The Arkansaw traveler. (Little Rock, Ark.) 1882-1???, 1888-06-23
4 Singular story.

,
Oscar Whitman was young man
when, in 1881, he obtained employ
ment in the railway mail service OF
the United States. His parents were
prosperous farmers in one of the
southwestern counties in New York
state, and had Oscar chosen he could
have remained at home, lived a peace
full, quiet life, married one of the
neighboring farmers red-cheeked
daughters, and in time would doubtless
have inherited the farm. But toll in
the fields was not to his liking. He
longed for more exciting pursuits, and
some OF his fathers friends had influ-
ence enough to secure Oscar railway
mail clerkship. The salary was not
large, being only S1,l50 year, but
that seemed fortune to the young
farmers son.
Indeed, it proved to be too much
money for the lad. At first he laid
part of his earnings away, but gradu-
ally, as he made the acquaintance of
the world, he found new ways OF
spending money. His pleasures at
first were simple, but little by little
the pace grew more rapid, until he
had not only dissipated his savings,
but was living at rate beyond the
salary which he once thought SO lib
eral. Oscars entrance into dissipa-
ton was not sudden plunge. He
had been we'll reared and conscien-
tiously trained, and it was long before
the old home influences wore off; but
five years after he had left the farm he
found himself in debt, addicted to the
game of poker and lax in morals in
other and more serious respects. Re-
monstrances from older friends had
availed nothing, and little by little
they shook their heads and abandoned
him to the bad influences that were
dragging him downward.
Late in the year 1886 the postal
authorities began to hear of missing
letters, most of them containing money,
mailed to points along the "New York
and Dunkirk Run" This was the
name of the route on which Oscar
Whitman worked. Nearly all of the
letters missed were mailed to various
business firms in New York city, and
many of them contained small remit
tances sent by people in that part of
the country, accompanying orders for
dry goods, or other things needed in
the household. A branch of the pos
tai inspectors Office began an investi-
cation. The inspectors looked into
the character and habits of the clerks
employed on the Ioate, and in time
they reached the conclusion that Oscar
Whitman was more worthy of suspi-
cion than any of the others. But 80
far it was only case of suspicion, and
SO it continued.
Letters continued to be stolen, but
the crime could not be fastened upon
Oscar by any legal proof. Cunningly
prepared decoy letters were sent over
the route at such times and in such
ways as to make it certain that they
would pass through his hands, but
they invariably reached their destina-
tions untouched. These letters con-
tanned marked money. They were of
inviting and innocent appearance,
looked like dozens of other similar
letters that had been stolen, but
whether through sheer luck or
through shrewdness, Whitman never
appropriated one of the decoys.
For nearly year the inspectors
worked at the case. Letters continued
to disappear almost under their very
eyes, but the culprit seemingly could
not be caught. Loose money was
purposely put in the mail bag, look
ing as though it had: been loosened
from a letter, but at the end of his run
the astute Whitman never failed to
turn in the full amount to his supe-
rior. Nevertheless, the bad reputation
which Whitman was acquiring as a
"fast man" and zone of the b0ysn at
Elmira, and the obvious fact that he
was living beyond his income pointed
irresistibly to the conclusion that he
was responsible for the missing letters.
Some other circumstantial evidence
was secured, which, though not suffi-
Gent to warrant his arrest, resulted In
his discharge last fall.
Some time after the discharge of
Whitman the money order bureau of
the post-oface department learned that