The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1897-10-18
LETTER BOX ROBBING.
Important Arrest Made Here Satur.
day Night.
CHARLES MAD0CKS TAKEN INTO
CUSTODY.

He is Employed on the Big Dredce-Post
Office Inspector Snow and Deputy o. S..
Marshal Smith ETade the Arrest-Full
Particulars of What tho Gang Has Been
Doing in the Big Cities.
Post office Inspector W. B. Snow Of
Boston and United States Deputy Mar
shall Burton Smith of Portland made an
important arrest Saturday night in Port
land harbor when they took into custody
Charles Madocks, who is wanted in
connection with a gigantic letter box rob-
berry scheme which has been working in
New England during the past six
months Madocks's arrest WAS brought
about through letters found on the person
Of a man named Chilly" Morgan, alias
W. II. Matthews, who was taken into
custody in Boston on Thursday which
gave away the operations of two men
connected with this big gang of thieves
and cneck raisers in Portland and men
toned Aladocks as knowing about the
men. The officers stated that they did
not know what Madocks's connection
with the case is. They arrested him on
orders from New York. He may be
wanted as a witness.
Some six months ago the letter boxes
in Boston and other New England cities
had their locks broken and removed and
the postoffice department were at o loss how
to count for the matter as no letters of
any consequence seemed to have been
removed from the boxes at the time the
locks were removed. A few weeks after
the first case OF this kind was reported to
the postoffice officials the banking houses
all over New England and in New York
began to get complaints of the loss of let
tiers containing checks. Then complaints
began to be made that these checks had
been presented for payment at banks and
that they had been raised from small
sums to several hundred dollars each and
these fictitious amounts had been paid by
these cases the checks were raised in a
most skillfu1 manner and the endorse
ments of the checks were forgeries of the
highest class.
1t was months before any trace Of the
men who were doing this thing could be
obtained by the bank or post office offc
ials. A merchant in Boston would drop
a check for say $50 made payable to a
house in New York. This check would
be presented for payment in New York
raised to $500 and apparently endorsed by
the firm to whom it was drawn but this
firm had never received it and could give
no account of it. This thing was kept up
for months and in the time the gang has
been operating in this part OF the country
period of something over six months, 1t
is estimated that $50, 900 has been obtained
from banks in New England and New
York. The affair puzzled the postoffice
authorities great deal and they could
not seem to obtain any clue to work on
so skilfully was the work carried on.
Some six weeks ago man presented
himself at one Of the firms which deals
in horses in Boston and bought a hand
some pair Of horses. He presented in pay
ment check for $500 made payable to a
firm in New York whom the person who
sold the stranger the horses happened to
know personally. When this stranger
presented the $500 check for payment the
horse man asked him how it happened
that he had this check in his possession.
The stranger replied that he was the per-
son to whom this check was made paya-
BILE. The horse trader knowing the man
to whom the check was made payable per-
with being liar and crook and had
him arrested. The man protested his in
nocence, but he was locked up. 1t turned
out that the check had been mailed to the
New York house by Boston firm and the
check had, needless to say never gone
outside of Boston but had been stolen
from letter box in which it had been
mailed. Moreover the check was not for
$500 but for much less sum and 1t had
been raised.-to 500 by the gang of which
the stranger WAS member. The man on
his arrest gave his name as George At
wood. He was most Intelligent man.
In court he defended himself and made
an able plea in his own behalf. but was
convicted and sentenced to five years in
states prison. On his person were found
letters and other tn ngs tending to i'm
plicate many more people in the postoffice
box robberies. On this information two
men were arrested in New York on Fri
day and on Thursday by d clever scheme
the postoffice inspectors succeeded in ar
resting Atwood's wife and man named
Billy Morgan in Boston. Through con .
LESSONS and documents found on persons
under arrest in Boston and New York the
postofice authorities were able to dis