The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1900-05-17
POSTMASTER AT HAVANA
CONFESSES TO FRAUDS.
thompson, Deputy Auditor Reeves and
Two Others Are Thrown
Into Jail.
Washington Officials Observation-Disclosures sonaI
Resolution Calls for Information Concerning
Cuban Postal Conspiracy.

Havana. May ls-Uarra,-s wee issued
this sverirE for the arrest of z =. Thornp-
| son. the Havana Postmaster; " II Reeves.
deputy Auditor of the island. and Elnari
Noya aud Jorge Mascara. Cuban clerks in
thu stamp department. and by O'Clock all
were lodged in the Vivac the Tornbs uf
Havana.
This WAS done under the advice Of the
Postal Inspectors who arrived to-day.
investigation - Il tho record rf the
clerk in the Military Department who h.,
handled several hundred dollars worth af
|. stamps proves mat the transaction. so far
as he is concerned. was legitimate The
stamps were purchased at rh. request of
MS brother. who is stamp collector in the
n:ted States for $50 They were uf the
old issue and were obtained from Ne.fay.
The arrest Of Thompson caused great
surprise in the city II is looked upon a.
the precursor 1f many other arrests Gen
efat Wood felt. did the special inspect
ors. tha; il woIid be better to have the
s''s!'sc,ed persons arrested. and = give the
men opportunity :" obtain ta.l. than to
keep them Indefinitely under close supe--
VISION at time when the detectives are
badly needed 10. other work
ThompsoD's Confession.
Postmaster Thompson has signed q s.vo-r
statement in which he says that on Sep
ternh-r 16 last. being IN need or money he
took from the money-orfer funds siS5. CIV
ing his memorandum a. n receip, FOR tha
same
When the inspections were held. Mr.
thompson ordered a clerk in charge oT the
money order department 20 place remit
tances received that day which would rot
Rave 10 be accounted for until the following
daY- sufficient tn cover the amount of his
receipt. which VAS herewith withdrawn IN
III after the inspection. This WAS kerr M
tnt!i April :. when The special agents ur-
exiectcdiy discovered The receipt. which
M. Thompson then paid
He also admits that Charles = NeeIev
iate financial agent OF posts al Havana in
GorseG bill for $3.50 which -hornpsg n mad
discounted by the North American. Trust
company. Thompson admits other irreg,-
'ari'ies IN connection with his department
Itnble TO Arrest
II is asserted hy lawyers thar IN NJ
ih"mpson's oNn statement he - liable 10
arrest foT erlnezzlernent. according 10 The
provisions of the postal Law which are
very explicit. Much sympathy Is expressed
inr him. however, - it iS felt .har nothing
Woui1 ever have been heard regarding the
action 70 which he has confessed had not
the present investigation, growing ou, IF
the general postal frauds. brought the mat
ter 10 light. His friends are positive that
the money would have been repaid the
MEMORANDUM receipt taken ..p and the in
cicent closed. As the matter stands now
Mr.. ThOTnps1n's career in the postal scry-
Ice, they say, must necessarily cease. even
II he ESCAPES a tern of Imprisonment Mor--
over his action in giving orders to postal
CLERKS 20 alter figures regarding stamps at
the request Of CoryGon Rich. without noti-
flying Mr. Rathbone, makes things look
worse. even IL ne acted innocently IN the
belief that everything was correct.
The local papers praise General Woo: for
the interchangeable manner IN which he has
handled III. investigation, La Lucha re
ferrfng 10 his methods as most praisewOr-
thy
FL Cuban. on the other hand says:
THE whole matter viii finally be hushed
up, for the Americans will not enjoy the
idea Of an expose in the department about
which they have Dragged the most.
NeeIey's Influence.
Every development, it Is asserted. tends