The Washington times., 1911-01-15
SENTENCE
STOPS MAIL FRAUD
Chief Postoffce Inspector Sharp, in Annual Report
Shows Effectiveness of Crusade Against Get
Rch-Quick" Promoters.

"A penitentiary sentence serves the
same purpose as a fraud order-it stops
the business" Chief Inspector r. S.
| Sharp, of the Postoffice Department,
| grimly observes in his annual report
made public today. The statement is In
| a way the text of the report, for during
! Chief Inspector Sharp's incumbency in
the office since May 4, 1910 the inspec-
| tors on cases of fraudulent use of the
mails have worked in style that foot
ball persons call hard and fast" They
go out to find the source of the fraud,
! arrest its promoters, put them behind
| the bars-and stop the business"
The report of Chief Inspector Sharp is
! for the fiscal year ended June 80, 1910,
! so that only a portion of the term he
has served is included in the time COW
! creed by the report.
| The period of greatest activity of in
spectoTs is generally conceded to be the
time that the present chief has served.
| The total number of cases. 276,O64,' in
1910, compared with 269,s66, in 1909, does
not afford a full idea of the work DONE
but a consideration of the cases in de-
tail shows that the labors of the inspec-
tors have been hard and long and
numerous.
Train Robberies Still In Vogue.
Train robberies, for example, are not
obsolete. They have occurred in the West
with alarming frequency, Chief Inspcc-
tor Sharp reports. Nine mail trains have
been held up since March, 1908, and a
large amount of registered mail stolen
and rifled. During the past fiscal year
a Missouri Pacific train Ea hal ~
Eureka, Mo, and a Southern Pacific
train at Benicia, Cal Inspectors work
ing on the cases with unceasing zeal,
obtained the arrest and conviction of
nine men, who received heavy punish
ment, life Imprisonment being the re-
ward of five.
The robbery of the Richmond, Va,
pOstoftiCe, in March. 1910. was another
celebrated case worked out successfully
by the inspectors. They traced the
crime to two of the cleverest yeggmen
in the country, arrested them in New
York, and recovered much of the 49,,
1854 in paper and currency stolen from
the postoffice.
Fake horse races and athletic contests
Of all kinds believed to have gained ap-
prOXimately $5OOO,O0C for their manipu
lators, known as the Mabray gang, were
ended by the Inspectors after two years
of work. The swindle was worked sue
Cessfully in all parts of the United
States, and the victims were relieved Of
sums from S1,ODC to $4,000. The COM
plants to the Pcstoffice Department
were numerous and forceful and showed
that the gang was large, and well or
ri nhn
c. Mabray. said to be the leader of the
gang, and eighty-nine men said to have
been associated with him, and many of
them have been convicted and SEN
fenced for using the mails to defraud.
Gold Bricks Wiped Out.
Another tremendous scheme, interna-
tional in scope. and operated, the inspec-
tors have had reason TO believe. by one
of the most adroit gangs of swindlers
ever known to the criminal world, is
regarded as etfectually terminated by
the inspectors after several years of
work.
This was known as "the gold brick
scheme" and its victims paid, some
hundreds, others thousands of dollars.
The system was vast Agents in the
United States addressed letters to de-
ceased persons in Great Britain pur-
DOTllnS 10 IQGIn OF the success
full operation of gold mines they were
supposed to have been interested in.
Skillfully written letters induced
kinsmen of of the deceased to enter
into communication and finally come
to America to meet the writer's Of the
letters. The fleeing was then ac-
cOmplished with ease. the REPRESENTA-
tives of the deCendent willingly paying
over designated sums, graduated ac-
cOrding to their estimated Willingness
and power to pay, to close the deal |
for the mining property.
Cameron Bostetter, f. A. Starkloff, |
and George w. Post, alleged to have
been the promoters OF the swindle, were |
arrested BOStetter was convicted and |
sentenced to the Atlanta penitentiary |
for four and a half years. The two |
others forfeited their bonds of $4,000 |
each and are yet at large.
Many Fraud Cases"
The number of fraud cases" handled |
by the inspectors is enough to make one
believe that a sucker is born every sec
ond. They range from simple business
misunderstanding TO a gigantic scheme
to sell fake mining stock for millions
of dollars.
The department is often asked to
prosecute in cases where there has been