Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1910-08-08
DETECTIVES HAVE HARD
JOB TO LAND THIEVES
New Mexico Theft Discovered
by Clever Use of Drugs in
MuciIage; Average Clerk Is
Strictly Honest.
Morning Journal Bureau,
6i3 Munsey Building.
Washfupton u Z Aup 2

Mails are easy to rob, but few
postal thieves ever cscape final de-
lection; they are sure to be entrapped
and punished in the end. While
speaking of these numerous COM
plants, an old detective, called inspec-
tor of the postoffice department, said:
mo thief is harder to catch than
the one who robs Uncle Sans mail.
His methods are ingenious; the plum
der Is easily hidden or destroyed, and
his rascality is we'll masked by the
honesty and integrity of associates.
"P~ostoffice thieves are not arrested
every day, although valuable letters
n other articles are stolen almost
daily and an army of shrewd in
spectors are on the alert. Positive
proof of guilt must be in the posses
sion of the inspector before an arrest
is made. Circumstantial evidence
does not 50 at any time with us. 1t
Is an established rule hat the evil
dence must be positive and direct. In
almost every case an arrest means
conviction.
"A postoffice employe never knows
when he is being Swallowed. Even
When mo- under suspicion of theft, he |
may be watched outside of business
hours to see II he is spending more
money than his salary viii permit. 1t
sometimes happens that an inspector
may not be able to prove his man a
thief. and the fellow is turned loose
with a verdict of not guilty as his
certificate of honesty. but he is not
wanted by the department any more.
FROM one point of view 1t is Won
dertul that there are 50 few thieves
among the many thousands of clerks
who handle the mails first and last,
tor great temptations surround them.
They handle millions of valeable
parcels. 1t is known that these clerks
soon learn to tell by the very touch
OF a letter whether it contains money.
IT so inclined, IL would be an easy
matter for the dishonest clerk to slip
letters into his pocket and open them
IN the privacy of his room. That the
cases of dishonesty are comparatfveIv
Few Is "A high tribute to the moral
of the postoffice clerks.
ears ago on one Of the old star
mail routes out in New Mexico nun
dreds of letters containing money. !
drafts, checks n other ~vaIuables
were stolen. At first letters and all
disappeared, but the thieves changed
their mode of operation and simply :
stole the contents, resealing the let {
and sending them on. /
AS letters pass through the hands '
OF many clerks, II is difficult to locate |
the thief. Months of faithful work
in nothing being discovered t
as to the identity of the thieves. Z
Finally there was a happy solution Of +
trouble. One of the inspectors
procured a quantity of different kinds
OF drugs and sent other inspectors 1
over the entire route with instructions !
TO make a tour of book investiga- |
-lohs, and while thus engaged to place =
of one kind of the drugs In the
nucllage bottles at each office, taking
to make a memorandum which
would show at what office the drug
been placed.
1T was not long before a registered
etter came through with money gone.
lhe Inspector put his lips to the seal
II the envelope, tasted the mucilage.
'eferred to his book, n at once
the office at which the par
drug had been placed in the
nucllage. Then a lot of decoy letters
to the office, n the dishonest
postmaster secured the contents and
he Inspector secured him.
This, | think, was one Of the clev-
rest pieces OF work ever done by the
apartment. Tho inspector who nut
ne trap into execution was an ex-
'ericnced chemist and knew what he
doing.
There are but two successful ways
D catch a postofficc thief-constant t'
'atch and decoy letters. with these. w
ma a large supply of patience. the W
VIII be landed. 1t often re- W
uires months and sometime years to b.
ccomplish this, II is one of the most bi
n difficult lines OF de- di
'ctlNe work a man ever engaged in. II
requires the most earnest appli- 81
alton. Not n single circumstance or m
etail must be overlooked. OF
sometimes luck helps us out of "a
ar difficulties. | remember once in ia
city not very far from Washington va
lings were in a fearful state in the Nj
.stribution division OF the office. II r.
lnHHFpn nG fhnnnh wa u..At4 .- -
itch the fellow who was making In
with valuable letters. one day ~,
lere came up a terrific rainstorm.
nd with this came a happy Thought W.
the Inspector who had the case in ~
md. WI
He carried a bucket of water into ~
lie loft and dashed it on the overhead tri
Just over the distributors. eu
aturally a leak was sprung. and a IN
who was taken into the IA
ntidence of the inspector. was sent I'M
the loft to make an Investigation. 81
.,cldentaiiy his foot went through So
@ wet plastering. leaving n hole. la'
"Of course, to repair this II would pa
We been necessary TO do the work tn
I'm the distribution room. and, as
Is wal not done, the clerks went a |.
cad with their work. while the in NE
ector looked down at their every hi
,Vement from the supposed acct-
1870 . AANA AA AAH
by seeing one OF the Oldest
ipiuyes In the office slipping letters
10 his pocket. The Inspector got
{ Of his place of hiding. collared the
rk and found the letters, every ono
thcm containing money. His CON
sion was fun, and he went IN for
umuer Of years. Oh
4 German once ave the inspec- OH
g "a world of trouble in the same
y. Thousands Of letters were
SEED, and goodness only knows how D.,
money was stolen. II was a
.c which puzzled the department.
I after weeks of the closest irvts- Tsp,
alton IL was decided that the 4,
work was not done in the Dor
itofncc. an
men an outside campaign was the
and the German was arrested Ter,
lie stealing letters from one OF the left
boxes. He did not have a kew. Iars
used a wire for extracting the let rea.
B. His operations We're confined To tina.
boxes In the business sections. and can
admitted he a stolen not less nro