The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1897-05-17
THE POsTOFF|CE BURGLAR
A Comparatively Recent Arrival
i'm the Ranks Of Crooks.
MOST DESPERATE CHARACTERS
Chief Inspector Wheeler Tells About
This Glass of Depredations.
Trusted Employees Suddenly Trans
formed Into Thieves-The Delicate
Task of Detectives.

THE months of March and April were
busy times forour force of inspectors, said
Col Wheeler, chief postoffice inspector, yes
terday In fact, during the past six
months our men have had more work on
hand than would seem possible for such u
limited number To handle. We have Just
completed thorough inspection OF all
Presidential postoffices in the United
States, in addition TO our regular case
work, which alone ordinarily keeps the
inspectors going day and night. There are
nearly four thousand Presidential post
Offices in this country, and some are very
large offices. While it may seem easy 10
say make an inspection of an office, yet
il is quite another matter to properly COM
plete il. For instance, take a large office
like New York city or Chicago, TO make "a
thorough inspection of such an office re-
quires the constant services of a half
dozen good inspectors for a week or so.
This VIII give an idea of the task which
confrants an inspector when il becomes Rec
essary to check up a big office of the
first class We had trouble with the st
Louis, No, office, because hecashier tried
to conceal deficit OF some Sl5, 600, but
the inspectors finally got down TO the
facts and the money was collected. In
several other offices we also found some
thing OF the same nature, but in every an
stance we have collected the amount Of
the shortage. and [ ne Government has not
lost dollar.
The 'postOffiCe burglar gives US great
deal Of trouble His advent in the annals
crime is but recent, yet he is type Pc
culiar to himself. and it would seem lie has
come to STAY. Postoffice burglars, as a
rule, are the most desperate characters,
possessing every cunning, and are alike
ready to seize on any chance to lift a
bundle of stock or crack safe-any
method suits them, if it will enable them to
get the doodle The plumber is usually in
postage stamps, which are disposed 81
through tie medium of fence, the bur
glar seldom realizing more than 40 pei
cent on the real value OF the stolen stock,
vet with this heavy discount the occupa'
ton seems aIluring, and consequently keeps
our men constantly on the alert.
This class OF depreciation became 81
common that found it necessary in / S9i
to cali especial attention to II in my an
nual report, and recommended to the Post
master General that series OF 1t wards be
offered for the apprehension Of these crimi-
mails The suggestion was adopted, and
has materially aided our men in ferreting
out the perpetrators. We now have IN
annual appropriation from Congress for
this purpose, and for the past three years
the number of burglaries have fallen off la
a slight degree. That the burglar is still
at work however, is attested by the fact
that fifty-three were captured during
March and April, although my opinion is
the general result for the fiscal year viii
show still another decrease in the aggre-
gate Of postoffiCe robberies.
A very interesting chapter in the his
tory Of crime can be made from that I'M
fortunate trait in human nature which s;ll-
denly transforms the tried and trusted
postal employe into a thief. l do not be-
Iieve there is another service wherein 50
many cases are found a in the postal Sery-
ice OF this country. OF CourSe, thousands
of men are employed. and II is but natural
tnat weak ones should find positions of
trust and then 90 wrong. But re still have
another class; men who usually work from
the lowest positions in an office 20 the
highest: men who have heea known FOR
years To be as honest as the day is long;
suddenly we receive complaints or losses
or Of discrepancies, and then il becomes
necessary to apply the test. In a great
many instances, however, We find the tr0u-
bic 10 DC in quarters different than ox-
peCted, but frequently the facts show that
another name passes to the page Of dis-
honor and ruin.
when thief once begins operations on
the mails the element OF chance is too great
TO resist, and il is that one fact which leads
TO his ultimate discovery. ThiSiS the hard
est an / most trying part of au inspector s
duty, for frequently he is called upon To
test a man whom he has known for years
to be ali that an honest IMAM can be. Yet
withal duty is plain, ii harsh, and nothing
but duty remains to the inspectors choice
These cases are very distressing, and the
desperation which actuateS some of tht
PRINCIPALS when discovered is truly lanE
entable and pitiahie in the extreme
Lave received reports of some men attempt
ing suicide, of others who attacked the in
spectors with murderuus intent In several
cases GlSlIlldSl0hS IdNt hiAlcu litlltSSlNNs
outright upon the discovery of some crook
eJlncss, and now recall one instance where.
in a postmaster killed himself in d most
brutal manner by using a butcher knife.
''Thesc are only the extremes, however
and as rule, the people are very docilt
nd tractable upon disc Overy. During
March and April we arrested thirteen post
masters, six assistant postmasters, six
poStoffice clerks, three letter carriers, sly
railway postal clerks, one mail carrier
and TWO employees OF other classes
But criminal Offenses in this service are
not confined to burglars and postal en-
ployes. ThiSis proved by the fact that We
had to arrest 1S6 members of the genera
public, because their acts were not in &C
cord with the laws governing the use OF tho
postal system. The average citizen, per
haps, is not aware of the restrictions placed
upon the useto which the mails can he put
for we are frequently called upon to arrest
somebody who has, in a fit of spite ant
anger, written something Objectionable
TO the law on d postal card, OR an en-
velope; this class also includes lotteries
schemes TO defraud, etc, etc.