New-York tribune., 1922-05-20
Five Men Seized Former
Postoffice Employees, 2
We're Still in Service:
All Confessed. Is Claim
Clew in Arrest
OF Mrs. Attell
$l,477,8OO Mail Rob.
berry and Others Believ.
ed to Have Been Cleared

Ten months of detective work by
! United States Postoffce inspectors.
| the best part OF it accomplished in the
last SIX weeks through associating as
fellow crooks with the thieves, lies
behind the arrest Thursday of seven
men accused of being concerned in the
stealing Of s1.477 500 in bonds from the
mails on July 10, 1921.
All of the prisoners have at one time
or another been postal employees. and
two were so employed when arrested
The bonds were obtained by boldly
taking the mail bag containing them
to an upper floor of the postoffce. slit
ting the pouch and handing the pack
age to a confederate in waiting, a for
mer clerk who had just finished a term
| in jail.
{ 1t was one Of the bonds taken in
this robbery that Mrs. Abe Attell, for
mer wife of the prizefghter. tried to
sell the last week in December. Her
arrest gave the first direct clews to
the inspectors Within few days two
men most active in attempts to dispose
! of the bonds. which had been cancelled,
! but had the cancellation marks re-
M owed with acid. were also arrested,
and since then the postofce inspectors
/ have been close to the seven captured
Yesterday
Seven Held in Heavy Bail
The seven new prisoners are: Gus
tave Feldman, twenty-five years old, 50
! Sheriff Street; Morris Steinberg, nine
teen years old, 1875 Clinton Street; Ed
! Suffolk Street: Abraham Goldsmith,
twenty-three years old, 351 East Third
Street; Harry Shapiro, twenty seven
, years old, 124 Avenue D; Gustave Gal
les. twenty-five years old, 50 Cannon
Street; Irving Weinstein, twenty two
years, 131 Division Avenue, Brooklyn.
The men were arraigned early yes
terday afternoon before United States
Commissioner Samuel Hitchcock. He
Gales in $4,000 bail each: Weinstein
! in $4,000 bail and Feldman and Sha-
piro III $4,000 bail each
In addition to the $l,477,80O theft,
Inspector ]. Doran said that the pris-
oners were responsible for a number
Of others, including one of $40 900 in
bonds that were on their way TO Wat
ertown, NY. In all, seventeen persons
have been arrested since mail wagon
Street last October and a pouch con-
tanning s2.000,000 in bonds removed.
Inspector Doran said yesterday that
the mail bag, slit open and empty, in
which the sl,477,S 800 bonds had been,
was found by porter in a little room
where cleaning equipment was kept on
the morning of July 10, 1921 The
pouch had been scheduled for shipment
to Washington from the Federal Re-
serve Bank here the night before. The
! bonds had been cancelled by large
stamp with the word "Paid.'
Inspectors Story of the Theft
Steinberg. one of the prisoners. In
spector Doran said, was an enploye
of the registry department on the Sec
ond floor of the main postofi1ce on
Eighth Avenue. Weinstein and Gelles
were fellow clerks. Fogel was for
merly a postal clerk but had served
three months in the Essex County Jail.
New Jersey, after CONVICTION III Fed
eral court.
/ Fogel entered the Postof1ice Building
| during the late afternoon and went to
F.: the third floor, where he hid himself in
| the porter's closet, it is charged. When
the bag with the s1,477,s00 of cancelled
! bonds came through, Steinberg, it is
alleged, got out of the registry room
with it and took it to the porter's
closet, where it was cut open. There
was but the one package in it. Fogel
; took the package and left the build
| ing and Steinberg went back to his
work, according to the agents.
| When the contents of the package
were inspected thirteen 100000 bonds
were destroyed. The remainder-S177,
S00 in $500 and $1,000 certificates
were locked in bag and checked at
| the Grand Central Terminal as the
best temporary hiding place for them.
About a month later Steinberg was