Arizona republican., 1895-04-02
HIT UNCLE SAM. Two Boys Touch the Phoenix PoStoffice. Both Are Touched by the
 Authorities. Too Much Consideration Leads
 to Their Capture. Their Youth May Shield Them From the Worst Possible Con-
 sequences.

The Phoenix postoffice was robbed on Saturday night and the robbers are in jail with prospect of long period of penal servitude in front of them, unless youth may be considered an extenuat- ing circumstance.
 On Sunday morning when Postmaster Thomas went into the office he dis covered in the basket. placed to receive letters for mailing, lot of opened let ters addressed to various persons and corporations in the city. Their pres- ence was naturally mystery.
 The only explanation was that they had been stolen from the office and had been returned by the robbers because their contents were worthless or una vailable. There could in fact be no other theory. The letters returned were addressed to the Valley Bank, the Maricopa Loan and Trust company, M. s. Webb, the Phoenix Herald, A. J. Hoskins, W. J. Cotton and John M Gardiner. Some of them were found to contain checks or drafts and others were filled with only ordinary corres- pondence.
 Postmaster Thomas accordingly noti- fled Deputy United States Marshal Slankard and Sheriff Orme. Both officers visited the building but no other traces of robbery were visible be- yond the returned letters. Door and windows were secure and the mystery was as mpenetrabi5~iIter the officers visit as before.
 Along in the afternoon young man, little more than boy, stepped i'll front of the registry window and presented a money order payable to N. A. Morford It was properly endorsed, bat the post masters mind was in a condition to grasp at a suspicious straw. ''Where did you get this?" he asked. The boy was confounded by the similarity of sound of the names of the proprietor of The Herald and well known dairy man. q got it of 'Mr. Moffat.'" was his reply. Have, you been working for him ?" asked MT. Thomas. "Yes, sir, and this is in pay for my salary" /" answered the boy.
 "But," said MT. Thomas, "this is payable to Mr. Morford, not 'Moffat.'" ,"
 The boy was confused, and, taking advantage of it, the postmaster said: ''I just saw MT. Morford go into the court house; let's go over and may be he can explain It." They went over to the court house. Mir. Morford wasn't there but tailor was and the boy found himself behind the bars on suspicion oi having burglarized the government o1 the United States.
 They didn't have to put him into g sweat box to make him tell all about 1t He was so anxious to tell that the words trod on each others heels as they fled out of his mouth. He said his name was A. c. Parsons and that he was one robber and another boy, Eugene Bicknell, was the other. Bicknell, by the way, was waiting outside the post office when the postmaster and Parson: came out on their way to the cour house. He was intuitive and felt that disaster was about to happen to hi partner, so he hurried around tht nearest corner.
 Parsons confessed that they hao opened the boxes from the outside anC had abstracted the letters. He did no say so, but the inference was that they had used a skeleton key. A bundle o keys of almost every known variety including an ingeniously contriveo skeleton key, was found in one of hi pockets. Postmaster Thomas ant Jailor Boyd took the keys to thu postoffice and tried them on tn, boxes with the result that the, would not work, In the course of theil investigation, though, they found sev eral boxes unlocked. There is a sus picion, therefore, that the boys ma, have happened upon the same discov cry. The keys used by Uncle Sam ar hard to duplicate, but there is pc culiarity about the locks which lead many an owner to imagine it is locked when it isn't or when it is only par
 tially locked, go that the bolt may b thrown back by thin piece of stee inserted in front of it.
 Young Bicknell was arrested late yes terday evening and proved as communi cative as his partner in crime. Bot boys are about sixteen years old. Par sons has had good reputation bu Bicknell has been in trou ole before an now both are suspected of having bee implicated in the burglary of E. 0 Grants grocery store couple of week
 ago. BicknelPs parents are highly It cnccFa bla ,oe1oTa liyinu ou North Eitt