The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1891-03-18
AFTER MAIL THIEVES.
HOW INSPECTORS FERRET orr
DEPREDATORS.

Around the walls of the goyernmel
building, if one will look closely. he wi
observe what appears as registers, hic
l up near the ceiling. They are innocer
looking enough to distract the suspicion
of the most willy theft. But every da
behind one of these iron gratings theI
may be found a post-office inspector, il
tently watching the actions of the clerk
either in the main distributing room {
IN the register or money order depar
ments. Should there happen to be an
complaint of missing mail there is a sem
rying in the inspection department an
every man on the staff is put on to ties
his mettle with the case which confront
the department, And the wonder is tina
nine times out of ten, the case is work G,
to successful conclusion and the guilt
person convicted of the henious crime o
tampering with Uncle SANS mail.
1--WE get some pretty tough cases, >
said an old inspector, yesterday, "but i
has been my fortune to run down ever,
one on which was set to work"
what was the most difficult case vol
ever had?'' asked the reporter.
at happened while l was stationed a
Utica, n. Y, about seven years ago." re
Piled the inspector, "Many letters con
tanning valuables had been missed, anC
by dint of hard work we managed t.
trace the job down to one clerk, shay
ed-faced young fellow, of about % years
of age. He was clerk who distributed
the letters into the boxes of the carr iers
AS | said, we managed to get this far on
and then set my trap. l had decoy
letter, containing a $20gold piece, mail
ed from country town In Connecticut to
a prominent stove dealer in Utica. The
letter failed to reach the carrier prompt
ly, and felt we had our man solid at
last.
" waited for him until the dinner
hour, and and as he was leaving the of
flee accOsted him. He came with mo
and look as closely as l might failed to
detect any uneasiness in his features :
they were perfectly immobile. He walk
ed with me into the office of the post
master and submitted to a thorough
search. but no trace of the letter or $50
gold piece was found on his person. To
say l was dumfounded is drawing it
mildly. He appeared to be very indig-
nant, But whether was right or wrong
at the time, the petty.robberies came to
sudden stop. No more complaints were
heard for month. Then they began
again. This time was bound would
| would not fail, so ! set a Gloss watch
on my man, One day when was about
to give up the case in despair, | noticed
the fellow earring up an envelope and
dropping it on the floor. When he had
it. 1 was disheartened when l saw that
the envelope had been addressed to him
self. l was about to walk away when
sudden idea struck me.
II came down the next morning before
the young clerk came to work, and sta
toned myself behind a letter rack, free
from observation, but in such position
that could see the fellows every action
| saw him take several stamped
and addressed.envelopes from his pocket
and walk over to the stamping table and
cancel the stamps. During the course
of the morning saw the fellow slip four
letters inside of as many envelopes and
seal the envelopes. Then | knew my
suspicious were correct. Invent to the
carrier who carried the letters to the
young mans home and secured the four
letters addressed to the fellow himself.
'"Have you carrisd many letters like
this?'' l asked him.
"'Yes sir" the carrier said, Il carry
four or five day.
II then called the fellow into my office
and told him that we had determined to
have the mail of the clerks delivered at
the Office to tighten the duties of the
carriers. l then told him l had four
letters for him aud handed him the mis-
sives / had received from the postman.
The fellow turned pale and was on the
verge of fainting when l asked him to
open and read the letters in my presence
With trembling hands he did 50, and IN
side the envelope, addressed to himself
l found four valuable letters addressed
to large wholesale house. He broke
down and confessed that he had been
stealing for about six months, and that
during that period he had distracted
nearly 1900 from business letters. He
had spent the money in gambling.
"The hardest case l ever had to work
on" broke in another inspector, "turn
ed out to be no case at all. 1t was in g
small town in Ohio few months ago.
From this town had come numerous
complaints of missing mail, valuable anC
valueless pieces disappearing regularly
/ was sent down to work the matter up
l worked as hard as l could and failed
to detect any guilty person among tn,
several employed in the office. AS a las
resort determined to spend one night il
the office. 1t proved to be very sue
cessful night. Shortly before midnigh
| hoard scratching in the lower lette
boxes and carefully began to investigate
| opened drawer and out jumped hi
rat. watched him disappear through
hole and then went home. Next day tn
floor was torn up, and in that rats hol
we found scraps of papers checks an
currency, all used as soft, downy be
: for the family of rodents. 1t was
blessing for tnat town, as new post-'
, flee was secured at once"
zone time" said another inspector,
was fooled by apair of high-topped boot
Many letters had been missing fro
: the trains running between Cincinna