The Washington herald., 1907-05-28
MRS. GOULD ACTS
Makes Formal Complaint to
Postal Officials.
CLAIMS MAIL WAS EXAMINED
Federal Authorities to Act in NOtO-
riOus Matrimonial Squabbie-Deni-
zens of Under World Discuss Scan
daI and Pronounce "Big BiII'' Haw-
Iey's story Another "Pipe Dream"

New York, May &.-FOTmal complaint
was made to United States District At
torney Stimson to-day that Mrs Howard
GOulds mail was tampared with on sev-
eral occasions while she was living apart
from her husband Her attorney called
on Mr. Stimson to-day and urged that
the Federal authorities investigate Mrs.
Goulds charges, and II is likely that the
Post-ofice Department will take up the
matter and assign inspectors 20 work on
the clews that have been furnished by
Mrs. Gould. Mr.. stimson was also told Of
Mrs. Gould's suspicious that she had been
shadowed by Secret Service operatives. as
well as by detective sergeants from police
headquarters, and an investigation Will
also be begun along that line
A woman who said she is a close per-
sonal friend of Mrs. Gould made # known
to-day that she could aid the government
officials in their efforts 20 find out who il
was that tampered with Mrs. Gould's let
ters. Il was learned from "a reliable
source that she claims TO know the name
Of a post-ohice inspector who instructed
lllt tliitl AtFth VI Ailf -sAdAlSpiA 4N4at
branch Of the post-of1ice TO get tracings Of
Mrs. Gould's mail She said the clerk told
her that when the inspector instructed
him to do this he advanced the informa-
tion that he wanted the tracings for
Lieut. Frank Peabody. Of the detective
bureau
Refuses to Reveal Identity.
The woman refused 20 reveal her iden-
tity 70 the officials whom she communi-
Gated with. saying it was not necessary
for them 10 know her. She assured them
that there was no mistake about Mrs.
Goulds mail having been tampered with,
and that II an investigation wers begun it
would develop that what she said was
true The woman furnished the name Of
one Of the best-known post-oflice inspec-
tors in the department as the man who
had ordered the tracings. The chief clerk
in tie Madison Square branch could not
have been mistaken in him, she said, as
he had worked in that branch on many
occasions in the course Of investigations
Chief Post-office Inspector Mayer re-
ceived no official notification OF Mrs
Gould's charge to-day, but said that the
inspector named was one of his most
trusted men. who had been in the Post
Office Department for many years. He
secuted the idea that this Inspector had
been implicated in even the slightest man
ner
Postmaster Wilcox said to-day that
when Mrs. Gould's charge was formally
.. Hss q o.
investigation.
William Flynn, chief Of the Eastern di-
vision of the Secret Service. stated to-day
that he did not believe any OF his opera
tives had the slightest thing To do direct
ly or indirectly, with the Gould case.
Big Bill Hawley Discredited.
II has come 10 the ears Of several peo-
pie directly concerned in the Gould scan
daI that Big BIZ Hswley's connection
with the affair is the one subject being
discussed by the citizens Of the under
world. and not a few well-knovn thieves
who consorted with him IN days gone by
feel that his story of the Dawson-Lownes-
dale marriage is one Of his many pipe
dreams. II was learned to-day that
Hawley often boasted of having some
thing on prominent men and women, and
narrated stories that did not have the
faintest tinge Of truth in them. The
thieves who know him well place not the
slightest credence in anything he says
He harped on the story Of Mrs. Gould s
alleged former marriage so much. il was
said. that he finally deluded himself into
the belief that IL was true. lie went 81
far in spreading the tale among his pals
that when he was brought down 20 police
headquarters under Inspector McLaugh-
/ Inns orders he did rot have the nerve
20 admit that it was Of his own invention
Dawson Probably n Myth.
one thing that completely skaters
Hawlcy's story, it was pointed out to-day
/ is the fact that nobody can be found wh'
! remembers Dawson. Old-time theatrical
men, WHO have been in New York since