Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-09-16
POSTAL THIEVES.
Uncle Sam Never Stops Until Guilty
Are CAUGHT.


money. Mails are easy to rob, but
few postal thieves ever escape final
detection; they are sure to be en-
trapped and punished in the end.
While speaking Of these numerous
complaints an old detective, called In
spector, Of the postoffice department,
said: mo thief is harder to catch
J than the one who robs Uncle Sans
mail. Their methods are ingenious,
the plunder is easily hidden or de-
strOyed, and their rascality Is we'll
masked by the honesty and integrity
Of associates.
"Postoffice thieves are not arrested
every day, although valuable letters
and other articles are stolen almost
daily and an army Of shrewd inspec-
tors are on the alert. Positive proof
of guilt must be in the possession OF
the inspector before an arrest Is made.
Circumstantial evidence does not go
at any time with us. 1t Is an estab-
lished rule that the evidence must be
positive and direct. In almost every
case an arrest means conviction.
"a postoffice employe never knows
when he Is being shaddowed. Even
when not under suspicion of theft he
may be watched outside OF business
hours to see II he Is spending more
money than his salary will permit.
It sometimes happens that an inspec-
tor may not be able to prove his man
thief, and the fellow Is turned loose
with 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
derful that there are so few thieves
among the many thousands OF clerks
who handle the mails first and last,
for great temptations surround them,
as they handle millions Of valuable
parcels It is known that these clerks
soon learn to tell by the very touch
Of a letter whether it contains money.
II so inclined ii 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 comparatively
few is a high tribute to the moral
qualities Of the postoffice clerks.
Years ago, on one OF the old star
routes, out in New Mexico, hundreds
checks and other valuables were
stolen. At first letters and all dis
appeared, but the thieves changed
their mode Of operation and simply
stole the contents, resealing the let
ters and sending them on.
"As letters pass through the hands
of many clerks, 1t Is difficult to locate
the thief. Months of faithful work
resulted in nothing being discovered
as to the indentity of the thieves. FL
nally there was happy solution Of the
trouble. One of the inspectors pro-
cured a quantity Of different kinds OF
drugs and sent other inspectors over
the entire route, with instructions,
to make a tour Of book Investigations,
and while thus engaged to place some
one kind Of the drugs In the mucilage
bottles at each office, taking care to
make a memorandum which would
show at what office the drug had been
placed.
1T was not long before a register
ed letter came through with money
gone. The inspector put his lips TO
the seal Of the envelope. tasted the
mucilage. referred to his book and at
once named the office at which the
particular drug had been placed In
the muscilage Then a lot OF decoy
letters went to the office, and the dis
honest postmaster secured the con-
tents and the inspector secured him.
This, 1 think, was one Of the clev-
crest pieces of work ever done by the
department. The inspector VINO put
the trap into execution was an ex-
perienced chemist and knew what ne
was doing.
"There are but two successful ways
TO catch a postoffice thief-constant
watch and decoy letters. With these,
and a large supply Of patience, the
game will be landed. 1t often requires
months. and sometimes years TO ac-
complish this. 1t is one OF the most
ANNOYING and difficult lines of detec--
tive work a man ever engaged In, ana
requires the most earnest application;
Not a single circumstance or detail
must be overlooked
sometimes luck helps us out or our
difficulties I remember once In
city not very far from Washington,
things were in a fearful state In the
distribution division Of the office. Ii
appeared as though we would never
catch the fellow who was making
away with valuable letters. One day
there came up a terrific rainstorm
and with this came a happy thougnt
to the inspector who had the case III
hand.
"He carried a bucket Of water into
the loft and dashed it on the overhead
plastering, just over the dlstriputers'
Naturally q leak was sprung, ana
workman, who was taken into the con-
fidence Of the inspector was sent into
the loft to make an investigation. Ac-
cidentally--on purpose-his FOOT went
through the wet plastering, leaving
a hole. >. ,,s
"Of course. to repair this 1t would
have been necessary to do the Work
from the distribution room, and, as
this was not done, the clerks went
ahead with their work, while the IN
spector looked down at their every
movement from the supposed accl-
dentally made hole. Finally he was
rewarded by seeing one Of the Oldest
employees in the office slipping letters
into his pocket. The inspector got
out of his place Of hiding, collared
the clerk and found the letters, every
one of them containing money HIS
confession was full, and he went up
for a number of years.
"a German named Mamath gave
the inspectors a world of trouble In
the same city. Thousands or letters
were missed, and goodness only knows
how much money stolen. 1t was case
which puzzled the department, and
after weeks of the closest investigation
it was decided that the crooked work
was not done in the postoftice.
Then an outside campaign was pc
gun. and Mamath was arrested while
stealing letters from one Of the street
boxes. He did not have a key, but
used a wire for extracting the letters.
His operations were confined to the
boxes in the business sections, and he
admitted he had stolen not less than
10. 900 letters before he was caught:
The amount Of money he got could
never be ascertained, but he must nave
secured a snug sum. His own con-
fession sent him to the pen for a long
term.
Did you ever think about the fact
that but few arrests have been made
here in Washington. There's pow
erful army of postoffice employees here,
but they seldom go wrong. and yet
inspectors are no more numerous here
than in other cities.
"A few years ago we had an IN
spectOr who was regarded as a crack
ing good man. He went wrong, but
thank goodness. it was after he re-
signed from the service. His daught-
er received an appointment at thriV-
ing town i'm Georgia as postmistress,
and had been there six or eight