The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-11-27
POSTOFF|CE ROBBER IS CAUGHT Boy Aided in Crime By FOr-
 mer EmpIoye IS CAUGHT OPENING BOXES Former Night Clerk Is Said to Have Given Boy Keys With Which He
 Was Carrying On the
 Theft.
IS CAUGHT OPENING BOXES

the arrest of the negro Emile Blevins last evening through the watchful efforts or two employees of the Selma postoftice, the mystery surrounding the robbery of the boxes in the Selma office has been cleared up. Following Blevins' arrest came about midnight last night, the ar rest of Nat Huggins, who is said to be at the bottom of the whole affair.
 Willis Nathaniel Huggins Is the erst- while negro night clerk at the Selma office, who was suspended by Mrs. Force, the postmaster, for having placed quan- tity of mail in the cellar to await his pleasure about forwarding it to it's in. tended destination; who was suspended by her and reinstated upon a telegram from the department in Washington; who was indicted by the United States grand Jury for delaying the mails, arrested and placed in jail, and afterward released upon a bond of $25O and who, until last night, was a waiter at the Hotel Ar
 cadia
 Boy Is Young.
 Emile Blevins is a young negro about 12 or IA years of age, who claims that he is just little over Il years old; whose mother lives on Broad street beyond the
 union passenger station, and who, ol
 Friday was engaged as night bell boy al the Hotel Albert.
 Sunday evening, just about dark, Mir
 Charles Voltz, who was expecting a rep etition of the robbery of the postofice
 boxes, saw the shadow of a youth fall across the window in the postoffice al which he was at work. Beneath the win dow, the postoffice inspectors had bored
 several holes through which the boxes could be watched. Dropping to one or
 these holes, MT Votz saw negro youth
 insert key into box which afterward
 proved to be that rented by N. Waller
 & Co.
 Put to the Test.
 The negro walked off, and MT. Voltz
 called for MT. N. A. Griffin, distributing
 clerk in the office, and stated that he
 thought the victim was at hand, and that
 he was going to put N. Waller & Co.'S
 mail in their box, 1t having been the since the robbery a month ago. The
 mail was put in the box, and hardly had
 MT. Voltz had time to get back to his peep holes when the young negro opene the box and took all the mall therefrom. He then opened two other boxes, one that of l.. & E. Lamar, and the other Hubbard & Clay. MT. Voltz then called to MT. Griffin and both young men hurried out of the office and caught the negro youth on the sidewalk. As they caught hold Of + Intn 0f oil fan fpA, lie arm which was picked up, and proved to be letters and papers addressed to
 Hubbard & Clay, N. Waller & Co. and l.. & b. Lamar Begged Them to Let Him Go. The little negro begged the young men not to arrest him, but to knock him in the head and let him go He was car
 ried to the city calaboose and was aft erward turned over to United States Com missioner Lloyd. At the council chamber he was seen by newspaper men, and de-
 clared that he found the keys, which he used some time ago in the box in front of J. B. Ellis & Co.'s, and that while in the postoffice Sunday afternoon his
 mind told him to open the boxes, but something else warned him that he might be arrested.
 Later, while in the United States com
 missioner's office Blevins told Officer
 Blanton and Constable w. l.. Fondell that Nathaniel Huggins had given him the bunch of keys with which he unlocked the boxes. He had denied this to the newspaper men and Chief Kalters earlier in the night MT. Fondell Officer Blan- ton, Commissioner Lloyd and Mail Car Tier Anderson went in search of Hugglns and found him near the Negro Drug store on Broad street about 10:30 o'clock Sun day night. Huggins was carried to Com
 missioner Lloyd's office and Blevlns was
 carried into the room where he sat and asked if he was the negro that had given
 him the keys.
 'He is the one," said Blevins, "on1y he did not have on that overcoat and that white vest when he gave them to me- BIevins' Mother Sought. Blevins' mother was next sought by the officials and she declared that if her son | was into doing anything wrong that Will | lie Duncan, who was also night bell boy | at the Albert, knew something about the matter Duncan vas arrested but was | later turned loose as there was nothing | showing his connection with the robbery of the mails
 When Blevins was caught he had a key ring containing six postoffce keys, | flat ket resembling a postoffice key, a small chest or trunk key and two seem- | ingly roller top desk keys. This bunch Of keys has been identified by MT. Fondell as the same taken from Huggins when he was arrested under the capias of the | United States grand jury about a week ago and has also been identified by Jailer | Williams as having been returned by hiif | to Higgins when the latter made bond There were two other keys on the ring at the time and 1t is expected to be shown that one of these keys belonged to | the door at the postoffice and was moi | turned over by Huggins when he relin- | quished his job after making bond and | before going to work as waiter at the | Hotel Arcadia.
 | Boxes Continually Robbed. | Boxes at the postoffce have been con. | tinually robbed since Huggins suspension | the first time for delaying the mails. Priol
 to that time there were no reports of tn, | boxes having been tempered with. Sey | eral times during the past week boxe! | have been robbed but the postoffce au | thorities requested the newspapers not tt mention the matter as a watch was be-
 ing kept with the hope of apprehendins i the thieves.
 | The efforts of the postoffice official;