The Saint Paul globe., 1903-01-17
WRITER OF LETTERS
HOIST BY HIS OWN
PETARD
Andrew Carlson, Who Mailed
Vile MissiYes, Boldly Com
plains of Himself to Postal
Authorities and Is Identi-
fed as Ofender-Man Con-
fesses His Guilt.

The arrest in Anoka county yes
terday of Andrew Carlson, charg-
ed with having sent vile let
terS through the mails, closes a case
on which the governments secret serv-
ice agents have been working con-
stantly for four years. The arrest was
made by Deputy United States Mar
shal William Grimshaw Jr. and Inspec-
tors Drake and Noyle upon informa-
ton furnished by Postoffice Inspector
Fawcett, Of this city, who has had the
case in charge for some time. Carlson
was arraigned before Commissioner
Abbott in Minneapolis yesterday aft
ernoon, and pleaded guilty. Being un-
able to furnish bail in the sum OF $4,000
he was placed in Jail.
The case is one Of the strangest with
which the postal authorities have had
to do for years. About four years ago,
Miss Alice OlsOn,of Otisville, complain
ed that she was receiving anonymous
| letters which were indecent. Follow
ing the complaint of Miss Olson came a
complaint from Carlson, who produced
letters of a similar nature which he
claimed to have received through the
mails Shortly after this, letters in
the same handwriting and Of the
same nature, were sent to the postal
authorities. The United States mar
shall, the district attorney, the postof1fce
inspector and other officials received
these letters at frequent intervals, and
the best men in the service Of the gov
ernment were detailed on the case.
The letters were confined mostly to
J the use Of the most vile language, and
referred to nothing in particular. Every
IL,
| letters increased in number and more
! complaints were made to the Inspector,
the detectives were unable to get cn the
trail Of the offender.
Carlson Got Too Busy.
| Carlson complained more frequently
| than anyone else, and this was his un.
/ doing. The persistency Of Carlson in
I his Efforts to have the guilty party ap
| pretended, and his frequent visits to
! the office of Inspector Fawcett, di-
rected suspicion towards him, and the
| inspector set a trap for him. A day or
two ago, Carlson appeared at the in
| spector's office with his usual COM
plaint, having with him a very OBJ
scene letter which he had just receiv
| ed. Inspector FaWcett asked Carlson to
| make his complaint in writing and he
| was also requested to state what the
| letters contained, as near as he colRd
| remember. Carlson made the state
ment, and when be handed it to In
spector Fawcett, the latter was sure
! he had solved the mystery which had
| baff1ed the department for four years.
| In the written statement made by Carl
! son, he misspelled number Of obsceNe
words, the incorrect spelling being
| identical with that in the anonymous
! letters. The writing was also the same
! Carlson was allowed to go, but was
kept under surveillance, and when he
was caught in the act of mailing let
ter yesterday he was placed under ar
rest. When confronted with the evi-
! dence against him he confessed every
| thing.
| Mind Is Probably Impaired.
CarIson's mind is believed to be I'M
paired, as the letters are not such as a
sane man would write. His mental
condition is said to be the result of a
| disappointment in love. Miss Olson had
received SO many of these letters that
she finally refused to open them and
| paid but little attention to them. Re
| Gently a series Of the same class Of mis-
! sives, enclosed in mourning envelopes.
| have been received by Mrs. A. Weter-
burg, 2718 Fourteenth avenue south,
| Minneapolis.
Carlson was arrested about two years
ago on a similar charge, at which time
| he was defended by John Lind. At
| that time the case against him was
dismissed, there not being sufficient
| evidence to secure a conviction.
! More than twenty people are said to
have been receiving these letters dur
| ing the past three or four years, but
| the postal department was unable to
| locate the author Of them. Carlson is
twenty-four years old and is well spok-
en- of by his employer. He has been en-
| gagged for several years as a driver for
a Minneapolis transfer company, and
among the persons who received his
| letters was his employer.
When arraigned yesterday Carlson
| gave no reason why he had written and
mailed such letters, and was but little
| i II