Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-03-22
BAND OF ROBBERS
IN SAVOIE THEFT
Paris Prisoner Who Confessed Had
Confederates In New York.

| Is sent out whenever there is a discrepancy
| In the mail lists
| La Savoie had on board 5000 sacks OF
| mall. the greatest number ever consigned to
a French liner. There had been no mail
from Saturday to Thursday and La Savoie
| caught the accumulation. Twenty-Five OF
the mail bags were for Paris direct. The
| missing pouch of registered mail was con-
| tanned In one of these sacks. This pouch
| had In 1t rs pieces of registered mail Ia5
or which and the pouch itself were missing
| when the bag was opened in Paris The
three remaining parcels were found In the
bag which had held the registered pouch
| The securities lost by Goldman Sachs &
| Co., Mr. Goldman said last night. consisted
| or New York city revenue bonds. which
| were not negotiable. The bonds he said
| mad been sent in the firm name and a
power of attorney mailed at a later sailing
The city has issued duplicate bonds to the
hrm. A man in the Office of Lazard Freres
| or 10 Wall street admitted yesterday that
that firm had suffered some slight loss I'm
the mail theft. but would not specify the
amount or the kind Of securities lost
The Missing Bag.
The missing bag was made up almost en-
tirely of securities which New York firms
were forwarding to their Paris offices One
wall street lawyer Postmaster Wilcox
said yesterday, has reported that land
deeds Of great value which had gone in
La Savoie's mail had not reached their
destination. The potential value of the
securities contained in the missing pouch
| 1t was said yesterday at Chief Inspector
Mayors office, amounts to several millions
Most of these securities were not nego-
| table.
Registered mail is placed In special
f, pouches. which are in turn inclosed in the
regulation mail bags. There Is nothing to
show which bag contains the registered
| pouch, and the postal authorities are puz-
| zled to understand how the thief knew
which particular bag contained the valuab BILE
| matter. The only place where the robbery
could have taken place In this country the
| inspectors say. is at the foreign mail Office
| at Morton and West streets. and at least
four men would have had to be in collision
to rob the bag at this place. The New York
| inspectors are inclined to believe that the
theft took place while the mail was in
| transit from Havre to Paris.
The System Employed.
When a package of registered mail is
made up a list of the pieces and their num-
bers. called letter bill. is incosed In the
pouch. Another list is mailed In another
"
all the sacks is also sent separately. The
| way bill for La Savoies mail came back to
| the New York office on February 1 with
the signature of the French postal authorl-
ties. showing that the right number of mail
sacks had arrived, supposedly intact. Ii
was only when the French post office found
that the duplicate letter bill didn't check
up properly that 1t became known just what
mail matter was missing. Before this hap
pened the New York office had received a
pretty complete list of the missing pieces
through the complaints of local houses
whose securities had gone astray. Post
master Wilcox refused yesterday to say
just what firms were hit or what amount
Of negotiable securities had been in the
stolen bag.
La Savoie carries no postal clerks. Her
mails placed in charge of the ships
officers. The bags are locked in special
strong ROOM to which usually the purser
first officer or both have keys The only
other large robbery of foreign mails which
the post Office inspectors can remember
took place on board ship similarly fitted.
This was in 1898, when j. w. largo. first
officer of the Britannia Of the White Star
line, took from the mail consigned to his
ship securities and diamonds valued at over
100000 largo had the keys to the strong
room containing the mail bags. and with
the help of the second officer. John Knys-
ton. he rified the bags and took what suited
him. Inspector Jacobs and Inspector John
Ashe. then chief of the bureau. caught
Kingston while he was trying to dispose Of
some of the securities in Jersey City, and
later largo was captured In New England.
Early reports that the French authorities
had arrested a in Paris who had in
his possession $4,000 worth of American
securities for which he could not account
from a robbery of the American mail con-
signed to La Provence, also of the French
line, worried the post office people here
little yesterday, although they were strong
ly of the opinion that 1t was the robbery of
La Savoies mail that meant. AS a
matter of fact, the way bill giving the list
Of the mail consigned to La Provence has
not been returned to the New York post
office by the French postal authorities.
This bill was expected on March 10. 1t
may arrive tomorrow. when the French
mail gets in, but until it does come the
local post office has no official certainty
that the mail sent by La Provence arrived
falv