The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-05-10
STRAIN OF HANDLING MONEY
Temptation to Those Who are As sociated Constantly With Large
 Sums in Cash.

Washington Star.
 The Stars notice that Captain James Fitzgibbon had again escaped rom o'' Elizabeth" said well known news paper man, recalls to my mlno con yersation I had with the wnoie-souleo gentleman several months ago. ID DC candid. I had believed that he was not inc same Fitzeibbon mentally, and l de- termined to see if I could convince my self of this belief strolled into his of- fee in the treasury and engaged him In conversation. He appeared more nerv- ous than I had ever seen him, and l asked him if it wasn't terribly trying on a man to handle so much money every hour and every day
 "Great God, old man." was the quick answer. mo man on earth can ever | imagine the strain until he goes through with it. It is simply purgatory on | earth 1 wish I was in some other pusl- ness. Not for my life would l steal penny but the temptation Is often great. Fight 1t as you may, the temptation to be dishonest will come to you. It IS no ordinary task to resist the temptation to
 steal. It is fight day in and day out
 with many an honest man. l knew one | of the best men in the service to send in l his resignation simply from the fear that some day the temptation to do wrong | would be too great for him.
 'The best men in the world will go wrong sometimes unless they are exceed ingly guarded. You remember the case of Eddie Ryan. He was model young
 man. One day at noon, when Ryan was
 in charge, a messenger from the Bank of the Republic came in with ten packages of money billed for a New York banking house. Ryan gave a receipt but made ha a safe used for uncalied for packages. The
 amount was $45,0O0. The young man left
 the cash in the safe and did not say
 word to any one else. However, he was
 careful to wrap an old newspaper around
 the bundle. That night Ryan came back
 here and by telling the watchman that
 he had left bundle of soiled clothes
 in the office he managed to get in. Next
 day Ryan failed to show up at the ofiice,
 and in the afternon his mother sent word
 that he was i'll. Nothing was thought of
 his absence until next day, when mes
 sage was received from the bank that
 the New York house had not received the
 money. The Washington bank had
 Ryan's receipt, and then 1t was realized
 that he had skipped. He was arrested in
 Denver, and the express company re- covered nearly all the money. While doing time in Albany penitentiary he
 was pardoned by President Cleveland. He
 afterwards married young lady in the Treasury Department who had been loud in her denunciation of him when he took the money.
 Years ago, when I was a train dis patcher and agent in Kansas. one night messenger came In with sack con taining about $5O,0oo for pay day pur- poses. He put it in my safe, and felt bit nervous with such a sum of money under under my protection. Those were the. days of road agents and 1t was desolate region. Later In the night this fellow came back and said to me: Did | you ever hear of the agent at -? Then | he told me how this agent had s4O0Oo put in his charge, had been robbed and no | trace was ever found of the men who | made the haul. Well. this duck came | right out and asked me to Join him in the | scheme to get the $50.000 which was lying | in the safe He said that he would bind | me and gag me, and in order to make the | fake more plausible he would hit me with | Q club After the robbery had been dis l covered he would come to time and divide | even with me. 1 listened to him just | as long as I could stand such talk, and l then pulled my gun and told him that If | he said another word on that line I would |
 
 all the road agents In the country could | not get him to open his eyes. He went | away and I lost sight of him. I should | have reported the matter. but I was a | new man then. and feared they would | laugh at me. or would insist that he was | only testing my honesty. I am firmly | of the opinion that he meant 1t all, and l I suspect that the proposed blow of his | club would have been something more than a mere bluff.
 "Therc Is a man now holding high | position in a Western bank who started | at bad place in his younger days; there | were bad hours In his life. but feel that | he will never weaken again. In a mo- ment of weariness over his small income | compared to his ambitions he found that | he could steal a package containing an | even $100.0OO The package was In his | keeping for shipment next day. He argued that he could take the money, | disguise himself and get out of the way | before the theft was discovered Some how he could not make up his mind to tell | his wife, but he put the package in his grip. secured the necessary disguise and | the tempted man went to his home. kissed | his wife and baby good-by and left. He was desperate and resolute, but when he | entered the berth in the sleeper he found mat ne could not sleep nor TeSt ne | wave of remorse was too much for him, and he boarded the next train for his own city, arriving in time to be at the bank at opening. He went to the presidents private room. and in falterlng words he told the president what he had done. | The president merely smiled and asked | for the package. With trembling hands the tempted man handed 1t over. Only | a deception. my dear boy; only a decep- :ion,' said the president, as he united | the package and displayed a roll of paper. We thought you were honest, but all | men have moments of weakness. Go to your desk
 Such positions are too tempting for | the backbone of the ordinary man. Of | course they pay well, but think of the | great strain on one who is tempted to | be dishonest. With most men, I am | firmly convinced. 1t Is a battle all the year | round between being honest and a thief. | do not believe that any man ever | handled amounts of cash without the | temptation to steal at times passed | though his mind. It's a battle from | the shoulder all the time"
 And now the man who talked this way, | he who handled millions every day in the year who acknowledged that the strain was a severe one. is in the government insane asylum.