The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1904-06-10
THE ARREST OF SAFE BLOWERS.
Interesting Discoveries of Postofice
Inspectors and Pinkerton Detec-
Especial to The Messenger.)

ioptIIdl 10 Inc Messenger
Raleigh, n. c., June The post
Office inspectors and the Pinkerton
detectives who in such large numbers
have been investigating postofice rob-
berries, as we'll as safe-blowing of
banks, ETC., have made some very
interesting discoveries. The safe
cracking last e in botn postof.ices
and banks assumed large proper
tions in this state. but ceased when
Postoffice Inspector F. n. Davis began
to track these crimes last January.
Men were at work in New York,
North and South Carolina, Ohio,
Alabama and Georgia, trying to un-
ravel the mystery as to the bank and
postoffice robberieS.
Some of them were on the trail Of
Charles c. Jones, hailing from Colds
boro. Richmond and New York, who
was on Saturday at Raleigh in the
Federal court acquitted of robbing
h postoffice at Apex iast Septem-
Der, but was convicted of having,
~concealing and selling stolen postage
stamps. The postmaster at Apex
sWore Jones was in his office the day
befo1te the robbery. The poslmas-
ter at that town has always made
- q uotOAA VI tSoi oI AN MAJ iiN
Of the sheets of stamps as soon as he
receives them in the postoffice de-
partment, n Inspector Davis. who
got from the hotel at Goldsboro a
lot of the stamps which Jones had
sold at a discount, found these sheets
to be without margin. The govern
bment regarded this as quite a point
in the case. A yet more important
fact was that the stamps which In
1pector Davis got from the hotel to
which Jones had sold them, were of
the series of 1902, which experts
sent to Raleigh from the postoffice
department. showed was not issued
swore hat when he was at Raleigh
at the state fair in October, 1902,
he met . man who said his name was
James K. Monroe, of Cincinnati;
that Monro said he had been inter-
ested in a get-rich-quick scheme and
had been closed out by the postoffice
authorities and had a large quantity
of stamps on hand. Jones said he
a been engaged in that sort of a
Icheme at Richmond, but had no
trouble with disposal of the stamps.
Horace Comfort, the New York GRIM
inal lawyer. who came here to defend
Jones. said Monroe is really Frank
Duncan, an escaped safe-blower n
murderer from Alabama. OF course,
it was impossible for Monroe, alias
Duncan, to have had stamps in Oc-
tober which were not issued at all
until December of that year.
In the course of the wide-sweep
of the work done by the inspectors
and detectives they found that there
was large gang of cracksmen max
ing a specially of postoffices and
banks; that two members of his were
named Driscoll and Callahan, who
are now serving long terms in Jail in
49, +ho{ th~oo otIn-c u-ara
in Jail in South Carolina. They
made the astonishing discovery that
Callahan and Driscoll were in a plot
before the ia1t Christmas holidays
to do up" five of the wealthiest men
in North Carolina. that is to rob
them, and if necessary kill; also to
rob banks at several points. Gala
ham was tracked to Newport News,
Va. n to Greensboro and another
point in North Carolina. At these
three places they blew safes, two
nights apart, all in one week. Then
they found they were discovered, has
tily went to Mount Olive, blew the
p~ostofices and bank safes there the
same night and arranged to blow the
~postoffice and bank safes there the
Christmas eve, but suddenly hurried
southwark on the Atlantic Coast
Line, to Alabama, from a point
either Goldsboro or its vicinity. They
were picked UP III AldDdiHd, WHeIe
they had $1,000 hidden in a woman's
cloak.
One of the questions now is wheth-
er persons at Goldsboro will be indict-
ed on the charge of receiving stolen
stamps. Inspector Davis has affida-
I Wits exactly opposite from the evil
dence given by some of the witnesses
here. U. S. District Attorney Harry
Skinner made a powerful argument
in favor of the conviction of Jones.
at the trial. and this contributed
| greatly to the conviction. Attorney
Comfort said he had been all over
the country appearing in such cases,
that conviction was excessively diff
cult. that this was the first case Of the