Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1894-04-13
GIVE UP IN DESPAIR.
PosToFFlcE DETECTIVES AsAN-
DON SOUTH BEND. I
NAH Robber,ss continue unab.ted in Spite
of h Efforts Of Postal inspectors to-
Find tho Thieves-steallnes said to.
Amount to $4,000.
PilNrs Their Mail.

Mysterious mail robberies, inscruta-
bic detectives who cannot find the
thieves, and hundleds OF angry cores
pondents whose money hos gone astray,
have lately been making life miserable
for certain vendors of patent medi-
cines and cosmetics at South Bend.
Ind. More than $1,000 is said to have
disappeared in some mysterious way
from the letters sent to South Bend,
and. notwithstanding tho efforts of the,
postofice inspectors, the leak las not
been discovered. Federal detectives
have prowled around the p~ostofiiee in
the Indiana town and have sent decoy
letters thr ugh the mails. The thief
or thieves declined to handle the de-
coys, and this scheme of catching the
pilferers failed.
The sudden disappearance of the in-
spectors caused q Torment among the.
sufferers. When they learned that
the detectives had given up the job in
disgust the medicine men threw up
their hands and wondered whether
they would have to go out of business
complexic ms were being ruined ire
trievably and there was no possibility
of suing for damages. But the hard
est loss is sail to have fallen on the.
Indiara Travelling Mems Accident AS
ISOLATION, which has it's headquarters
at South Bend. Sec etary e. b. Rus
sell reports the loss of ], 90 letters.
each containing So OF moro. Angry
members claim they cannot be held
responsible fer the continuous theft of
fhniNsd Y1oa ond tho oocnnSokfox 6oe c-f
fered severely. Still the p%ilferinp
goes on. 1t reached its height when
the inspectors had just warmed to
their work.
Audacitv of the Robberies.
However worked, the scheme OF the
thieves i, one of the 1st audacious in
the history of postal robb rios. Every
cmploye in the South Eeld p~ostottices
has been watched and tested. Over.
the entire case an impstetr-b eshroud
OF secrecy has been Hun by the post
office departments. Though COM
plants were filed in Washington.
months ago and in pectors had bean
sent down to South Bend, nothing else
was apparently done. Letters are still
being purloinad and robbed of the
currency they contain. Money orders.
never reach their destination ard are
evidently torn up by the thieves, as
the presen.ers would be instantly &C.
tected..
South PEND is the home of the ratent
vender o. cosmetics. The latter is
usually tho wife of the former. Chief
of Police Rose claims that there are
lis patent medicine and cosmetic f.c-
tories in South Bend. The mail sent
to the city is enormous, letters contain
ing remittances being forwarded frrd2
every State in the Union and from
Canada.
Who're tho lettershave be- diverted
from tn ir intended destination is Iart
OF the mystery surrounding the thefts.
Four p~ostoffice inspectors have failed
to discover ut what roint the letters
drop out OF sight.
Travelling Men Robbed.
1t was not until lats in the fall of
1898 that the Indiana Travelling Mems
Accident Association began to miss the
dues sent in by members. Dues for
September failed to reach the secre-.
tary's hands, but he did not notice it
until the next months payment fell
due. Then he notified the delinquent.
members and in reply he received q.
bushel of letters from indignant MEM
bers vino declared they had sent in.
their September dues. Secret ary Rus
sell wrote to Washington and was re-
ferred to the Fourth Assistant Postmas-
e rGeneral. Three week. ago he wentto
Washington and pressed the investi.'
cation. Two inspectors had already
been sent to South Bend, but their.
mission had soon become known and
they had to return to Cincinnati.
Shortly after Mr.. Russell's visit to.
Washington Chief Inspector Solomon.
of the Ohio. Indiana and Kentucky d..
vision, went to South Bend and looked
over the ground. Soon afterward In
spectors Fletcher and Holden essab-
lished themselves in South Bend.
Fletcher had 200 decoy letters sent to
himself under the name of Wilson, but
not one of them was toAched. 1t was
said more letters, however, were
stolen while the detectives were at
work than ever before.
SENATOR colQulTT DEAD.
9-@HtL1 NA-ha %csis