Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1892-01-28
ROBBING THE MAILS.
THIEVES WHO PLUMBER UNCLE
SAM'S POST.
Three West Virginia Mail Robbers
A Colorado EpisOde-The Last of
Ed. Reeves-A Years. Record.

| io"op oho picturesque oPiooNO
marked the capture of three desperate
mail robbers in Barbour county, West
Virginia. There was in that part of the
country, says the New York Sun, an or
ganization known as the Red Men. AT
the beginning it was fairly respectable,
being intended for the purpose of putting
down tramps, and included many good
citizens. But bad characters got control
of it, and it degenerated into sort of
White Caps Society, terrorizing that re-
gion, whipping prominent persons. and
committing murders occasionally. Mem
bers of the association, while engaged in
their nocturnal excursions, wore long
robes of red stuff, red hats and red
masks in the shape of hoods, so that
their appearance was very awful indeed.
Three desperadoes, named Price, Kittle
and Hoffman, were the leaders, and they
they took to knocking down postal mes
sengers and stealing letters and pack
ages. They were hunted down in the
mountains, and were sentenced to long
terms of imprisonment. In court the
most important witness was the secretary
of the Red Men, named Brown, whose
beard, measured by the official tape, was
8 feet inches in length, his moustache
feet 2 inches.
In remarkable robbery near Grand
Junction, Colorado, in 1886, highwaymen
held up mail train, having piled ties on
the track to stop it. They put the con-
ductor and fireman out on u pile of rocks
alongside the track and kept them COW
cred with guns while they got the postal
clerk and the express messenger and put
them under guard likewise. Being con-
tent with pillaging the express and mail
cars, they did not interfere with the pas
sengcrs; but one Englishman on his
travels insisted on leaving the car in or
der to see what was going on. When
the porter tried to restrain him, saying
that he would be killed if he went out
side, he replied: "But l want to observe
how the rob a train in this blooming
country, don't you know!" He went as
far as the platform, but bullet through
his hat induced him to retreat precipi-
lately. The four robbers were pursued
by inspectors and marshals through Col
orado and Utah and were caught.
A gang of highwaymen, led by the
notorious Ed Reeves, held up train on
the Panhandle road in Texas in 1887
They robbed the express car, knocking
the messenger senseless with sx-shoot-
er, but the postal clerk refused to open
the mail car in response to their demand.
They blew open the door with dynamite
and cut open the pouches. Then they
went through the sleeping cars and col
lected watches, rings, diamonds and other
valuables from the passengers. Alto
gether it was very thoroughly done, and,
besides jewelry, they secured $1,000 in
cash. Reeves was captured after des-
perate fight, during which he was shot
five times, and, preferring death to i'm
prisonment, he offered the Sheriff $50 to
kill him. Five inspectors and deputy
marshals lay in wait for Whitley, another
desperate member of the band, at his
house. When he entered they covered
him with their guns, but he opened fire
at once and fell, riddled with bullets.
One of the most remarkable Post
Office robberies on record occurred at
Minneapolis in July, 1886. The thieves
entered through the stamp window at
night, closing the shutter behind them.
Then they broke into the safe in which
the stamps were kept, using diamond
drill SO quietly that men working close
by in the building did not hear them. In
front of the safe was large plate-glass
window, but the cold had covered it with
frost, and no one could see through it.
Tho burglars secured 100000 two-cent
stamps and 100000 one-cent stamps, be-
sides some money, the whole amounting
to the value of over $14 900. They tried
to dispose of their booty through other
persons and were caught in Chicago,
$4,07S worth Of the stamps being re-
covered.
During the past year So Postmasters,
90 Assistant Postmasters, 40 clerks in
Post Offices, and &C mail carriers were
arrested on charges of dishonesty.
Postmasters are exposed to much tempta-
ton. Sometimes they are in tight places
financially, and it seems to be very
simple thing to help themselves out tenn
porarily by using some of the Govern
ment cash. Every dishonest Post Office
employee imagines that his method of
stealing is new; that he does it better
than any one ever did it before, and that
he can eude detection; but such offenders
are caught invariably. They can never
tell when they are being watched or how.
All UtW Osb olllCt ulS CtH-
structed with poep-holes expressly for
that purpose. The rihing of letters is
the most common theft. A clerk was
caught in the act recently ut Whining
ton, N. C. He was so expert in dis
tingushing paper money by smell that,
after his capture, he selected, although
blindfolded, seven letters containing
bank notes out of 400 placed before him,
in order to satisfy the curiosity of the
inspectors. The method of detecting
paper currency by feeling is familiar, as
is also that of drawing thread with n
knot on the end of it through letter,
the knot fetching with it some of the
fibre from the enclosed note.
In Charlotte, n. c. IAN inspector watched
an employee who was stealing from
registered letters. Over the post office
is an opera house, and the detective
crawled beneath the stage so as to get his
eye ut n suitable crack. He saw the man
open the letters by floating them on wa
ter, placing them afterward under u
press for the purpose of sealing them
with the old mucilage. SO engrossed was
the man with his scheme that the inspec-
tor was able to walk in, peep over his
shoulder, and say: "What have you got
there, my boy?"
Good Lord! you've got me" was his
answer, as his knees gave way.
A clerk in the post-office at Fargo,
North Dakota, in October, 1889, asserted
that he had been bound and gagged by
two men who entered the building at
night, half smothered him with the bed
clothes burnad his foot with n rod hot