Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1901-08-29

and at other places az ullefenp times
thare been convicted and sentenced and |
the third ~ awaiting trial. Prentice
ITilIer and q. Il. Grant, who were
ARRESTED In Hastings, Neb., in the latter |
lrart OF Inst March, are the ones con
igicted. They were arraigned before |
the United States Courtsin Cincinnati,
TO-, and Tiller was sentenced to five |
years and Grant 10 three yenrs. The
lnaine OF the third man is Miller. lie
ESas captured ut HRyre, Mont. Tho
lrfIieers who have been working en- The
nse are Of the opinion that ne was in
thidInv from the tima tina others were
lssreatsd until he was unprecedented All
fhree are said to helong In New York.
lt,y their arrest 1t is believed the prac-
ltioe Of robbing letter boxes has been
broken up.
Two. and probably three, mombers Of
ishe gang came to Wilmington on the
IE,6th OF last September, and, alter night
Wall, disguised az regular mail carriers,
Ewearing mail carries uniiorms and
thaying keys that would fit the lnailhoS
kjocks, they opened number OF the
eitreet boxes here and extracted the
lmail thereirom. which they took to q
observation-disclosures here. where they were
(stopplng. and rifled OF their contents.
la number of cheeks were found and
lsome were oashed OF local banks the
next day.
u Immediately after their arrival here
the mon made study Of the city, with
view to aacertaining whore the most
valuable letters were likely to be
lposted. They picked out the commis-
1sionhouse district, which Is bounded
lby MarSet, French, Second and Sixth
lstreets, as being the most likely place
nsn tah uaIunh1a lnniI xvnnlH ha
}posted, knowing that tho commission
linen are constantly sending money and
Ichecks through the mails, and that
Knight robbed the box at Fourth and
Fixing streets and two or three others in
flthe district. 1t is suspected that one
tmember OF the gang was here before
hthat day and had figured out tho situa-
Etiou In ADVANCE, in order 10 be in .
Eposition to post his oopfederates when
they arrived, and when the gang de-
scended upon the city it was NIL plain
shiing for them. They may have
lvIsted other sections of the city. In
Nj fact, it is believed that they were in
the. lower part of town. near some OF
the large manufacturing establish
ments, and opened one or two boxes
there, but just what success they had
| III hare ia not known.
WI Once in possession of the checks, it
d was an easy matter TO realize on them.
n The crooks were provided with an out
4 lit Whiuh enabled Thorn to raise the
N cheeks at will aud make them payable
4 Ito .'bearer. - Consequently, the stolen
mail, upon being opensd was examinau
4 and the checks We're Iut in shape for
presentation at the banks the first
| thing next morning The Gang was
well enough acquainted with the Imam
oihl condition oi tins commission men
h and others who had mailed the checks
to know to what amounts the checks
could be raised and not get them into
i immediate trouble.
/ Their method of operation was ingen
ious and calculated to avert suspicion.
Only one of the men, it is believed
robbed the boxes. the others having
their share of the work to do after the
mail was In their possession. The on.
selected to do the stealing was dressed
I in the uniform OF a regular letter car
IIier. carried the regulation mail pouch
and with a false key could open any o
the boxes he came across, and he has
| the ones selected that were to be tapped
The boxes, it Is believed, were robbet
L | between Il. 30 and s O'Clock in the even
II ing. Care was taken to pick tim
A when the regular collectors would no
4 lie on the distriot and people who saS
the thief at work supposed ne WAS
Il carrier, as there was nothing about hi
notions to excite the suspicion OF tn
average citizen.
n One member OF the gang is an ,exper
Y | penman, and his part of the work con
N sisted in making alterations in ohecl,
I and letters. Another ono was tn
I brains OF the gang, aud he and the eS
pert writer are said to have passed th
checks or had them Dashed st the bank
\ after they lad been altered 1t Is nc
known just how many letters wet
stolen here, but it 10 believed the post
have q record OF all tho checks an
know just what amount of mnney vi
realized, and this inflammation has bee
placed in the hands OF the post
authorities. 1t is said that employ
at one OF the local banks where ops.t
the checks was cashed were able to civ
a very good description of the man WI
received the money and that informatio
assisted the officers very materially
running the gang down. Some of Il
stolen letters are thought to have COL
tanned money and stamps. In SON
GASES, in other cities, it is said, ii
gang remailsd- letters which they ha
broken open, aud in such Lcases susp
oion sometimes fell on postollice Ell
! ployes.
Samples of the gangs work ara
possession of the postofice inspector
ID one case, by the use OF acid TIL,
bad obiterated all writing except Il
signature in letter transmitting
check for 500 on a New York ban
Then the blank space was filled !
with a statement that 'our NJ
Mitchell, :" purportine to represent ii
firm whose advertisement was at II
top OF the letter, would call in "a
days on firm 10 Allegheny, Pa,
~bich the letter was then Rddresse
.'Mr. MITCHELL called In few da
and got the money fer the check viii
had been taken from the letter.
other cases thegan obtained money
checks made payable TO individuals
writing the words "or bearer after t
name of the person on the check
one case check for SIG. 80 was rails
to e160 and cashed. The original VIZ
ing ON the check, except the signatur
was erased with acid and then it v
rewritten. The unframed eye won
not detect anything suspicious in t
altered checks and letters, but an eSpt
would see the stain left by the aci
The gang was first heard of in Hay,
hill, Mass, on August 18th, 1900; tn
were in Baltimore September 2ll
then came to Wilmington, and aft,
A' wanda viaifed othar planaa Tho