The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1911-05-03
DR.. JEKYL AND Mr.. HYDE
A BUSINESS MAN IN THE WEST,
A BURGLAR IN THE EAST.

Robbed the Richmond POStOffice
of $83, 900 in Stamps.
A wide-awake business man in the
west, a burglar in the east-such is
the singular Jekyl and Hyde career
of R. F. Cummings, alias Eddie Fay,
who is now serving ten years SEN
tence in the federal penitentiary in
Atlanta. Fay's last crime, for which
he is now in confinement, was COM
mitted about year ago, when he
and two pals broke into the vaults
of the postoffice at Richmond, Va,
and carried away $83, 900 in stamps.
In their Investigations of this crime
the secret agents of the government
readily identified Eddie Fay, the
burglar, as r. +. Cummings, the real
estate investor of Tacoma, Wash.
and one of the best fellows that city
has ever known. Now the postoffice
department has levied upon his prop
erty in Tacoma to the extent of re-
gaining $4,000 in unrecoVered post
age stamps and $4,000 in fine, which
was imposed upon him at the time he
was sentenced to serve 10 years in
prison. His property holdings in
Tacoma are valued at $4,000.
A DIR. JekyIl and Mr.. Hyde.
Fay had been a visitor off and on
in Tacoma for several years. In fact,
he made that city his headquarters,
representing himself as a wealthy
real estate operator. He made fire.
quent trips from the city, lasting
several weeks at times, but he eX-
planned to his friends that he had
interests in the east that required his
attention. AS a matter Of fact, he
disappeared from the respectable So
ciety of Tacoma to engage in burgla-
ries in the east, and when these were
successfully committed he returned
to the western city to resume legiti-
mate business dealings.
Fay left Tacoma as respectable
real estate dealer for the last time
more than a year ago, striking out
into the east on one of his customary
jaunts to look after his interests"
He landed in Richmond with two
eastern business associates" who
knew more about picking locks and
skeleton keys than they did about
the prices of western lands.
The Richmond Burglary.
The three entered the Richmond
pOstOftiCe through a back door, set a
screen in front of window looking
out upon the Virginia city's main
business thOIOughfare, and working
behind it and under the glare of an
electric light proceeded to crack two
Of the big safes.
When the postoffice officials arriv-
ed the next morning the only evil !
dence that visitors had entered the
office was two small holes about half |
an inch in diameter on the face of
each vault. Fay had attended to his
eastern interests in an exceedingly |
clever manner.
Postoffice inspectors got wind of
the fact in the course of the day that
five trunks had been shipped to New |
York early in the morning, They |
followed this clue. They traced one !
trunk to the Grand Central station |
in New York, where they nabbed |
Fay and his pal when they tried to /
claim it,
In this trunk was 100000 in
stamps. Other trunks were found !
also, and all of the stamps were re- |
covered except $4,000 worth. The
trunks contained the finest set of
burglars tools that the New York
police ever saw. They were encased
in morocco leather and wrapped in
tissue paper.
Suspected of Other Burglaries.
The postal authorities believe that
Fay's real estate ownings in Tacoma
are only part of the booty that he
has secured in former burglaries. At
the time of his arrest in New York
the police there regarded it as one of
the most important captures they
had made in years. They declared
that Fay was implicated in 1905 in
the robbery of the Japanese-Ameri-
can Bank in Los Angeles and that he
had something to do with the raid
on the postoffice in San Diego in
1906
He is also suspected of having got
some of the $4,000 in revenue
stamps that were taken from the
office in Peoria, H., three years ago,
and the police have charged him
with having a hand in the big rob-
berry of the Chicago postoffice in
1901. In 1904 Fay was arrested for
robbing the postoffice of Superior,
Wis, but broke Jail and escaped be-
fore he could be brought to trial.
1t was after this that he favored
Tacoma folks with his company and
tore himself away only as business"
demanded While in Tacoma he
paid court to one of the bellies of that
city.
A Burglars Awful Deed