The Plymouth Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1878-1901, 1901-08-29
SHREWD POSTAL CLERK
MYSTIFIES DETECTIVES
indianapolis Railway Mail Agent
Captured After Three Years
UnCOnfirmed Suspicion
of His Guilt.

INDIANAPOLIS, Aug. 26.-Ont
of the most remarkable letter
stealing records made since the
establishment of the railway
mail service is credited to Franh
NJ. Smallwood of this city, who
for three years bafied detection
and so won the confidence of the
government officers that they
actually apologized to him on
one occasion for having suspected
him, and afterward counseled
with him as to the best means
for catching the thief.
AT times it seemed as if the
thief was actuated only by an in
ordinate curiosity, for there We're
weeks at a time when letters ad.
dressed to women only and
written by women only were
tampered with or actually stolen.
Then again packages containing
jewelry, dry goods and other
articles would be rife1 or open
ed anu inspected and then for
warded to their destination AT
other times letters only would
be opened or stolen.
So adrOit was the thief that
the government officers could
not get him with decoys, for
these always passed through the
mails with their contents intact,
and in the meantime letters were
disappearing from the mails at
the rate of ten or a dozen a day.
Smallwood lived with his wife
and three children at I'LL Park
avenue, and since 1890 had been
running between this city and
Pittsburg, Pa. on the Panhandle
line. He worked in a car with a
number of other clerks, but he
was assigned to mail destined
for Kansas, and it was from this
mail that letters and packages
began to disappear in December.
1898. Inspectors Holmes and
Fletcher were assigned to run
down the thief, and they have
been working on the case ever
since, it being only last week
that Snlal1wood was caught, red
handed, and made full confes-
sion.
Soon after the officers began
an investigation they were con
vinced that there was no trouble
west of this city, and that the
letters were rifled between here
and Pittsburg. In one month
sixteen letters were lost, and all
of these were addressed to per-
sons in Topeka. Suspicion at
once fell upon Smallwood, and
he was transferred from Chief
Clerk Blackburn's crew to that
of Chief Clerk Miller, and a close
watch was kept on the Kansas
mail. Letters continued to dis
appear or reach their destination
after being opened, but, as the
same mail was handled at other
points, there was still room for
question as to Smallwood's guilt.
About this time the suspect was
injured and had to lay off for
thirty days. The Kansas mail
was carefully watched during
this time, and on one occasion
three letters were found to have
been opened.
This threw the officers entirely
off the scent and they reached
the conclusion that some one else
was robbing the mails and that
the thief, whoever he was, was
trying to throw suspicion on
Smallwood. The finding of the
opened letters III the Kansas
mail when Smallwood was not
on the run fully justified this
theory, the officers thought, and
they turned in other directions
to find the thief. AS soon as
Smallwood recovered Inspector
Holmes sent for him to come to
his Cincinnati Office, and there
be told him candidly of the sus-
picions that had rested upon him |
and the satisfaction it gave the
oficers to find that he was not
the thifa.
Holm, i and Smallwood then |
discussed plans for catching the |
pobber, and SmalIwood's manner |