Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1890-05-31
An Ex-AIderman a Leader.

Sioux Falls, Pierre, Aberdeen, Mitchell,
Redtield, Millbank, and all the leading
towns in the state, as well as many small
er ones, are concerned. The company
propose to prosecute every one, and will
make hard fight to place behind the bars
all who have had anything to do with the
wholesale stealing The two leaders. ac-
cording to the Western Union, are Man
nix, of Sioux Falls, and Blood, of Aber-
deem, both of whom have been indicted.
The grand jury has returned bill against
ex Alderman Mannix for embezzlement
ManniX was discharged by the telegraph
company a month ago, after having held
the position of manager of the company's
office in this city for nine years
Discovery of the Robbery.
The first discovery made, say the officers
of the company, that Mannix's accounts
were wrong was during the visit of Assist
ant Superintendent, Nally, of Minneapolis.
at this place month or SO ago On NaIly's
investigation they were found TO be short
in the neighborhopd of 800 A visit had
been paid previous to this to Aberdeen,
Pierre Redfield, Mitchell and other places
and through the aid of detective and Mr..
Nally's close scrutiny of the books in each
office 1T was discovered that the company
had been robbed Systematically for years.
How the Thieves Operated.
AT each office, particularly at Aberdeen
and Sioux Falls, The plan adopted was to
act in collnsion with the. small towns
around that had conside rable business
with them. In the case of y bersaeen the
office was conducted by Manager 3. ,od,
who has since the arrival of Nally in tiot
section been indicted and placed under
bonds, the company keeping the true
status of affairs very quiet. Blood was in
combination with the agents at Mel
lette, Faulkton. Columbia, and a dozen
other towns within fifty miles of Aber-
deen, A dispatch sent from Aberdeen to
any of these points would not he checked
up and the cash would he pocketed.
The Leaders Fixed Up a Combine.
This was kept up for years, and the
amount lost by the company can only he
surmised. Iu one month Blood had n
"rake off" Cf $3.50. The agent in the small
town would, when sending dispatch, act
in similar way. The Mitchell manager
did the same as his friend Blood,
and appropriated to his use n large
sum yearly from the surrounding
towns In Sioux Falls Mannix, it is
claimed, did a thriving busincss-more
than any one else. Towns for miles around
contributed to his pocketbook The trio
of leading conspirators were not satisfied
with what they could "rake off" the small
towns around and entered into a combina
ton among themselves entirely unknown
to the small fry, thus getting an addi-
tional field to work
No Compromise in This Case.
There are between forty and fifty towns
in the deal, ' said Mr.. Nally, .and the com
pany refuses to accept the return of any
money in consideration of a withdrawal
from prosecuting Mr. Mannix or any
other one Of the gang. The com.
pany has been suffering from their pill
fering acts for years, and is bound to make
lesson of those they can capture. The first
intimation we had of the combination was
the mislayiqg of a note written by Blood,
of Aberdeen, which he had addressed to
ehe operator at Webster, Blood requested
the agent not to check him up for certain
dispatches, giving the numbers, and he
would send by draft half the receipts"