Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1897-03-02
ROBBERS IN GLOVER.
United States Mail Affords Great oppcrtu
nity ier Their Talent

~ L
SO easy to rob a mall car when 1t sell
dom carries more than two or three
men ana these are absolutely without
any means Of defense. THEFT work Of
asserting and throwing the mail II Sc
arduous that they have no time TO think
o. robbers and are never prepared for il
visit from them.
The. consequence is that every effor,
to rob q mail car Is successful and III
many cases the railway postal clerk
Is the sufferer for his vain and foolish
e endeavor !, to protect himself and tbs
beries have become more frequent OF
late years and the reason therefor Il
that the desperadoes. who. by the way,
have increased In number. have ascer-
tanned how much money is actually
sent through the mails and how little
trouble, Il Is to contiscate the contents
Of q mail car In only one or two eases
have robbers been foiled in their ef-
forts to rob the mail car. for they sci.
dom find Il postal clerk prepared fol
them ana in nine eases out of ten not
4 clerk In the car has a revolver on his
person.
1t is as easy ITO surprise a postal
clerk In his car as the ordinary either
In the dead of night at his home. Clerks
give no. thought TO the dangers of Their
occupations. and never think of train
robbers. Few of them ever think OF
locking the doors OF their cars. and. even
II they did. they would be powerless to
ward Off an attack from train robbers
for 4 knock al the door will secure adj
mission. and it is easy for robbers to take
them by surprise. The great wonder OF
berries of this nature in various parts OF
the country. Is that the government has
not made some systematic effort to afford
protection to its mail. whether it cares
Tor the ire OF the postal clerk or not.
AS 1t is today. no one knows when
the mail train leaves at night where
the mail will wind up or what will he
come of the men who have It in charge
When postal clerk leaves his home for
a run there Is no telling whether he will
return whole or fall a victim 10 the I'M
erring aim of some desperate along the
Either the mail cars should be fur
nished with Il sufficient number of men.
whose duty it is 10 guard the contents
should be so constructed as to be able TO
resist the fiercest attack that might be
made upon them by train robbers.
OF late years the amount of money
sent by mail has increased to a remark
able extent. The desperate men around
the country have kept track ofsthe trend
of events and they are all aware how
very easy it is to stop a train and con
tiscate the sacks of mail. All they have
TO do is to stop the train. take out the bags
and rip them open when the train has
fered it invariably follows that the postal
clerks are the ones to fall. 1t is great
wonder that the government has not
long ago taken some steps to remedy this
no movement of any Kind looking to pro-
lection to the mail and the postal clerk
and the robberies occur with charming
regularity at different par. of the coun-
try. There is not Il railroad in the Uni
ted States which does not pass through
secluded portions of the country where
such robberies become easy and the worst
of it is the offenders are seldom caught
and brought to trial.
Not single train that traverses the
country today is without large sums OF
h,r, ,,Atn al
sometimes these sums go away UP into
the thousands and yet there is NOT so
much as a good stout lock to guard the
treasure from the, depredations of the
desperate who. armed with gun and Il
mask. finds no difficulty in getting what
he wants. In the mail cars there is not
even safe in which these valuable pack
ages may be placed. The car is fitted with
only pouches OF cupboards and the mail
lies there open and unprotected. 1t is
the simplest matter in the world to gain
access to the car and a very easy thing 20
pick up all the valuables lying there in
plain view.
The New York and Chicago postoflices
forward every day in the year frons one
the mails. Money goes through the mails
on every train leaving those cities. and
in fact. every other city in the country
going in all directions.
The robbers throughout the country do
not modest the passenger coaches nearly
50 much as they used to do. They sim
ply place guards at the doors of the
coaches to prevent Interference from pas
sengers. and then proceed to deliberately
open the mail ear and con.iscate the con
tents. Let the postal clerk refuse to di-
vuige the whereabouts of the valuables.
or offer word in remonstrance. and he
is sent TO kingdom come without being
given time enough to make peace WITH
his maker; The. position of postal clerk
IL rapidly becoming hazardous one. and
after awhile it will be impossible to find
competent men for the work unless the
guards or protection is furnished, and APP
parently there is no disposition or the
part of the government to present a
rcmeuy.
The government. in forwarding this
money of the people. does not seem to
care what becomes of it or what be-
comes of the lives of the men who are
employed to take care of it, On the
other hand. it takes risks for banks and
insurance companies by burdening the
mails with large sums of bank bills at so
much per pound.
The fact that the government is thor
Gough in hunting down criminals and re-
ientleSs when ii comes to dsposing of or
Furnishing them. will not deter the .ies-
perate men. of whom there are so many
in the country, today. from going right on
with this style OF robbery. and after n
while it will he ii difficult thing for any
mail train to pursue its way unmolested
through the very heart of civilization 1t
Is believed that the government assumes
NJ responsibility for the transportation
OF money. and if such is the case. is it
likely that it will go to any expense in
tracing up Il robbery OF lhis nature
Everybody knows ii will not
The fear of punishment has not de-
TERED men from train robbery In the
past. although on many OCCASIONS they
have been hunted down and killed off
swiftly and mercilessly Express officials
are equally persistent in following these
robbers to the bitter end. and it is no less
dangerous to rob an express car than the
railway mail car. as the robbers in rob
bling an express car. take chances of he
ing shot to death by the express mes
sengers. and the further chance OF not
getting anything for their pains inasmuch
as the express cars carry burglar proof
sales and the robbers find them difficult
articles to handle successfully. Now that
ut has become generally known what
great sums of money are being forwarded
through the mails. the way of the rcbber
is made clear and easy In fact he has
not had such soft snap since the be-
ginning of robbery and any mail car in
the country can be robbed with little or
no risk to the robber. The postal clerks
are in no wise protected and they are
not paid for caring fer the mail. They
are hot paid for standing guard over the
property and running hechance of losing
their lives. and when 1t comes"right down
to the pinch. when a mail clerk is given
the alternative of giving up what he has
or never seeing his wife and children
again. ii Is safe to assume that the
strained matterof duty" becomes odious.
and the robher gets what he wants. 1s
Let the mail clerk sacrifice his life in
the vain cndcavOr to save the govern