The record-union., 1897-12-27
WHAT DID THEY CONTAIN.
MAIL POUCHES SAID TO HAVE
BEEN ROBBED OF $4,000.
A Recent Incident That Was Here
Regarded as Of Little
Importance.

| On the 18th inst. two mail pouches,
one from Placerville and the other
| from Folsom, were stolen from truck
at the railroad depot and carried by
! thie.seS to a pile of old railroad ties
back of the City Prison, where they
We're cut open and their contents taken.
officer Naghel and Railroad Officer
Rider found the sacks tucked under the
ties, and Investigations showed that
about seventy letters had been stolen,
among which was one registered at
the Placerville Postoffice by Japan
ese, and which, it was ascertained
contained ST.
Local authorities then believed, and
still believe, that the theft was the
work of an ordinary hobo who had
nothing better to steal, and to keep in
practice took the pouches, both of
which are said to have been very light.
The officers here consider it a very
insignificant incident, but from an ar
| insignificant incident but from
an article in yesterdays San
| Francisco Chronicle" supposed TO
be based on information OBJ
| tanned from the postal authorities in
| that city, it is made to appear that the
| theft was of considerable Importance.
| The article read as follows:
THE local postal inspectors are using
every effort to locate the person or per-
| sons connected with a sensational and,
| in its way, daring mail robbery which
was perpetrated at Sacramento one
night last week Two mail pouches,
each containing first-class mail matter
were stolen from the railway station,
cut open, the contents distracted, and
the pouches thrown into a water tank,
where they We're afterward found
Whether there is any clew to the
perpetrators cannot be found out, as the
officers who are at work on the case
have scrupulously kept their own coun-
sci. 1t is believed, however, that they
are not working altogether in the dark,
and that arrests may be expected
| shortly.
"One of the pouches distracted and
| fifed Vas from Folsom, and the other
was from Placerville They had been
received at Sacramento for transmits
sion to San Francisco on No. 2 train,
due TO leave Sacramento a little after 5
| o'clock No. 2 train that night was
several hours late, and the pouches re-
HloIticQ III Tic StdtlOA WdlLIilS II. De-
tween the time the train was due to
leave and the time it actually did leave
the POUCHES We're stolen from the sta
tion and their contents taken.
ut is thought, from all the circum-
stances, that the robbers, whoever they
We're, must have been men familiar
with the handling Of the mails at that
| point for that train. Knowing that
| the train was several hours late, they
could make their plans to steal the
| pouches with little liability of discovery
in the operation, and once they got
them outside the station they would
have ample time and opportunity to
| dispose of their contents. The manner
| in which the pouches were cut open and
the disposition made Of them after
ward would indicate some one familiar
both with the mail and the surround
| ings Of the station.
| THE pouch from Placerville con-
| tanned a number of checks and drafts
| drawn by business men in Placerville
| in favor of business men and mer-
chants in San Francisco in payment of
accounts for goods purchased One Of
| these checks was for over $1,000, and
there were a number of smaller
amounts. Whether the thieves will be
able to realize on these checks or
whether thsy will try is not known
Such an attempt might lead to their de-
| lection. However, this fact may not
be known to the robbers, or they may
think they will be able to cash the
checks, or some OF them, without de-
| lection.
THE pouches at the time they We're
| stolen Were in the custody Of the rail-
! road company and the secret service
agents of the railroad are also working
on the case. When the pouches were
| taken from the station, 1t has been
ascertained, they We're taken some dis
tance up the railroad track before they
were rified. There were number of
box cars on the side tracks at this
point. affording a convenient hiding
place for the robbers to do their work
at their leisure.
Just what beside the letters con-
tanning drafts and checks there was in
the pouches is not known. But at this
season of the year, when Christmas
presents of all kinds and money in
small amounts for their purchase are
being sent In such numbers through the
mails, it is reasonable to suppose that
the thieves found a good deal in one
shape or another to reward them for
their trouble.
aside from the loss to those who had
sent the mail matter contained in these
pouches, the theft will cause a great
deal Of inconvenience. Merchants will
not care to duplicate their checks until
it is ascertained positively that the
originals have been destroyed. It will
be some time before all doubt on this
score Is removed Meanwhile those
who have sent Christmas presents or