The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1915-03-01
THE HAsKIN LEsTTE r.
Federal Detective Bureau
W.-POSTOFEICE INSPECTORS
sHA!sKI
BY Frederls j. HaskiD.

W.-ES1Sl1)ffN
The largest star of detectives
maintained by and branch of the gov
eminent is that to be found in the
.postoffice department. where ~ O. in-S
.spectors keep vigilant watch over the.
Ifntricacies of the mail system which
reaches to every village and hamlet,
under the flag These men are par
tticularly watchfuT for violations OF
the postal laws, but their duties do
mot end there. They inspect all
ipostoffices, form judgments of the
efficiency of their management, in
tstruct postnasters, examine accounts
and perform many other detailed
tasks. They are the direct. linki which
connects the service at any poins
with the department at Washington.
But the phase of their work which
appeals most to the interest of the
public is that which has to do With
the violations of the law. They are
detectives in the truest sense of the
word---trained, intelligent men with
the force of q, great government be-
hind them. One of their primary
duties is to prevent the use Of the
mails for purposes OF fraud. 1t Is
estimated that every year the. people
OF the nation are sTindled out OF
800. 0OO. 900 by men who hatch
clever schemes and operate them BY
the use OF the mails. There are 400
|. TO 500 convictions OH this score each
twelve months.
y typical case OF. this sort of a
broker in town tributary TO New
ork He represented himself as
fr,t,. ii
Wall street who was at the very
source OF inside Information. Through
this operator he claimed to be able
10 get tips that enable him to play
the market in such a way as to be
sure of his ability to lead his Gus
toners into the making of large for
tunes. Through the mails he asked
them TO send him amounts of 500
and up to be used in buying, stock
upon these tips. He not been oper-
ating long before every mail was
bringing him large sums of money.
Prospective investors besieged his
offices. These heard I'm receiTing
his calls from Wall street. The con-.
versatiors We're about the probable
trend OF the market. They were
greatly impressed:
al the money received was care
fully slowed away. Soon $500, u0o
of it was accumulated. The broker
reported, to each customer that he
had bought certain stock for him.
When the stock advanced he claimed
to invest the winnings for yet greater
profits Eventually there would pc
& turning point where the broker
could make the claim of having bean
squeezed out and of having lost the
money. When The. inspectors. got on
the case they soon found that the
telephone over which the messages
were received was. connected with
the basement of the house in which
lit was located. The whole scheme
was a fake 1t was but. one of type
by which the public.is constantly de-
ceired.
Insulting letters may not be sent
Through the mails without violating
the law. Yet the wife of young
business man in a small town got
sucn a letter, anonymously and with
out trace of identity of the writer
The husband suspected a lawyer who
was an enemy, went to the office OF
the latter and charged him with the
offense. In the privacy of his office
the lawyer &C knowledged sending
the letter, tainted the business man
with the insult, but defied him to
prove it, He reported the case to an
Inspector who Investigated sunsuc-
cessfully, but; who. in accordance
with the policy. OF the service, re-
fused to. abandon the case. This
was before the time of the dictag-
raph. but the inspector concealed a
small telephone in the crown of a
!; high hat. which the business mar
wore and from which ran q very
small wire The business man Their
called pom the lawyer and againBup-
braided him for his offense- The
lawyer again acknowledged it and
haunted his enemy The inspector.
lat the other end of the wire. over
heard all that was said for the. high
that was on the desk Just in front of
THE lawyer. His confession could
then be proved.
a certain Russian-American IN
brooklyn hit upon a very workable
( scheme of getting money on fraud'l=
lent money orders. He would pur-
| chase a money order for eight dol
liars, made payable at some nearby
point Thcn;7he would alter the or
der to read eighty dollars. He would
go to the other point, cash it himself
and disappear. He was of roEinS
tdisposition and would not repeat the
offense until he again needed money
Then his raised order for eighty dol
lars would appear at. another point.
An inspector was put on the tran
OF this man and followed him Tor
\ months. He learned that the Of
fender was from Riga Russia. he.
knew of the clannishness Of immt-
4 grants and figured that his man
Iysould be found among Russians
from Riga in whatever community
{ he might be living. He spent much
time among Russians in different.