently when
leaving the office in the afternoon that box So
was well filled with IetterS. but when she
would return in the morning they would hc
gone She also stated that when the rent OF
box So was due she found the amount enclosed
in a note, signed J. j. Smith, that bad been
placed in the drop box. This had also been
deposited ut night. Sne had never seen !. j.
smith and had no knowledge Of such Il pei
son except through Mr.. Henry.
After other witnesses had testified, Mr.. W.
s. May was called. lie slated that while in
Charleston on or about the 22d of March. lie
s;;w an advertisement in the 7crns Strings
headed "GrccnhaclS' his advertisement was
wrote II test letter to box 81, at Rock Hill, $.
G., asking for inlormatinn and directing that
the reply hc sent 10 "F. ii. Kirby, Pavilion
Hotel, Charleston, :. c. lie mailed that let,
ter in Charleston and tic next day departed
for Rock Hill. He identified one Of the letters
luund by the Inspector in the search OF Hen
rvs house as thc one lie had writt,n 1T
Charleston, signed J. I'll. Kirby.
United States Deputy Marshal G. j. Pride,
Jr, was thcn called and identified Il sealed
letter ready for mailing directed o"I. II.
one of Il lot of letters lie had found on Hen
rvs person when he was searched.
Later the Commissioner instructed Deputy
Marshal Pride TO open the letter directed to
~. H. Kirby, Pavilion Hotel, Charleston, =.
C.,'and it was found to contain n circular
like the one above signed J. J. smith.
The testimony c!oscd at i. NJ. Thursday.
Tho defendants attorney addressed The court
at some length in defence OF his client and ut
tack ell the warrant of arrest rs being insulli-
cient, and asked that the defendant he rclcas-