The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1909-06-11

j!1- Only Ihc tri1'le Of 52442 II Sos This
i especially remarkable, considering
The billions OF money that the rail
roads employees handle every year.
''There isn't a safe made that
burglar can't get into with a little
time and adequate opportunity to
work without interruptions" said the
superintendent Of one of the bifbond-
ing companies. But safe-cracklng
ism t half so easy as robbing with pen
and ink. There is 4 new system Of
accountin" devised every few days,
: but never heard of one thai was en-
bezzlement proof. "
''There Is funny side to the bond
ing business, If one knows where to
look for it," he continued. lone Of
the clerks in the office the other day
called my attention to a telegram
from bank. saying that one OF their
,eIlers was missing. and was $4,000
short. He very justly remarked that
it WASH t the teller that was short,
but either the bank or ourselves. We
learned later that he had lost part Of
ttle money on fast horses. The whole
trouble, though, was that the horses
were Slow
1t is THAT great bond which
keeps me PALE" as Macbeth once OBJ
served. which does the most to pre-
vent dishonesty-that and the know
ledge that the surety company Will
pursue the defaulter who cannot
make good, and will land him in Jail
in the end. The surety and bonding
'companies keep an army Of detectives
in their employ for the purpose of
running down those thieves who
have caused them loss. They will
chase a man around the world, even
if he has stolen no more than 800,
and spend thousands to capture and
convict him. Some Of these chases are
historic. There is one man whose
name the bonding company interested
will not reveal. who has been pursued
unremittingly for three years. He
stole about 100000. At the rate he
has been travelling the bonding COM
pany thinks he must have spent most
Of it by this time. The chase has led
the detectives into almost every coun-
try in the world. So far they have
always arrived week or month too
late in following up the clues of his
reported appearances here and there,
in far-of corners Of the earth. The
detectives have been frozen in cross
ing the Andean passes on muleback,
they nearly have died Of heat and
thirst in chasing the thief on camels
across African deserts. The complete
story Of the hunted man, if it is ever
told. will be veritable Odyssey Of
crime. The wanderings Of Ulysses
Will be nothing to the long flight and
pursuit Of this unnamed thief:
But, despite all this huge total of
dishonesty, the bonding companies
wax wealthy. Before man can get
a bond his character and reputation,
directly, collaterally, and even back
to the second generation, are looked
into most rigidly. One or two Of the
companies are even examining into
the hereditary tendencies toward
crime on the part Of the applicants.
If they find that mans father or
grandfather, or any member Of his
family, ever stole or committed a
breach Of trust, they argue that the
applicant may be liable to some day,
just as a physician examining a man
for life insurance policy looks for a
hereditary tendency to tuberculosis.
The surety companies, from their
many years Of carefully collected sta
tistics, figure on losing about so much
money annually, and make their pre-
miums sufficiently large to cover that
probable loss and leave them hand
some surplus.
Curiously enough, despite the large
increase in reported embezzlements
that was shown last year over the
year preceding, it is the optimistic
opinion of experts in guaranteeing
honesty that people are less inclin-
ed to steal than they used to be. They
claim that the big defalcations that
are coming to light are but the after
math Of the panic year. During good
times, they say, there is less embez-
zlement-less that is discovered, at
least. The defaulter, if he speculates
in stocks, nine times out Of ten gc:s
long on the market. In boom times
! nriceS are ALWAYS -OinG no,