The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-09-24

1URTIS II. WiNSOR, a lawyer prac-
- ticing in Sioux Fails, Dakota ter
ritory, presented himself at the
office of United States District Attor-
ney Bliss in st. Louis, Mo, one day in
the spring of 1882, and. after introduce
ing himself. stated the purpose of his
call as follows:
In appealing to the federal govern
ment under the present circumstances
! represent the firm of Mckinney e
SeougdL bankers, of Sioux Falls. For
some time the territory of Dakota. and.
i have heard, other sections of the west
ana northwest have been circularized
Dy firm in st. Louis which is Offering
10 sell surveyors certificates of deposit
on United States sub-treasuries at
30 cents on the dollar. These certifi-
Gates, or scrip, represent payments
made by settlers on unsurVeyed lands.
To be applied on specific parcels of land
after IL is surveyed. \ few days ago
my clients forwarded to the firm of
Burt * Miller of this city $500 by the
United States Express company in pay
ment of $1,000 of this scrip. Almost inn
mediately after forwarding the money
Mckinney < ScougaI heard rumors
L
Burt a Miller and to report to the gov
eminent authorities our suspicious that
there Is something wrong in the deal 80
Attorney Bliss, after securing such
information as he could from his Wis
ltOr. which was only a general outline
Of What the Dakota lawyer thought
might be a gigantic fraud, dispatched
a messenger for me and requested me
to confer with Wnsor and then to pro-
coed as the circumstances narrated by
him dictated To me. II was late Sun
day night before / had WinsOrs infor-
nation i'm the form of an affidavit Ev-
efythlng pointed to the preparation of
a fraud on wholesale lines, involving
hundreds of victims and hundreds of
thousands of dollars. The storm CEN
ter seemed, from WinsOr's statement,
10 be the firm of Burt & Miller of st.
Louis, reputed dealers in land scrip
and government warrants. I never had
heard of the firm. but from what ny in
foTmant said il seemed 10 have carried
on an extensive business i'm the west
and northwest. The name of the firm
did not appear in the publications that
furnish such information The name Of
neither a. +. Burt reputed To be d law
yer nor of @. :. Miller said TO be a
government surveyor, was to be found
IN the city directory.
As soon as the United States Express
company's office was open on Monday
morning ! was on hand. From the time
of shipment of the $500 package from
Sioux Falls We calculated that it had
not Vet been delivered 10 Burt & Miller
III ST. Louis and l hoped TO learn some
thing of this mysterious business con-
Germ when a representative called at
the express Office for the package of
currency. For three hours l waited. II
had been arranged with the manager
of the office that in the event / did not
fix on the right man as packages were
called for, / was TO be tipped" by the
delivery clerk when application was
made for the Burt & Miller package.
After three hours / became apprehen-
sive and questioned the delivery clerk.
Has the package for Burt K Miller
been called for / asked.
NO, he said, but a man called this
morning and requested that all express
matter for that firm be forwarded to
Sioux Falls, Dakota"
TO whom are they to be forwarded
there?"
John d. Cameron"
Did he leave a St. Louis address or
Tell who he was?"
he said he was G.. ). Miller and that
his Office was at Il Chestnut street"
The Clerll then described the man who
had given tc9 order as about 45 years
old. six feet tail. with dark beard and
mustache. His having slipped through
my fingers by the misunderstanding In
the express Office deprived me for the
time of opportunity 10 Identify one OF
the cOnspiratOrs and TO locate the 9TH
ers through him, and l was compelled
70 go 10 work on the clue left i'm the
express office. 1 sent Deputy United
States Marshal SOest 10 L Chestnut
street, and al the place where this
number should have appeared he found
a blank wall. In an alley around the
corner. however he found a saloon en-
trance and made inquiry in the place
for the firm OF Burt < Miller" The
Information he secured was meager
and unsatisfactory. but from 10 he
gathered that men claiming connection
with such a firm at irregular intervals
frequented a small room over the
saloon. The room was apparently a
secret meeting place.
Turning to the postal machinery /
sought the aid of the super ntendent Of
letter carriers, a friend of mine To
the public il will probably sound
strange when l say that the United
States secret service operative has no
more privileges in the pOStoffice de-
partment than has any other citizen of
the United States There is no rule. of
government under which the govern
ments detectiVes-asid from the post
bffice nspectOrs-OffiCiallv can ask the
cooperation of the postal department.
The secret service men. encountering
D line Of investigation that might be
greatly expedited by access TO postal
Information, must secure il as best he
IAN. If ii happens 10 be a case where
Iccess to the mails is of vital impor-
lance TO the ends of Justice he delves
INTO that department as he would into
Z sphere entirely divorced from govern /
nent supervision, and In so doing fire.
iuently is compelled TO violate postal
regulations and TO ask postal employees |
o do the same thing Once when
Pete" Mccartney. the famous counter /
eiter, was travelling from New York
his Illinois home. stopping along the |