The San Francisco call., 1896-12-13
LETTER-BOXES RA|DED.
Capture of a Man in the Very
Act of Trying to Abstract
Mail.
He Is Supposed to Have Been Engaged
in a Schema of Systematic
Spoliation.

For some time past complaints have
been made to the postal authorities by
downtown merchants that their hallway
letter-boxes were being tampered with.
In several cases letters were reported
missing that contained money orders, and
an investigation disclosed three of these
money orders which had evidently been
forged by the same hand, though the
payee was different in each case.
These numerous Irregularities proved a
sore puzzle to the Postoffice inspectors un-
til last Wednesday, when f. b. Oliver of
the firm of f. B. Oliver & Co. filed COM
plant with them. With this as a basis of
operation inspector j. w. Erwin laid out
a plan for the detection and capture of tn e
culprit. As a result Simon Bendit is now
in jail charged with illegally opening let
ters addressed to another.
On We dnesday morning about IL 80
+. B. Oliver left his Office, and as he was
going out noticed two letters in his box in
the hallway. One of these he noted par
ticula rIy, as it was from his wife, He re-
turned half an hour later, and seeing no
letters in the box asked his clerk for his
mail. He was informed, much to his sur
prise, that there was none.
He at once notified the postal authori-
ties and the matter was placed in the
hands of Mr.. Erwin.
The latter prepared two decoy letters on
Thursday and placed them in divers box
One of his assistants was placed on guard.
This gentleman, however left his post at
noon for lunch, and when he returned one
of the letters was gone. The next DAY two
new decoys were dropped in divers box,
and at noon the former watcher was re-
lieved by Mr.. Mccormack. Mr.. MeCor.
mack was not on duty long before he saw
a man enter the hallway in which Oliver s
box, with number of others, was located
return to the doorway, look carefully up
and down the street. close the glass door
Leading into the street and then begin
fishing in the boxes with split stick. Mr..
Mccormack without further delay rushed
across the street from his station and was
in time to see his man drop the stick. Nc
Cormack picked up the stick and placed
the suspect under arrest though he had
not succeeded in abstracIing any letters.
The prisoner proved to be Simon Bendit,
who in August, 1894, had been arrested
tried and convicted of forgery and SEN
fenced TO five years imprisonment. He
succeeded, hO Tever, in getting new trial,
in which the jury disagreed, and on March
20 of this year he was released, after being
confined in the County Jail for about one
and a half years.
When Bendit was brought before In
spector Erwin on Friday he had package
of about dozen pairs of ladies' gloves In
his hand. He explained that tney had
been intrusted to him by a drum mer
named Smith to take to Nathan Goldtree,
his uncle. Ap investigation disclosed the
fact that the gloves had evidently been re-
turned by mail as damaged to Stein berger
& Kahsher and taken from that firms box
by the prisoner.
He was examined before Commissioner
Heacock yesterday. and in Default of $1,000
bail was returned to the County Jail to
await a hearing on Tuesday.
The authorities believe they have the
man who has been causing such serious
inconvenience to the merchants by sys-
tematically raiding their letter-boxes.
THE KING OF Pills is cham's-BEEcHAxs