New-York tribune., 1907-12-29
Wanted to Pay His Debts

Il
States treasury occurred IN February, 1877,
when a money envelop consigned to the First
National Bank OF Chicago, purportIng To con-
tam eleven thousand nine hundred dollars IN
hundred-dOllaT notes, was found, on being
opened. to contain nothing but tissue paper
cut to the size Of greenbackS. Most remarkable
OF all, the envelop, when II arrived bore the
seals of the treasury, IN wax. intact. 1t was
out OF the question to suppose that these seals
had been COunteTfeIted.
Such being the case, there seemed to be no
doubt that the theft had been committed IN
the Treasury Department at Washington
The most skIlful detectives OF the secret service
were put on the Job, and every man through
whose hands the missing money had passed
was subjected TO rigid examination One
employee. the counter had reckoned the notes
a second, the proven, had checked the count;
: third. the Sealer. had put the money III the
envelop; and fourth had addressed It To the
bank IN Chicago On the face Of the matter.
Il would seem that one ot these four must be
the thiei
One OF the four men while undergoing ex-
animation, turned pale and trembled- His
knees shook viSiblv- The symptoms he eN-
hibited We're such as might have convinced al
most ANYBODY that he was the guilty person
Nevertheless-to show how little reliance Is
to be placed IN such signs-he had nothing
whatever to do with the crime, As was proved
bv subsequent events. He was simply fright
ened lest the investigators might suspect hlIn
un nlustly-
The truth as eventually aScertained, was
that the thiet was the man who addressed the
envelop- His name was NInslow- Beng II
debt and anxious about ways and means, he
was an easy prey to the money bug one
night he woke up and sat up IN bed with the
idea fully formed N his mind. Next day, fol
lowing II out, he prepared an envelop reSen-
bling as closely as possible one OF the ottlc1Al
treasury envelops. This he filed with pieces
of paper and afterward, taking advantage OF =
looking he sealed the envelOp with the office
seals. While engaged IN his work It Was easy
enough to substitute the dummy package Tor
the real one intended for the Chicago bank,
and TO put the latter into the inside pocket OF
his coat
When man Is suspected Of stealing large
sum OF money, the first thing the detectives 30
IS to keep a quiet watch on ms habits. and
especially on the money he spends Il Is q
rare and exceptional thief who under such cir
clnstanCes. after making big haul can 50
control himself as to restrict his expenditures
within limits prOportlonate TO hls ordinary and
proper income.
4 watch OF this kind was kept on all four Of
the men under surveillance, and pretty soon II
was ascertaIned that Wlnslow was paving
some OF ms debts, invariably II hundTel-lollar
notes. When Il was found that these notes as
indicated by their numbers, were part OF the
missing eleven Thousand nine hundred dollars.
there was no longer any doubt of hls gul.t.
Accordingly preparations were made To arrest
him.
Before he could be arrested, however, al odd
thing happened. The door bell OF Chief Wy
man. Of the secret service. was Tu-lg one even
ing and the servant. going to the door, found
nobody there, but only package On opening
the package, Il proved to contain eleven thou
sand two hundred dollars Of the missing cash.
WInsl0w had become frightened. and had taken
this means to dispose ct evidence against llIIl
He had learned that the detectives were close
on his trail and i was no surprise T. hltn when
he was taken into custody by them On the
following d4y.