The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-05-26
MEN WHO STEAL NAIL
A PosToFFIcE INSPECTOR TALKS OF
A RECENT CANVASS.

thorities Have Been Kept the Run.
Grimes That Are Most Common.
During the past six months orr men
have had more work on hand than
would seem possible for such limited
number TO handle said Colone. NJ D
Wheeler, chief of the postoiiice inspect
ors, recently
We have just completed a thorough
inspection of all presidential postoiiices
in the United States IN addition 20 our
regular case work, which alone ordi-
narily keeps the inspectors gong day
and night
There are nearly A, 900 presidential
postoffices in this country, and some are
very large offices. While it may seem
easy to say make an inspection of an
office, yet it is quite another matter to
properly complete. For instance, take a
large office like New York city or Chi
cago. To make thorough inspection of
such an office requires the constant serv-
ices of half dozen good inspectors for
a week or so. This will give an idea of
the task which confronts an inspector
when it becomes necessary to CHECK up
big Office of the first class. We had
trouble with the st. Louis office because
the cashier tried to conceal a deficit Of
some So, 900, but the inspectors finally
got down to the facts and the money
was collected. In several other offices
we also found something of the same
nature, but in every instance we have
collected the amount of the shortage
and the government has not lost dol
lar.
1.-THE postoffice burglar gives us a
great deal of trouble. His advent in the
annals of crime is but recent, yet he is
a type peculiar to himself, and it would
seem he has come TO stay. Postoffice
burglars, as a rule, are the most desper
ate characters, possessing every cum
| ming and alike ready TO seize on any
| chance to lift bundle of stock or
crack safe-any method suits them
| if it will enable them to get the boo
die The plumber is usually in postage
stamps, which are disposed of through
| the medium of fence, the burglar
| seldom realizing more than 40 per cent
| of the real value of the stolen stock, yet
| with this heavy discount the occupa-
| tion seems alluring and consequently
| keeps our men constantly Oh the alert.
This class of depreciation became so
common that / found it necessary in
| 1894 to call especial attention to it in
my annual report and recommend to
| the postmaster general that series of
| rewards be offered for the apprehension
| of these criminals. The suggestion was
| adopted and has materially aided our
| men in ferreting out the perpetrators.
We now have an annual appropriation
from congress for this purpose, and for
the past three years the number of bur-
| glaries has fallen off in slight degree.
| That the burglar is still at work, how
ever, is attested by the fact that %
were captured during March and April,
although my opinion is that the general
result for the fiscal year will show still
another decrease in the aggregate OF
postoffice robberies.
IF a fellow who has studied the ge-
nus had the time and ability to put his
ideas OH paper, Colonel Wheeler went
on to observe, "a very interesting chap
ter in the history of crime could be
made from that unfortunate trait in hu-
| man nature which suddenly transforms
the tried and trusted postal employee
| into thief. do not believe there Is
another service wherein so many cases
are found as in the postal service of this
country.
"Of course thousands of men are en-
ployed, and it is but natural that weak
ones should find positions Of trust and
then go wrong. But we still have an
other class men who usually work
from the lowest positions in an office tc
the highest; men who have been known
for years to be as honest as the day Is
long. Suddenly we receive complaints
of losses or of discrepancies, and ther
it becomes necessary to apply the test.
In great many instances, however, we
find the trouble to be in quarters differ
ent than expected. but frequently the
facts show that another name passes tc
the page of dishonor. prison and ruin.
"When thief once begins operations
on the mails, the element of chance is
too great to resist. and it is that one
fact which leads to his ultimate discov'
cry. This is the hardest and most try
ing part of an inspectors duty, for FIRE
quently it happens he is called upon tc
test man whom he has known fol
years to be all that an honest man car
be; yet withal duty is plain. If harsh
and nothing but duty remains to the in
spector's choice.
"Those cases are very distressing,
and the desperation which actuates
some of the principals when discovered
is truly lamentable and pitiable III the
extreme / have received reports OF some
men attempting suicide. of others who
attacked the inspectors with murderer;
intent. In several cases postmasters
have killed themselves outright upon
the discovery of some crookedness. AND
now recall one instance wherein q
postmaster killed himself in most bru
tai manner by using a butcher knife.