Evening star., 1898-02-26
POST OFFICE FRAUDS
Forged Money Orders Detected by
Secret Service officials.
SIXTH AUDITORS CLERK ARRESTED
Methods of Investigation Pursued
by the Detectives.
THE ACCUsED's DENIAL

At the beginning of the new year Auditor
Castle. for the Post Office Department,
changed the system of auditing postmasters'
accounts. He had discovered nine different
ways by which the government could be
defrauded, and was unwilling during his
administration to take any chances. The
Star a; the time outlined the change, and
later made public the fact that by rea son
of the change a number Of frauds had been
discovered, end further, that the govern
Ment had already lost thousands of dollars.
There was no longer any doubt that the
coupon oney order was defective, and 1t
was agreed to change the form as soon as
practicable. Experts in such matters even
now are working up new and simpler
form.
Unwilling to pass the accounts of post
masters under the old system Of audit,
Auditor Castle ordered that all accounts
with postmasters during his administration
be reopened and examined. This has brought
to light thousands of discrepancies, and
while at this time IT is impossible to say
how many are fraudulent there is no doubt
in the minds of the officials that many of
the orders are frauds ana that the govern
nent has been robbed of a large sum OF
money.
The Method of Fraud
Embraced in the nine methods by which
dishonest reople could defraud the govern
ment was that of collusion on the part of
a clerk in the Office with an outside party
Early in the investigation, apparent frauds
unoer this method were discovered, and
since then the investigation has been prose-
cuted particularly along this line There
was a guilty clerk. This much was discov-
cred almost Immediately after the investi-
cation began, and the inspectors brought to
hght a number of money orders which had
been fraudulently issued. According to the
prevailing system. when a postmaster spoiIs
a money order. he is required to send the
same at once to the department at Wash
i-gton.
This is, kept as a check against the post
masters accounts. When these spoiled or
ders are received, or rather when they were
received, for the system has now been
changed. the clerk in charge of the work
made proper entry and the spoiled order
finally gravitated to the files 1t has been
discovered that some one got possession of
these orders and filled them out after
ward collecting the money thereon. The
llOney order itself was written in long
hand but the letter accompanying the ad-
vice to the paying postmaster was type
written. Having discovered frauds aggre-
eating several hundred dollars, the matter
was turned over to the Treasury Depart
ment, and the secret service undertook to
ferret cut the case. y sample of the type
writing on one Of the letters Was obtained
and then the officers obtained a sample of
the typewriting from each clerk Ill the office
using a machine. The officers noted u
broken letter m in the forged letter and
1t was with the hope of discovering the
forger that the samples were taken. Sus-
picion pointed to Clerk James w. Jones of
the bookkeeping department., and the Off
GERS. after some further investigation, ar
rested him last night. The accused is the
secretary of Congressman Shattuck of Ohio.
Developments Today.
The developments today in the Jones case
show how closely and carefully the matter
has been followed by the secret service
officials. under the direction of Assistant
Secretary Vanderlip.
The first one of the forged money orders
detected was on the postmaster at Har-
Per's Ferry. 1t was for 800, and pur-
ported to be drawn in Cantrell, Ill. 1t
had been a spoiled order sent in by the
cashed at Harpers Ferry good while
ago. The detective obtained description
OF the man who received the money. The
next forged order was for ss5, and turned
got description of the man who received
the money. Following these were discov-
eIed forged orders for 800 on Whining
ton, DEL and $95 at Havre de Grace. Md
By the time the last of these was discov-
el ed 1t was ascertained that two others
were out.
These had been reported in the reports
of postmasters, ard should have appeared
on the files in the Post Office Department
but had disappeared. Shortly afte- this
was learned and before notification could
be sent around, the postmaster at Balti-
mere paid out 500 On one of them The
other has not yet been found. The total
amount of forged orders, therefore. reaches
$3.50.
Visits of Detectives.
In every case mentioned the post offices
which had paid the money were visited by
secret service officers. The description
they obtained of the man who cashcd the
orders corresponds, it is claimed, with the
appearance of Jones. The treasury Off
cials were soon convinced that a clerk had
drawn the orders on nearby cities, and
had himself gone to these cities later and
got the money.
Each of the five orders was drawn In
favor of Anderson W. Adams jr" and
the handwriting of every order was the
same. This, much as the descriptions
of postmasters, led to the arrest of Jones'
The civil service examination papers of all
suspected clerks III the auditors Office were
gone over to find a handwriting similar to
the one on the orders. Finally the exanl.-
nation papers of Jones were found, and the
handwriting was so similar to that in the
orders as to make more suspicion against
the accused man.
How the Orders Were Drawn.
The orders were also drawn so that they
could be cashed without identification. Sew
eral were drawn so that they purported TO
be payable to the man who drew them,
with his signature the advice to the
postmaster for the purpose of identifica-
tion. This signature did act as identifica-
ton. In other cases the advice was stamp
ed identification waived" These methods
were so skillful as TO make the usual iden-
t.flcation unnecessary, and showed much
familiarity with postal laws.
Jones, it is understood, was put through
the sweat box process by the detectives,
but nothing was obtained from him. He
stoutly denied his guilt and was as cool as
possible.
Orders have been issued for his dismissal
from the treasury force.
What the Accused Says.
To reporter Of The Star today Mr.. Jones
strenuously denied the accusation. why,
/ was only employed looking up money or
ders from September 10 to October Is, and
understand the forgeries bear date not
later than December. There is a great
mistake. My arrest came as q surprise. /