The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1907-03-03

The police are active in gathering to-
gether a web of evidence which they
think will serve To convict young Sharp
Hitchcock, the 1i-year-old boy who has
been arrested here and VINO was ar
raigned for preliminary hearing Friday,
the hearing being postponed untll Mon
day. The police ale OF the opinion that
the young lad Will have some very sefi-
Gus charges to answer.
Among the young mans effects was
found a certificate of membership in
the Odd Fellows issued to Henry Hitch
cock presumably his dead fatheT) on
November 3, 1872, by the Palestine. Tex,
lodge of the order and bears the sigma
ture of j. j. Wells. noble grand and }. f.
McVeagh, secretary. The certificate ap-
pears to have been altered. for over the
name Harry" has been written in
serawlng hand the word SHARP, the
lad evidently having changed the docu-
ment TO make 1t appear that he was u
member of the order The date has also
been altered and bears the year 1864
Startling admissions are made in the
diary taken from the young man and II
they are true, he has been figuring In
many robberies, Among the deeds re-
corded in the book, he claims to nave
during his period of operations destroyed
bv fire money orders and checks agSre-
eating the sum of 100000; states that he
served term in prison for crimes com
mitted at Macon, Ga, and that he swim
died number of persons here ard else
where. out of large sums. through man
operations The diary which the police
now hold and which the boy admits to
be his property, reads as follows
For the past five years | have taken
from the Mobile postoffice about 900 let
ters and packages ! received plenty OF
money in these letters All | have to do
is to SO in and pull the box open and
take all in it except newspapers
ION the next page you VIII see the
names of firms | have swiadled constant
! ly through the mails and the number OF
letters taken The first -four was done
! In Macon, Ca"
The following page relates to Macon,
! Ga. operations OF the young man. az
/ oordng to the first page of the alleged
, q y = Hitchcock:
/ "A. b. Small, Altmeyer & Flatsen, First
] National bank, \. y. Small. $50: Altmeyer
i > fiaisan s';a, First National bank, $500,
! altogether checks. 5000; money orders
$500 | served tWenty-eght months for
| this crime
Forged check on Oscar johnson, city
! Bank and Trust company, for Sl2lso
forged Y s p. A. NJ. A.. for $50
admit taking So from small gunboat
here two years ago I have burned $780,
0oo in checks and money orders"
On an other page Is the following list
of names and amounts which the owner
of the dairy claims to have obtaincd:
"a B. Small, 50; Atmeyer x Fiatsen'
So. First National bank $3.50; some ply
sielans in Mobile. ~ T. g. Bush o,
S.. Peoples bank. S. Mobile Daily Her
aid 81; Mr.. stoutz, slA f. O. Zidek, S3p;
Mobile aud Ohio mail car, 500 Mobile,
Jackson and Kansas city Railroad COM
panv, $3.50; otherwise, s15o0."
THE dairy refers 10 strong cold with
which tile writer suffered. the unsucaess-
ful visit to his physician and the mention
Of a young lady living at Fa%etteVllle,
Ala, as his sweetheart.
Postmaster Barker Of the Mobile post
Office doubts the correctness of the num-
ber of letters stolen as mentioned in.
the diary but said that there had been
some complaints of loss of mail. but of
no great quantity. He said that young
Hitchcock and others had been arrested
several years ago in connection with
rohhing OF postoffice mail boxes.
The method used at that time was to
break out the, glass doors. extracting
the contents of the boxes. The name OF
n prominent Mobilan was mentioned In
connection with the Hitchcock operations
at the time.
Postmaster Barker stated that on Sun
dav last. Mai r. o. Zadek reported the
loss Of a package from his letter box,
the glass door having been entirely re-
moved
An alternative write Of mandamus. di-
rected to John r. Bauer. president of the
board of revenue and road commissioners.
and George T. Stone, treasurer of Mo-
bile county was issued today by the cir
cuit court at the Instance OF Judge Jules
e. Afford Of the inferior criminal court.
requiring them to appear today at
O'Clock, D. M. In said court to show cause
why said writ should not be made final,
requiring said Bauer as president of the