The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-11-28
STRANGELY LED0N forum
H INTERFERING STORY OF a POST
OFFICE CASHIERS DOWNFALL.
Through Pride nc Concealed n Shortage Made
by Anothrr's T~hert-HnVinE once Fals'hrd
the noot,. the thief mad Him In Isis Power

In March Iaae. tho cashier Of ono OF the lare.
est Post Offlces Of the country discovered that
his cash was short. He had balanced MS books.
Everything appeared to be straight on the face
Of tho figures. But when the contents OF the
money drawer were run over the amount was
$1,000 loss than II should have been.
Some cashiers would have gone over the
books and the money again, and. verifying the
loss, would have reported II imniediately. This
cashier did not do that. He had risen to his re.
sponsible position by virtue OF u record OF OK
actness which was the admiration OF all, who
knew HIM. Postmnsters had come ana iost-
masters had gone. Administration hnd chang,
ed In political compIexion. The cashier had
advanced from position TO position, becnp.e he
had a. talent which was phenomenal Tor hand-
ling the funds and the complicated cash nc
counts of tho Office. Long before the tirH SER
vice principle. went into general practice this
merit. And 80, without regard to politics or In.
fuence, he remained in'on,Ge ana climbed. In,
spefIors had xam,ne his eSo bi,n tm s a ana
as they visited this office;
The man had, come to be known In Washing.
ton rs the model Post Otiica cashier. AS his
fame increased his pride In tho management OF
his office Erew; He was rigid in his system.
tude for this part Of the business manifested 1t.
SELF. Eo was depended upon to audit accounts
other than snct thosS fo Po Mn,Ss nS F nanalsd i tine
piicit confidence in him. They relied upon his
unerring accuracy to help make their admins;
~trations of the Office successful. They believed
he was the one subordinate who. either through
intent or carclcssness, would never po wrong.
rectitude OF the cashier told him it was only a
question of a few years until his record would
s carr INT him mint, intG d inc p 20 N ! OF i PSsin ,har w BE,
right. As surely us his party triumphed at the
next, general election THO, cashier seemed ,des-
he had fitted himself by his life work.
That March night the cashier went home to
ono else was taken into confidence. The OK;
pcricnco was entirely new. The cashier told
himself mat ne was certain 10 nnd an error In
He believed hrmly, that tho deficit was only
apparent. lie would find the mistake, he ar.
mortincation OF admitting that his heretofore
extraordinary accuracy had failed one time.
TeS n S;sr d thy books boz ssG psae 5;y aP pape the s nHff th h9
loss stared him. Then he made u fatal error.
He hiu the loss SO that under ordinary. examine
himself that some day he would find the miss.
ing error ON tho books. or, If not, that he would
his salary when he became Postmaster, Thus
the cashier reasoned. He convinced himself
that the best thing he could do was to hide what
he still believed was only an error.
That a crime had been committed Of which
he was the innocent victim never occurred to
kept in the office vault. The lock Of that vault
was II combination. 1t was the rule of the
| office that the combination should be used by
Postmaster himself. had authority to open the
vault. but 10 guard against the possibility of
Inconvenience, the knowledge of that conlbina.
ton was not limited to the memory of the
cashier. An accident might happen. The cash
ier might meet sudden death or disability. To
protect the interests of the service from any
contingency. remote though it might be, the
cashier had furnished the Postmaster with the
combination. He had given a n memorandum of
the numbers, to be used only in the event that
he was incapacitated. This knowledge should
have remained scaled in an unopened envelope.
a former Postmaster, with regard for The
spirit OF the Advancement. placed the combina-
| tion, which had been incloscd in a sealed en-.
| yplnnn in the care nj II third narty. and n WAN
| locked in n safety deposit vault, where il re-
manned throughout the term of office. Where
| the knowledge of the combination was, other
than in the cashiers mind, during the month OF
March, 1895, is one Of the unsolved mysteries
| cashier gave no thought to the memorandum OF
the combination held In trust. Grounded in
his own innocence OF Inlsuse OF The public money,
ingMries. SUSPICION never entered his mind;
cashier had quieted himself with the thought
that II the blundcr in the accounts did not re-
veal itself he would make The amount good from
his salary. He came and went as usual. He
was domestic. He had no vices. He lived
the department he was still the model cashier.
One night the footIngs were made. and wher
the money was counted there was another
shortage OF a considerable amount. The cash,
Ter was thunderstruck. He went over the fig
there again. Another $1,000 could not be
found. What was TO be donei Put yourself
in his place. To do 80 one must recall the long
years Of rigid devotion to duty. One must re
member tho pride which had fed all OF thos,
years on a marvellous record for accuracy and
Integrity. The ambition to reach one more pro
motion and hold an office which seemed almost
within reach must be felt. To report this lat
est loss was to demand an investigation which
to hide the first. Surely here was a sad case OF
d victim OF circumstances. And the victim
A second time the books were fixed to max,
an appearance of correctness, Around the un
h"ps ninety-nine men out OF a hundred would
haze thrown pride 70 the winds, forgot the am
There is robbery here!"
The hundredth man wouldn't. He woult
have done MS this man did. His first inpuls,
Of figures. Growing desperate with the ter
rible secret, he would at last have takcl
he should have held aIooaf. lie Would T hav,
accepted the suggestion that there were eae!
and quick ways of making a couple of thou
sand OF dollars TO replace Jne amount myster
iously missi z. He would have listened to III,
seductive stories OF large odds won in an after
fused to take a dollar OF Uncle Sans none,
and go to the race track. but he might have al
and try 10 win enough to make good the losse
while he further falsiicd the figures to hide tn,
growing deficit; And 60 the time might com
whcn, without having realized personal bench
from any OF this money, he would find himsel
face to face with a loss too large TO be longe
An, inspector stepped into the cashiers oflc
one day and took possession. FROM Washing
ton had been sent an intinatiUn that some irreg
ularity seemed to exist, The inspector workc,
and worked. At length, with many figures he
fore him. he turned to the. cashier and said:
How much is gonei About $ll.000i'
NO." replied the cashier. true TO his life-lonl
accuracy, the amount is SIS 5000"
And so It was. Friends more familiar wit
the ways of the world realized how "a good nam
had been lost, how a life had been wrecked
when they heard the beginning of the deficit
Their vigorous Weakened he cashic
to the knowledge OF the trap into which he ha,
fallen. A trial is coming. shrewd lawyers Wi
endeavort to trace the written combination. The
will show. II possible, in whose possession
was when the two losses led the cashier into
false position. Written demands have bee
made upon those who are supposed to know 10
statements IN detail about The combination
|, They have been asked TO tell what was don
with the combination when 1t passed into thei
possession at the beginning of the present Pos,
/ masters term, whether others have had aC
). cess to the information, and where the write
memorandum is now.
0 Officials OF the Post Office Department hay
a bestowed much consideration upon this cas-,
4 To them 1t has more Than local interest.
double reason has prompted them. In the frs
place, the manner IN which the deficit was COZ
cculed on the books for n period of months ha
shown tho department something ne& In ma