The Hawaiian gazette., 1918-03-08
THOUSANDS STOLEN
FROM POSTOFF|CE,
TWO ARE ARRESTED
H. MeIim and F. Cunha Taken Into
Custody BY United States
Marshal On Serious Charge
REGISTERED LETTERS
|. ~ OPENED AND RiFLED
Jewelry Firms Are Heavy Losers
Of VaIuabIes - Much Money
Is Believed Taken

Thefts in the Honolulu postoffee
which It il beloved will reach a total
Of many thousa nds Of dollars, in which
prominent jewelry concerns and patron.
izers of the registry division are the
sufferers, eliminated yesterday after.
noon in the arr"st of Harry d. Melim,
a night clerk at the postoffice, by Uni.
ted States authorities.
The thefts that have been traced so
far extend over period Of one year,
although it is believed that they will
be found to extend over the entire
period of five years during which Melim
has been employed in the mailing
division.
Before the arrest of Melim, United
States Marshal J. J. Smiddy found
piles of registered letters with the
enyelopss torn open and other evidence
IN the room OF the young man at 1915
Kinau Street, where he makes his home
with his mother.
( With Melim was arrested Frank
lCunhe- an employee of Cation, Neil &
CO.; who was charged with having dis.
lRosed Of 1880 worth of platinum
which came through the mails address
cd to H. F. W1chman & Co.
Losses are Heavy
Other losers who were heavily hit
in the mail thefts, are Wall & Dough
ierty and Joseph Schwartz jewelry con.
| Germs. That the list Of losers will
mount rapidly with the announcement
Of Melim'S arrest is a certainty which
promises one of the most sensa tional
leases in the history of the Honolulu
postoffice.
Many scores of registered letters
which contained sums ranging from As
to $50 have been turned over to AS
sistant Postmaster William c. Peter
sen to be used in an effort to establish
| accurate estimates of the sums that
have been taken from the Honolulu
mails. No exact estimate could be made
Yesterday by jewelry firms who have
Ind failures in the delivery of valu-
ables nor as to the nature of the thefts.
but 1t is believed that this will be
found to consist mainly of raw precious
metal.
Prominent Athletes
Both young men who were arrested
yesterday have been prominent in
athletics in Honolulu for several years,
Melim having been prominent in foot
ball, being the present captain Of the
| town football team Cunha is prom
ineut ne a swimmer, being n member of
the Healani Swimming Club. The
former is twenty-three years old and
the latter twenty one.
The complaint which directly led to
the aftest of the two came from Wich-
man q Co. who missed an important
consignment of platinum, which is more
valuable than gold, that should have
reached them from the mainland in
December. Having failed to adjust dis.
putes concerning this and other ship
ments which did not arrive, the firm
took the matter up with the postoffice
officials last week. This was connected
with report of the purchase of a
quantity of platinum for $50 which
was made by ArthurH. Myhre, a man,
ufacturing jeweler in the Boston
! Building.
An investigation of this transaction
revealed the fact that Myhre had given
his check to Cunha for the amount, the
check being made payable to Mclim
Myhre recalled that Cunha had asked
| for The cash in payment and when this
was not forthcoming had admitted that
| the metal was the property Of Melim.
This check was recovered by Marshal
Smiddy yesterday, showing Mrlim g
endorsement.
Confession Reported
When arrested at his work Yesterday
Cunha at first disc claimed all knowledge
| of the transaction, but, on being shown
| the check, admitted that he had turn
ed the check over to Melim and is also
said to have made a confession involv-
ing many other such transactions Be
fore arrcsting Melim, Marshal Smiddy
searched thr room of the young man
| with results which fully justified his
apprehension on charge of grand
larceny of the United States mails.
Operatives of the. marshal's office
yesterday began a search among the
other manufacturing jewellers of Homo
lulu in an effort to locate other missing
property upon whose non receipt
jewellers have already reported. These
are believed to be the purchasers who
were victimized into paying for the
stolen goods.
Was Trusted Employe
Melim has been one of the most
trusted employees of the postoffice, ac-
cording to statements made yesterday
afternoon, aud his arrest caused a
shock to his fellow workers. In his
work he has had access to registered
mail both incoming and outgoing, and
being employed at night, throughout
his service, would have every Oppor.
tunity to make estimates of valuable
packages, to hide them and to get them
out of the building when he left in
the morning. He is under bond AS II
civil service employee which will he
declared forfeit in the event of his
conviction.
Both men were placed under bond of
$500 in an examination before Uni.
tod States COmmi sSioner George =
Carry, and this amount was furnished
by Cunha who was released Mrlim
however, was sent to Oahu prison
where he will remain until a hearing
before the United States commission.
or, which has been set for Friday. The
penalty provided for the offence is n