The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-08-01
STRANGE THEFT
At POSTOFFICE
Mysterious Disappearance of
Registered Packages.
TAKEN FROM LOCKER
IN THE BASEMENT
Thief Entered and Escaped
Through a Window.

Eleven pieces of registered mail dis
appeared very mysteriousIy from the
mailing room of the Salt Lake post
Office in the basement of the Dooly
block between $3.50 and 10 o'clock last
night. The pouch from the north had
just been brought in, and the regis
tered packages, which were all in one
bundle, were extracted and signed for
by the clerk =. H. Reeves, who then
placed them away in a locker temper
aT1ly while he went upstairs to load the
late nOrthbOund mail. Meanwhile L.
A. Billings, who has charge of the reg
istered mail, had gone to another part
of the room for a few minutes. When
Reeves returned. half hour or more
from the time he signed his name in
the messengers receipt book, the mail
was gone.
batter some papers, slips from one of
the letters stolen and the biz contain
ing the numbers Of the packages, were
found outside a basement window
above the locker in which Reeves
placed the registered packages, show
ing that the thief opened one Of the
packages there. and indicating that this
window was his means of lngress. The
mysterious part OF the affair is that
at the time the rObber is supposed 30
have entered the window, and after Sc
curing the packages returned by the
same route, opening the bundle in front
Of the window, there were three men
not more than fifteen feet distant One
was Reeves. who was loading mail, and
the others were the driver, named Rob
insOn. and a companion.
Immediately upon discovering the
loss, Reeves and Billings sent word to
Postmaster Thomas. The latter was
out driving, and it was an hour later
when he was finally reached Word
was then sent to the police station and
several officers visited the DOstOf1ce,
in the hope of securing some clue 1t
is the opinion of the police that some
one who knows the ms and outs OF the
business got away with the package.
It is possible that the solen packages
conained money. This is about the time
remittances are sent on, 70 reach their
destinations by the first of the month,
and frequently a package Will contain
81, 600. One of the letters stolen last
night had coin in it, according to the
clerks, who felt of it, but they cannot
say how much.
The messenger who brought the mail
from the train is named SOrenson, and
his home is in Ogden He turned II
over to Reeves at exactly $3.50.
Clerk Reeves Statement.
/ Il went upstairs said Reeves, Ito
load the outgoing mail, and was gone
some time, having the registered mail
in the locker, as usual The messen-
ger went after getting his receipt Mr.
Billings was over in the Mushroom,
Thirty feet from the locker, but in
sight of the same). When / returned,
about 1O:15. 1 went 10 get the package
/ to put il in the vault and it was gone
The window through which thlef
might have entered opens into the alley
between the rear Of the Dooly block
and the Oregon Short Line offices. 1t
! is about five feet above the top of the
4 locker. When the policemen and oth-
/ ers arrived at the Office, the alley was
{ searched. On the window sill, not more
than fifteen feet from where the mail
wagon was standing. was found the bill
giving the numbers of each of the reg
/ istered packages A few feet away
/ two cards. one a pOstmaster's receipt
and the other bearing the name Of the
sender of a package, were found The
/ package from which the latter paper
/ was taken had been mailed at POcatello
l by a young woman. Further than this
! it is impossible for the authorities to
/ learn anything about the contents Of
/ the package until an Investigation is
made. The investigation VIII begin
! this morning under the direction OF IN
! spector sharp