St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-12-04
SAYS IT'S BLACKMAII..
Mail Agent Wright Rises to Elk
plain the Registered Letter
fermentation


Transaction,
To the Editor OF the Globe.
Referring to your article of the 20
from st. Thomas. Oak, l must say that
it is the worst piece of blackmail that
was ever perpetrated upon man.
will venture to state that there is not
another case on record since the begin-
ming of the railway mail system that
parallels this. The trouble in this case
is that there is not a man that has had
anything to do with it that knows any,
thing about the railway mail service.
A man with half wit would never try to
do what this Postmaster O'Conner has
tried to do with me. What Is post
masters duty in such cases? 1t is his
duty when registered matter is lost to
report 1t TO the p0st0fiee department,
afid they send special inspectors to in
yestigate, and their report is returned to
the department, and upon that report
the decision is made as to who is
at fault. This Postmaster O'COnner
concluded he would take this matter in
his own hands, as any fool like him
would, and make himself out TO be q
great roaring lion, seeking whom he
might devOur. He and his crowd came
to my ear and forced themselves iii, and
L could hardly find out from his harangue
what he wanted, only that he wanted
me to give him 500 for something that
did not know anything about. He called
me thief and demanded that [ pay
him over this 800 or be put under ar
rest. This did not do. He then de-
manded that / deposit 800 at Neche,
OAK, to his credit. All this blow about
my promising to deposit 500 amounts to
nothing. l said l will willingly deposit
500, or $500 for that matter, pending the
investigation and decision of the post
Office department. Frank Miller, the
conductor, heard what said in regard
to this, and l would respectfully refer
any person caring to know anything
about this case to him. | was on my
north run that day, and the postmaster
sent telegram to the marshal at
Neche, Oak, telling him to meet me at
the train, and if deposited the 800 in
bank to his credit, all right; if L did
not, to arrest me. But this marshal
did not care to undertake to do
so, knowing he had no right
to detain me. Now, if l had committed
this crime. what right had this post.
master, OConnor, to settle it for 500?
This he urged me to do, and it seemed
to be all that he wanted me to do. On
my trip south the next day this man
OConnor attempted to enter my car, but
| stepped to the door and told him not
to undertake to repeat the assault of the
day before. He stepped back on the
platform and began to abuse me like
any cowardlv dog would. When he
finds his bluff game won't work, he con-
cludes TO swear out q warrant for my
arrest, which he did, and sent officers
along the line to try to get me to come
back and have hearing before him and
his gang, which l would not do. They
put their warrantiu the hands of Deputy
United States Marshal Shattock, of
Fargo, who is very much of a gentleman
and treated me like was some sort of q
man. MIR. Shattock came to st. Paul,
and while here he met the chief post
Office inspector from Chicago, who eX-
planned the matter to him, and he re.
turned to Fargo without me. On my
next trip north, some time after that.
Me, ShaLt.G6ttk Came 70 my car and we
talked the matter over, and he went up
to Grafton, Dak., and there l
met this United States commissioner,
YOrkey; l told him there was no cause
for this action against me, but he said
he thought we had better set day for
a hearing in the case. which we did, and
Nov. IA was the day set. He presented
day, which | signed. | signed no bond
whatever, and all this talk about me
fOrfelting bond is false. | want peo-
pie to bear in mind that this was all
done in my mail car. L was not out of
the car at any time on that trip. did
not appear before the commissioner.
He appeared before me in my mail car.
This case was continued, first, by my
attorney; next, by the commissioner
himself, and it has been continued from
time TO time by most anyone that
wanted it continued. In the meantime,
the pOstoffice inspectors were inyesti-
eating this case, and OH the evidence of
postmaster and his deputy the depart
ment decided that they were guilty and
should make good the loss, which they
did, and have been exonerated by the
department, and i'll all the cOmmunica-
tons and resolutions that have come
from st. Thomas, not one word has
been said in regard to the decision OF
the postOffice department.
The dispatches sent from that place
in regard to this matter are criminal
libel. and the sender of those dispatches
will be indicted here on that charge.
The postal laws say that when post
master sends a registered letter to the
road he must first enter it upon his reg
lister book, and then throw it in the
pouch loose: then he must copy this
entry OH receipt card and inclOSe this
card in the package of letters so the
mail clerk receiving this mail will have
some guide that there is registered
letter in the mail should it happen to
get mislaid. In this case the postmaster
does moi claim that he fulfilled the
rules and law regarding such. He
simply says that he tied up registered
letter with other mail and sent out no
receipt therefor and all the way have
my registered books. 1t doesn't appear
from any records that l have that any
such register ever passed through my
hands. And there is not one bit of
evidence against me in this case.
The deputy postmaster says he care
leSsly threw a registered letter belong
ing TO his own office into pouch that
should have received. L can't relnem-
Der the circumstances of opening the
pouch on that date, and l am positive
that this letter (he letter in question:
has never passed through my hands.
This matter is being made personal. III
they had any case against me they
would not make half the fuss that they
do. All the trouble with Mr.. O'Connor
and his gang is that will not willingly
go up there and let them do as they like
with me. l have had "indigDatiOn
called for my benefit before
since | havs been in the mail service for
doing my duty. and find L come out oil
top of the heap every time. If you st.
Thomas fellows have nothing else to do
you can make your Immigration meet
ings" weekly, and term it Fools Eli
rand" Respectfully,
NJ. G. WRIGHT.