The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-06-10
BAD Old MAN RACE
How He Doomed the Postmaster's
Business Unlawfully.
AND GOT T1LL1E TO WE'D HIM
A Disgusting Piece OF -P1ay-Acting
That Fooled the Lady and
the Pastor.

wsw York Sam SUscEaI 1orvxua.
Omaha, June los. r. Race, a patri-
archial appearing old man with snowwhite
hair and beard. is in trouble with the
federal authorities. Until recently he
was postmaster at Curtis, Frontier coun-
ty, and under his management the office
| made phenomenal squirt in stamp sales.
was advanced from the fourth to the
third class. and postmaster's salary was
increased accordingly. But now he is In
disgrace.
The story thus far is almost fundamen-
tai in simplicity, but there are other ram
ihcations that somewhat complicate It,
The cancelling stamp was turned over
to Race in 1895, at which time the
postof1ce at Curtis was Of the fourth
class. Indeed. the sales of stamps
scarcely warranted the maintenance OF
an Office there at all. There had been
a partial drought for two or three years;
times were hard, and about half the popu-
lation OF the town had left for more
| favored parts. y. IS
One day Race received q letter from
the postal authorities at Washington call
ing his attention to the fact that there
had been falling off IN the receipts of his
office. It was then decided to boom the
sale Of stamps. 1t would serve double
puIpOSG-luCEedSc Ills SdldIy duQ piodoe
| the postal authorities.
He ordered 5000 worth Of postage
stamps and sent the money with which to
pay for them. When they arrived he
! made trip to Omaha to purchase goods
with which to replenish his stock of gen
| eral merchandise which shared the Same
room as his postoff1ce. He paid for the
goods with postage. stamps. -:
| A few weeks later he repeated the OPP
Grafton, and, after the lapse of another
| fortnight again repeated it. The result
| was that in six months his office was ad-
vanced to the third elias and his pay was
| increased from $50 month to SOS a
month.
Even then he was not discouraged, but
! made a payment on a farm. all in two
| cent postage stamps. -
| About this time the postal authorities
| at Washington began to prick up their
| ears. Somehow the stamp sales were out
of proportion with the stamp cancella-
tons. There was disparity some
where. Things did not look right Post
| Office INSPECTOR J. D. Sinclair of Omaha
was sent to Curtis to investigate.
The remainder of the story was told
in the nature of confession by Race to
| District Attorney Summers yesterday. A
| fuller account, howere, Is given by
Inspector Sinclair. whose version; is as
follows: :. ---. -. -
,"After Race had been postmaster
about a year he fell in love with a young
woman aged 49,. named Title Hartwell.
She did not reciprocate his affections,
however, and try as he would he failed
! to elicit an Affirmative answer to his
| proposals OF marriage. He then hit upon
a scheme that was as ingenious as his
plan for raising the grade of his post
| office. He represented to Title that he
was rich, that he was in the last stages
| Of consumption, that he was bachelor
| without kith or kin to whom to leave his
estate, that he loved her and wanted to
| make her his heir. .-.- &-.- - .7<->
! ''In response to a message from him,
! she went to his house one day and found
him in bed. apparently Ill and in bad
/ way. - 90 49, - 4 49, =
"T have only a, few more days to live
he assured her. What do you think OF
i my proposaI?' = =. KS"
'"'Tillie contemplated his broad acres
| visible from the window, his hectic flush,
his sunken eyes (for Race knows how to
in his younger days, and the shadows
were deep and his graveyard cough, and
her heart softened toward him. When he
told her he owned a half interest in the
farm across the road she felt that she
almost loved him. She said 'all right,
but when he insisted on the wedding be-
| ing that night she demurred. His pulse
1
were in bad TASTE she would walt a
| week. -. r.. -. ~. -. !. =
| THAT night the old man thought out a
| plan to have the nuptials celebrated
| within twenty four hours. He got little
rubber bag Of soft, thin material and
| filed it with beet juice. >-,$ r -:
1.-THE next day be sent another message
to Title, this time saying he was dying,
and to come at once and bring minister.
She obeyed. When he heard footsteps ap-
preaching he put the bag of beet juice in
/ his mouth, bit one corner of it, and be-
gan to cough convulsively.
"When the preacher and Tillie saw the
beet juice they became alarmed, having
heard that hemorrhages frequently pre-
cede death in such maladies, SO sent fo1
a neighbor to hold Race in a sitting
posture during the ceremony. Mean
while the beet juice was holding out adj
mirably. .s..: &c.,. ......
1.-THE next day Race was behindi the
counter Of his store, showing his bride
how to distribute the mail. But they
didn't live together long enough for Til
lie to more than learn the location of the
A box, for. she left him in four days
and year later they were divorced"
AS there is law prohibiting the use O.
stamps as money by postmasters, Race
was indicted by the last federal Crane
Jury. On Saturday he confessed his
guilt and on account of his advanced age
the lowest possible f1ne-$50--.was i'm
! noeo6 's.-