Evening star., 1914-11-28

NUN V AAkGs XNu.s A>oSCaAoSA ~
The mail pouch robbery mystery,
which has proved such a continuous
source of loss and annoyance to the
banks. business men and individuals OF
Washington, Rockville and other COM
munities since last March. is believed
to have been solved today by the cap
ture and confession Of Jesse Lancaster,
colored, forty-six years old, with
reputation as a bad man." and VINO.
the authorities say, has served two
terms in the Maryland penetentiary as
a burglar.
Charged With Burglary.
He was arrested today on a warrant
charging him with breaking into and
burglarizing the store of Porter Waro'
at Hunting Hill, Montgomery county,
some time ago.
Found, after long and steady
search. at work "shucking corn on
the farm of Ford & Graham. near
wheaton. this county, and taken into
custody by officers with drawn re-
volvers, stacks of checks. money or,
ders and other papers, rified from ma'A
bags, recently missing at Rockvile'
were discovered in his pockets when
he was searched. the officers say, and
he Ia also said to have confessed in de-
tail to having been the mailbag tnie1.
The arrest came about through
curious clue.
Lancaster has an uncle Of the same
name who lives at Emory Grove. He
has a good reputation, is deacon IN
the church to which he belongs. and
at times transacts business Tor the
church. which requires him to handie
papers containing details OF the busl-
papers were deposited in a trunk at
his home, recently. when robDery
was committed at the house, ana the
papers were afterward missing: Jesse
the nephew. had vislteo nls
and his uncle suspected him.
Church Papers Found.
The officials investigating the mail
pouch robberies knew nothing Of the
loss of the church papers, but when
they were asserting and cataloguing
pieces of mail thrown away by the un-
known mail bag thief they came across
several church papers bearing the name
of Lancaster's uncle. When they in
terviewed him. he communicated to
them his suspicious as to his nephew,
and In this way they obtained for the
first time a clue as to who the thief
might possibly be, suspicion that
grew stronger by reason Of the fact
that the church papers were found with
that the person who had rified the mail
bags and thrown away some OF their
contents had also rtfed the uncle's
trunk and thrown away, in the Same
pile. some of the contents Of the latter.
This was confirmed today by Jesse
confession to the officers
who arrested him, they say. He told
them that he had taken half a dozen
or more mail pouches from the Baltt-
49, ~
picking them up after the
train which passes about 3 am. had
dropped them of. He committed the
first robbery last March. he said, and
had taken a number of other pouches
and sacked" them since, at intervals
one Thanksgiving day morning.
What He Says He Got.
Lancaster told the officials that he
did not get in all from the pouches
more than s25 or $40 in cash. This,
however. Is not believed. as it is known
that one of the stolen pouches had
contained a letter inclosing a fifty
ters having contained cash, believed
to have been in the stolen pouches,
were reported. One of the pouches,
which was stolen November !, con-
tained between $4,000 and $4,000 in
checks, money orders and cash, most
of the sum, however, being in checks
and money orders.
Lanca ster also told the officials that he
had burned large quantity Of the mail
stolen. and that the $50 bill may have
been in some Of the letters burned. This
a ternoon he Is showing the officials
where some packages of letters and the
mail bags are hidden. A considerable
amour. of mail has already been recov-
cred, and it Is expected that more will be.
Denies He Had Accomplice.
1t was believed that Lancaster might
have an accomplice, but he denies this.
and says he Is ready to take his pun
ishment. There is a question as to how
soon he will be turned over to the fed
eral authorities. as he Is to be prose-
cuted first on the charge of breaking
into the store of Porter Ward. at Hunt
ing Hill He has confessed to this
crime. also, and in addition he is sus-
pected of and is to be charged with
breaking into the store of ]. E. Hardy,
in the lower section of the county.
The officials deemed 1t prudent to sur
round him when arresting him.
This they did. approaching him from
different points of the compass, as he
worked in the field where he was
taken, and leveled drawn revolvers
AT MIN as Ih6y ClCSoQ III. contrary TO
expectation, however, he made no re-
sistance.
Credit for the Arrest.
Much of the credit for Lancasters ap-
prehension is said to be due to Post
master Berry Of Rockville, who was
worked day and night on the case.
The arrest was made by Assistant
Chief Deputy Sheriff William e. Viett,
who is also In charge of the detective
force of the Baltimore and Ohio rail-
road. at the terminal station in Wash
ington: Capt Selby, member of the
Baltimore and Ohio detective force,
and Post Office Inspector Saffell. Sheriff
Peyton Whalen has been in charge of
the investigation from time to time.
When the first robbery occurred last
March. after an investigation by the
Post Office Departmtnt and the county
officials, It was given out that the case
would be dropped, as there seemed to
be no clue. The incident was forgot
ten by the public. But there was an
other robbery, and others followed
that, apparently with boldness. The
officials let 1t be thoroughly understood
that they were completely In the dark.
even after they first found the church
papers In the discarded mail.
Learned He Was Near Wheaton.
Yesterday morning Post Office In
spector Sanfell, Sheriff Whelan, POST
master. Berry and their associates
learned that Lancaster was employed
near Wheaton. six miles from Rockville
They couldn't find him. however. and
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