Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-01-02

| was telegraphed to the postmaster at Chicago
| Inquiry developed the fact that there had been
Sl5. 600 in the sack, including bank note for
81 900 from the Cedar Rapids postmaster which
was government funds.
ON THE TRAIL.
| Within twenty-four hours two post Office in
spectors had arrived upon the scene, disguised
as horse buyers. They learned that the man
suspected Of having committed tine robbery
| was a mail driver named Robinson, who had
| brought the pouches from the post Office to
the station. However, they made up their
minds very quickly that he was innocent and
| took him into their confidence They asked
| him If he had ever heard any one say any
| thing about stealing from the post, and he
| CHANGED to remember that q hack driver
| known as shorty" Lewis had once suggested
to him in q joking way shat to rob the
mail would be very easy thing indeed.
| Shorty bad himself been q mail driver and WAS
| sufficiently at home in the post office to be
quainted with the fact that this large consign
ment OF registered stuff was going out from
! Cedar Rapids on the night of the crime.
HOW THE INSPECTIONS WORKED.
50 the two inspectors proceeded to shadow
Shorty. Still in the guise Of horse buyers,
they made friends with him ard became his
boon companions. They were with him at all
hours, drinking with him, playing billiards
witn MIN and making themselves acquainted
with the smallest details Of whatever he did.
Ihey found out where every dollar he was paid
came from and took note of every cent he
spent Although up to that time he had never
peen drinking man nor played game Of bill
liards, he now INDUCED in those sxcitements TO
great extent 1t was if he was nerv-
Gus ana required something to distract his
inlno. furthermore, it was noticed that
ne always paid for everything, setting
Quiet investigation Of his affairs revealed the
| TACT that he had bought sewing machine on
installmenss, but was paying ahead for it, Also
nc was paying double on Il house which he had
purchased on the same plan. audit was learned
Lhat ne proposed to invest in saloon.
Having taken note of all these things the in
spectors made up their minds that he was the
guilty party. 1t only remained to secure the
necessary evidence against him During his
absence from home one evening they went to
MS house and announced themselves to his
wife In their true character as post Office de-
tectives saying that they had come to consult
her husband about the robbery. BY her man
ner they at once perceived that she knew OF
the affair, She said: "Why, Mr.. Lewis doesn't
know anything about the robbery. He was at
home on the night That it occurred"
Now, this was all that was needed to make the
thing certainty, because the inspectors knew
very well that on the night i'll question Shorty
had not gone home until am But they said
nothing and presently took their leave How
ever, they did not return to the hotel, but
waited On the road for the man TO come along
After u while they saw him approaching run
ming for dear life over the long and lonely
bridge, at the farther end Of which his resi-
dence was. They had watched him run in this
way on many a night, without his knowing it,
the superstition being that he was thus in
haste because he was afraid, having a
guilty conscience. They stopped him and
asked him to go back with them
to the post Office, to which he made
no objection. Having got him there they told
he hat how ,vtsh aH IN
question him about the mail robbery.
You DIDN'T suppose that l stole the
p-pouch?" said Shorty, trembling.
we don't suspect it. replied the inspectors.
1--WE know it. This very night We have been
to your house. We have seen your wife and
she has made a clean breast of it. So the best
thing you can do is to tell lis all about it.
Where is the money and how much OF it have
you spent?'
shorty very quickly did as he was bid. He
took the inspectors to his house and helped
them dig the plumber out OF the coal, where it
was concealed, wrapped up in a calico dress.
All the money was found save about $3.50. but
the money orders and drafts had been de-
stroyed. valuable watch and chain had been
thrown into the river BY Lewis because he
thought it dangerous to keep. He only got
one year In the penltentiary for tho crime. and
thus was solved a mystery which babe fair to
be most perplexing.
INGENIOUS FRAUDS
Ingenuity of a high order has often been ex-
erciscd in frauds upon the postal service. Per-
haps the most successful scheme in its way
ever worked was devised by postmaster in
Idaho i'll the year 1887. He took his look Of
blank money orders, and, having chosen O
fictitious name, drew orders under that name
IN favor OF various banks III adjacent states and
territories. His advices corresponding to these
orders were signed with his real name as post
master. Then he wrote a letter TO each bank,
signing his false name, saying that he mad
drawn the orders in their favor because he had
expected to be travelling through their towns
and to be able to collect the cash thus deposited
However, he had changed his plans and would be
obliged if the banks would kindly collect the
money and remit 1t by registered letter to him
at a certain post ofice-mentioning the post
Office not far from his own. which received all
its registered mail through his own Office. To
complete the plan III every detail he appended
in each case to the fictitious letter his own GER
titicate as postmaster that the bogus person
was the genuine remitter OF course the banks
promptly obeyed, sending the money by regis
tered mail to the post ottice indicated. When
the registered letters addressed to the false
name passed through his own Office on their
way to their destination he simply gobbled
them. In this highly original manner he
secured nearly 100000, skipping thereupon to
Canada The fraud was discovered In the de.
partment at Washington very soon, and this
clever postmaster was extradited on a charge OF
forgery, the Attorney General holding that the
Issuing OF q United States security without au-
thority was forgery in technical sense This
applied because the postmaster was only
au thorized to issue money orders upon rccoiy-
Ing an equivalent in cash. Five years in the
penitentiary was his portion.
THE ENGLISH MAN WANTED TO SEE
A remarkable robbery occurred near Grand
Junction, Colorado, 1856. Highwaymen held
up mail train, having piled ties on the track
to stop it. They put the conductor and fire.
man out on a pile Of rocks alongside the tracks
and kept them covered with guns while thew
got the postal clerk and the express messenger
and put them under guard likewise. Being
content with pillaSing the express and mail
cars they did not interfere with the passengers.
but one Englshman on his travels was so da-
lighted at the notion Of encountering SO wild
and woo!ly an adventure that he insisted upon
leaving the car, III order to see what was going
on When the porter tried to restrain him. saw
ing that he would be killed if he went outside
he replied, But l want to observe how they
rob a train In this blooming country, don't YOU
know He did actually get far as the plat
form, when a bullet through his hat induced
him to retreat precipitateiy. The robbers were
pursued by inspectors and United States mar
shaIs through Colorado and Utah to q .sduo.
OUT where they had taken refuge There
| were four OF them and each got five years.
ED. REEVES GANG.
A gang Of highwaymen led by the notorious
Ed. Reeves held up train on the Panhandle
road in Texas In 1887. They robbed the ex-
| ,..a,s .,r t,nc,r;uO he ,.,oa.n,-,-