Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-08-18
POST OFFICE FRAUDS.
The Case Recently Unearthed in South
Carolina
One Of Barretts Associates Tells
HIS Story, Which Does Not Make
= Very Good Showing.

The Post Office Department is IN receipt,
through unofficial though reliable sources.
of startling news concerning the South
Carolina postal frauds Owens, one of the
conspirators under arrest, tells a story that
Barrett, whom the inspectors nave Gagged,
as being the rnigleader, wanted he (Ow-
ens) and McElrath, also in Jail, to kill
washington Dill postmaster at Innlan. Ell
the mail to and from the post offices to Nc
Elrath and Owens had to pass through the
post office at Inman. 1t was Dill y ho did
the checking against McElrath and Owens
which gave the inspectors evidence to work
on. He held the key to the situation. He
knew how much mail passed through his
ONCE for the dummy offices on that route
and knew that there was wide discrep-
ancy between the mail actually going
through and the returns made 10 the De-
partment by the offending postmasters.
owens has this to say: LAS long as Mr..
Darrett mas had his say, think ought to
says my word Is not good, that II was
broken in Judge Stribbling's court. / was
rexer trs.,e there as witness. but was there
Twice as juror. l knowed nothing about
swearing false till struck up with Earrett
AS to my house being searched for a stolen
hog' that amt SO. After / was arrested In
.he post office business. Barrett would come
around 1ve or six times q day and tell me
70 Keep shut mouth. Then he tried to get
me to swear false. Postmaster Din was a
witness against him and US. and he tried to
the best way to dispose Of Dill was to take
q shotgun and fix him, and then swear out.
He promised to stand by me and to swear
me out: l told him / would go to Albany
commit murder.
Fixing the Case.
since have been in Jail Barrett has been
TO see me many times a day and has been
trying to post me how to swear He wants
me to swear to a pack OF lies and told me
II would do as he said the case against me
would soon be stopped, and 1 would never
nave to go on the stand. saw that Bar
rett was trying to clear himself and would
De IN II as bad az ever. SO got my father
70 get the inspector to hear my statement.
Inc inspector told my father that he did
waht 10 hear my story. because he had
gnougn evidence to convict ne and Barrett
Rsr -. Sns Inspector onto another one of
5arretts post offices. l didn't know any-
tnlnS about ordering goods till Barrett told
me that We could order typewritars aud lot r
ana Ter na,,ar .ninss, M give a mortgage on them
the man who held the mortgage was 10 get
one-tnlrd Barrett was to have a third and
I I vas 70 nave the other third He said that
! had better let Jim Hannon do the orae ring
because my handwriting didn't look bust
ness ike enough. never wrote a letter for
anything He said We must get somebody
hOiu Whie we SKINNED, meaning the man
VINO neld the mortgage. We never dill baye
a settlement Of the ordering business. He
got desk. book case, table and some chairs
from me. We had settlements on the
stamps. think II was about three hun
dred dollars worth of them. He took some
stamped envelopes. postal cards and stamps
from me and sent them of by express. He
told me never to pay anything In stamps or
the inspectors would catch me. Barrett
told me that when he was arrested on the
Georgia case he was as guilty as q hog
but got OF by playing shut mouth