Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-06-29

the cash room at the
treasury who was convicted on the charge
of taking unto himself upward of $4,000 to
which he had no moral or legal right.
The Howgate case has also raised the
question as to how many men have ever
been convicted on the charge Of embezzle-
ment from the government. In the opin-
ion of some Of the best informed people
in Washington there is only one case on
record Of a man going to the peniten-
tiary for such an offense. The difficulties
in the way of. securing conviction have
been well exemplified in the recent actions
against the former disbursing officer of the
signal service.
with the details of the "Winslow case"
is Mr.. James ]. Brooks, the ex-chef of
the secret service. who was at the head
OF the governments force of detectives
at the time 1t occurred. For twenty-eight
years as subordinate and chief Mr. Brooks
was employed in ferreting out crimes of
one sort and another against the federal
government. Gray-haired now, he is as
active as ever.
In observation-disclosures Bills.
In conversation with Star reporter yes
terday Mr.. Brooks talked entertainingly
of his experiences in connection with the
famous whisky ring and during the. years
succeeding the war. when there was lots
Of work of all sorts for the government
sleuth hounds. Speaking of the Howgate
case Mr.. Brooks said:
my own opinion Is that Winslow was
the only man who ever went to the pen.
from the District of Columbia on the
charge of embezzlement from the United
States. l may be mistaken about this and
as fact for it might start controversy
that would not be worth while. The Wins
low case was interesting enough as 1t was,
whether it is the only case on record or
not. Through all my life l have kept full
and complete diary and in the set are all
the details of that famous case. 1 have
not the book here with me now. and so
shall have to rely on my memory for dates
and names.
TT was about February 1877, that the
WinslOw case occurred. A valuable money
sack was consigned to the First National
Bank of Chicago. 1t was supposed to con-
tain $4,000 In one-hundred-dollar notes,
numbered consecutively. When opened in
Chicago 1t was found to contain nothing
but tissue paper cut in the exact size
of bank notes. To all outward appearances
the package was as 1t should have been,
and the envelope, seal and sealing wax
were such as to apparently indicate it's
genuine character as having passed
through the treasury.
'The case was at once brought to my
attention by Treasurer Wyman. who re-
ceived the crooked package from the
I naturally began my work here and in
Chicago at the same time, for, on the
face Of it, there was nothing to indicate
at which end of the line the robbery had
been committed. All the men who had
handled the package at either end were
put under rigid surveillance. The custom
was then. as I presume it still is. in the
cash room. to have money packages pass
through the hands of four men in differ
ent cages.
Winslow SusDected,
1.-The money was counted, approved and
tied up, and the fourth man would put 1t
int the safe and lock it. These four men
were examined separately and closely
pressed as to all they knew about the mys-
FERROUS package. AS showing how differ
ent men act under similar circumstances
I might tell you that one of the men.
against whom there was not the slightest
suspicion, shook and trembled like the pro-
verbal aspen leaf when he was question
ed. Poor Billy, he is dead a long time, but
a more honest man never lived. Well, We
passed the counter, then the proven and
sealers and finally came to the addressor.
That was Winslow. He was a tall, hand
some man, with sharp black eyes and
most attractive manner. the sort Of man
that will make friends everywhere.
''Winslow was asked as to the hand
writing on the address tag of the fake
package. At first he said he was not GER
tain about 1t, but later said he was sure
1t was not his. While we were talking 1
turned my back as If to speak to some one
else, but out of the corner of my eye, 1
saw Winslow. quick as a flash. turn back
the nap to see the contents. That natu-
rally made me suspect him. but did not
let him know it, of course. On the con-
trary, l asked him If he would aid me in
watching the other three, and in solving
the mystery. He jumped at the chance,
and that afternoon he came to my room
three times to tell me of his suspicious.
When he left the treasury that afternoon
he was under close shadow. He went to
Wizards, Shoemaker & Hertzog's. and then
to the Ebbtt on his way home, having
something to drink at each place. In all
he had spent s1.25. rather large amount
for man who was getting 800 month
with $40 rent to pay and family to sup
port.
fore coming to Washington. and one CT
the first things he did was to begin pay
ing people whom he owed. He wrote to
some people in Baltimore saying that ms
wife had come into some property ana
that If they would send their accounts ne
would settle at once. In every case he paid
with a hundred dollar note.
Lost His Nerve.
1.-THE chase finally got so hot that Wins
low began to suspect something was wrong
and he YVES afraid to spend any more Of
the money. We then thought that he might
skip town, and he did go SO far as to pur-
chase ticket for New York, paying Tor IL
with hundred-dollar bill again. All his
movements were closely watched and re-
uorted to me. One Sunday morning he was
seen to enter an Office on street. When
he left he went directly to his home and
the man upon whom he had been calling
started toward / street, to the house In
which Treasurer Wyman lived, between
18th and 18th streets. There was no one
about but the detective, who was careful
to keep out of sight, and as he passed the
house the man tossed a package into the
yestibule A few minutes later he came
back and rang the door bell, stating that
he happened to be passing and CHANGED
to see the package on the step.
"Mr. Wyman and this man at once came
to my office with the package. which turned
out to be the original and which still con-
tanned upward of $1,000. 1 at once sent
to Winslow's house and had my man who
was watching him there put him under
arrest. Smart as Winslow was he was not
clever enough, for in one pocket of the
dressing gown he had on we found the
trimmings of the MANILA paper he had
used to manufacture the fake envelope
while in the other were some pieces of the
sealing wax he had used. In his vest
rocket were two OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES notes.
No record is kept of the notes sent out