The Hawaiian gazette., 1904-09-16
WHERE DID
He GET IT?
Roses Case Attracted
Attention on the
Mainland.

| All across the continent young Rose
Of Hllo who was arretsed in Delaware
for purloining Panama hat from the
mails while he was In the iillo post
office, heard the sad. worn refrain.
where did you get that hate Roses
case attracted much attention wher-
ever the train stopped and the ubiquit-
Gus reporter could get his pencil work.
ing on the story The Salt Lake Tri-
bune says Of him:
a chase across half the globe, now
ended will soon result IN retribution
overtaking n luckless Kanaka for the
theft OF an old Panama hat. The Ka-
naka, in custody of Delaware's United
States Marshal, passed through ogden
yesterday on the Union Pacific west
bound No. l. The pair are on their
way to the Hawaiian islands, whence
the thief took his departure some
months ago.
In its details the case affords an
other example of the foolishness of toy
ing with Uncle Sans mails, for Amer
ica's postoffice department and Amer
ica's secret service weren't bit exer-
cised over the hat save for the fac,
that 1t was abstracted from a govern
ment postoffice.
FANCIED THE HAT.
1t seems that the Kanaka, ignorant
of the vigilance with which his new
government watches the divers articles
consigned to its care under the pro-
lection of postage stamps, took fancy
to the hat Such hats are common in
Hilo. where this native lived, and this
old n that ha ltnls1aSa:
native happened to want this particu-
lar article of headgear, and took it,.
thereby taking his place as first starter
in a sort of relay race, which endured
across the Pacific and the Americana
continent.
After the theft some one told the
thief what he had done, and he pro-
ceeded to put as much salt water as
possible between himself and the scene
of his crime. Meantime the postal de-
partment got wind of the fact that the
hat had vanished. and investigation
was thereupon instituted. Any one who
has lost a letter in the mails and has
gone through the red tape of getting
it back knows what this means. 1t took.
time. but it was thorough. The post
master communicated with Washing.
ton. and Washington communicated.
with an island inspector Then the in
spector got busy and did lot of in
vestigating by himself. He wrote back
for instructions and reported progress.
This was done time or two, and wheni
it was all over the Kanaka had become
fixture in his newly adopted mother
land. He had incidentally come to re-
gard the hat affair as a closed incident.
HAT TO THE JUNK PILE.
But while that Panama hat, long
since reposing on some Hilo junk heap,
had passed into history so far as it's
on-time possessor was concerned, 1t
was very evident matter of present
concern to some half score of federal
officials. These continued to write let.
ters of instruction and reports on pro-
gress to one another, until it finally de-
veloped that the Panama had been,
stolen. and the thief had disappeared.
Then the secret service department.
of the American government became a.
factor in this story. The secret service
department is a terrible affair, as more.
than one offender against the federal
laws can testify, and it never stops
until 1t has turned in report of as
lnuCn as possible accomplished. ANA
the secret service department doesn't
care whether the crime of
the offender be in the ethical nature of
petty larceny or murder, so long as it is
set upon his heels. The article stolen
may be postoffice in its entirety or
an old Panama hat, and the result Is
generally the same.
WANDERED TO DELAWARE.
So 1t came to pass that the investi-
cation took a new turn and the Ka-
naka became a wanted man. BY this
time he had wandered along in happy
ignorance of his desirability until he
reached the State of Delaware.
No necessity exists for going further
nto details Mail was watched and
We're sent out until the
wanted man was located. Then Dela-
wares United States officials arrested
him. His trip back to the islands be-
gan soon after, a trip which took him
through Utah a sadder and wiser man
when 1t comes to the subject of an
lexing Panamas, at the time in care Of
Jncle Sam. aa