The Red Cloud chief., 1894-10-19
A BIG THEFT.
Solved After an Innocent Man HAD suf
fered.

' p ~ l'fIt
New York on the steamer La Tourainc.
and the loss Of which was not discov-
cred until the rest Of the consignment
reached its destinations" said Henry
+. Cranmcr Of 81. Louis to a Chicago
Times man, "rcminds me Of the loss
Of II money package once by the Wells
Farg express company and the North
crn Pacific road. Between 81 1000 and
5000 in bills were cent by a deposition
of Tom Crusc's banking-housc in
Helena, Mont, To- correspondent in
81. Louis. The package was placed in
the express safe, together with other
valuable bundles. and when Omaha
was reached, whore a transfer of the
stun was nIaaS, the parcel of bills vas
missing. An investigation resulted
and the express messenger was
arrested. He insisted that he was
innocent and could % account for the
loss. His guilt appeared to be so pal
pablo h Il every means known outside
of processes Of the inquisition vas
uscd in an attempt To make him make
Il confession. but without avail. He
was sent to the ~pcnitentiary for two
years. and protested his innocence Ia
v~chcmcntly when he came out IA he
did when he went in. Seven or eight
months after the messenger was re-
leased the Northern Pacific
decided to change the numcrou small
trcstlcs along its main stem into cul-
vcrts. "A party of surveyors were
making the preliminary measurement
OF such work, and when the aXman
was clearing away some undcrbrush
at the side of "a small creek one day,
so the surveyor could operate his level.
he picked up IA mildewcd package that
had evidently been lost from a passing
train on the road. Without taking
into consideration the express COM
pany's labels and seals. which even
long exposure had not efaccd
from the bundle. the surveying
party opened il. and there was
the long-missing money that had been
sent from Helena to st. Louis. The
facts were reported and another invcs-
tigation was put on foot, with a view
OF relieving the express messenger
from the suspicion that still chung to
him. He was informed Of the discov-
cry of the money and requested to
make some explanation Of its loss. He
still insisted that he had nothing To
do with the loss Of the package and
knew nothing of it,. He said that he
had received the safe from the COM
pany in Helena and had kept it in the
condition in which il was given 10
him until they reached Omaha. He
remembered, however. that another
Wells-Fargo man, who had been sent
down the road from Helena To meet a
car. was in the express car while il
was running neal the point where the
package was discovered. This man
had been promoted to quite Il
prominent position in one of the Wells.
Fargo districts and was Immediately
charged with being responsible for the
loss of the package. When pushed
into IA corner he confessed that he had
used his knowledge Of the combination
of the safe and had stolen the package
and thrown it out of the door Of the
II after opening the safe. and he
naively remarked that he had spent
six months looking for il without sue.
cess. Only powerful friends prevented
his prosecution and conviction. |,
may he said, however. that he did a.
far rs he was financially able to REIN
burse the messenger who had suffered
for his crime, and that the latter wa.
given Il better place than he had hclG
before by the express company.