The Minneapolis journal., 1902-08-30
LOOKOUT IS NEEDED.
Minneapolis Postohice Will Be Pro-
/ vided With Station From Which
Inspectors Can See Clerks.
Thefts Of Which Rogers Is Charged
Due to Lack Of Facilities
for Inspection.

@ 4
Fro,, Tho Jour,sat B,.rsnt W. Room, IS, Poss
| BuiIdt,s0, Washingtoss!
| Washington, Aug. 30.-The long con-
tinuance of the thefts Of valuable mail IN
1.-The Minneapolis postofffcesfor three years
lof which Harvey, s. Rogers stands
Echarged, lis almost unprecedented in the
history Of the postoffice department. Old
| employees in the inspection division can
recall only one case in which the thefts
continued for such length of time with
| out detection, and that was In St. Paul.
/ In both, the st. Paul and the Minneapo-
| lis cases the apparent Immunity Of the
! clerk who was rifing the mail that passed
through his hands was due, so it is said,
| to the fact that there were no facilities
! for inspection, such as are now provided
| in all the large postoffices of the country.
| In St. Paul, now that the office is in
| the new building, a lookout is provided
| for inspectors, a place where they can go
| any hour Of the night or day and over
| look the work Of clerks and carriers, with
! being watched. .| Z
This lookout is usually circular tower
in the middle Of the postoffice room, fitted
with eyeholes. Sometimes it is a struc-
ture like a bridge, running the entire
length Of the postoffice work room into
| which the inspectors may go from the
Outside, and no one be the wiser. Such a
/
| in this city. ~~ ,
| s& Depended on Written Complaints.
4 Chief of Inspectors Cochran, in discuss
i ing the Minneapolis case,5 said that his
/ men had to depend almost entirely upon
! the written complaints which reached
l them in trying to- discover clue as to
/ the possible thief. All the old inspect
ors on his force were evidently known, so
he determined to assign Inspector Greg
l*ory to the case in the hope that he, being
unknown, might be able to discover the
1dishonest clerk or clerks. The arrest of
! Rogers followed, but Chief Cochran re-
fuses to give any information as to the
| evidence. against him.
| II Mr.. Cochran says he has asked the su-
/ pervising architect OF the treasury to
make an allowance for the construction
Of a. lookout in the Minneapolis postoffice
out of the $250,000 appropriated last win
ter for enlarging the federal building
He says a lookout is badly needed partly
because Of the lack Of facilities for in
spection without detection by the clerks
and carriers, and partly because of the
deterrent effect upon a clerk or carrier
who might be tempted to steal valuable
letters. -sE ..-.
l. Old employees Of the department say
that the length of time in which man
may commit offences such as have been
going on in the Minneaolis office for sew
eral years, depends entirely upon. the
clerk. One of these men said: x.
| II clerk stole one letter it would be
almost impossible to detect the thief, un-
| less he had been caught. in the very act
But when a man steals one letter, and
finds there Is no outcry or inquiry about
it, If he has thieving tendencies he will
! steal another and9 another at more fire.
quent intervals, Until he does it every
day: %TzE3] EY|tv.1sGS 49, =. =
| s~~ Only Matter Of Time. =, =, /
"of course, the length of time In which
he might make frequent depredations de-
rends upon the man himself One. might
be bolder tian another fAaihHd Willing to take
quickly than the Itifnid thief. But It Is
! only a, matter Of time before he is, caught
be he bold or tin1id, and that puts stop
1 to- stealing lin the particular office in
which he was employed, for a time, at
least. Thefts in offices where there are
no .lookouts can generally be said to- be
more frequent than in offices that have
them. A strong effort will be made tc
put one In the Minneapolis office and
then If any clerk: Or carrier starts out
to make away with letters it will be only
corraled and sent up the road y -:
The case at which Rogers worked was
! a half octagonal affair which could not
be observed from the inspection points
provided in the Minneapolis office. A
revelation to the inspectors and a dis
covery which will probably result in a
prohibitive order from the department
were the immense pockets found in the
working apron which is said to be that
Of Rogers 1t would be a simple matter
for clerk working case with such an
arrangement to simulate the motions OF
throwing mail and instead Of releasing the
letter from the fingers into the case, tc
retain it and drop 1t into the pockets OF
the apron as the hand was brought back
to take other letters. = >.l'....,t
u - =, w w. Iermane