The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1923-04-19
kENOSHAN TRAPS
A TRICKY THIEF
Postoffice Officials Here
Trap Thief With $4,000
Worth of Loot.
PRAISED FOR WORK
Postmaster German and AS
sistant Carl Maegaard Prais-
ed by Postal Inspectors.

Vigilance on the part of Postmaster
James German and Superintendent OF
Mails Carl Maegaard of the Kenosha
Post Office resulted in the apprehen-
sion of a thief who had stolen more
than $4,000 worth of merchandise
from the mails according to a letter
received today from postal inspectors
thanking the local officials for their
work. The man apprehended was Wal
ter E. Patterson, formerly baggage
man on the Chicago and Northwestern
Railway, who confessed to the crime
and who was sentenced to term in
Leavenworth prison.
The trail started in Kenosha in
August of last year when Superintend-
emit, of Mails Maegaard noticed a
strange wrapping around some tires
dropped off of train here to be
transferred to a Chicago bound mail
train. He noticed that the tires had
probably been readdressed and the
package was held pending investiga-
ton.
Follow Clew Given Here.
The matter was reported to inspect
ors by Postmaster German and
thorough probe followed. Federal
sIeuths going to the address which
had been placed on the tires, held
here, found that it was a storage place
for thousands of dollars worth of
merchandise which had been stolen
from the mails. Meanwhile a second
package had been intercepted here,
this being a large box of shoes con-
signed to a Milwaukee merchant and
readdressed and dropped off Of the
train here for transfer.
These two clews pointed to Patter-
son as a person who had been sys-
tematically taking merchandise from
the mails while he was employed on
the train and by readdressing it and
dropping it off at transfer stations
sending it back to his home or to
friends in Chicago.
With the letter received by Post
master German today was also list
of the merchandise which had been
recovered 1t is more than ten type
written pages in length, the merchan-
disc mentioned being enough to stock
up department store.
Sentenced to LeavenwOrth.
When confronted with the evidence
gathered against him as result of
the vigilance of the Kenosha postal
officials, Patterson confessed that he
had been pilfering from the mails and
was later sent to Leavenworth prison
to serve long term. Reports from
inspectors declare that he was taken
ill there a month after he started to
serve the sentence and died in prison.
b. The letter received by Postmaster
German commencing him and his as
sistants for their part in the trapping
of the man follows:
My dear Mr.. German:
AS the result of your close observa-
ton of mail matter at Kenosha you
assisted us materially in identifying
Walter E. Patterson, baggageman
of the Chicago and Northwestern Rail
road, running on train No. lit as an
habitual thief. After leaving your
office on the day of August 18th and
after making further investigation at
Chicago on the same date, we took
into custody the above named Patter-
son who admitted the theft of mail
matter. Upon searching his home we
secured approximately $4,000 worth
of merchandise consisting Of tires,
silks. suits of clothes, silk underwear,
socks, ties, shotguns, and other arti-
cles too numerous to mention. Patter-
son was later held @before the United
States Commissioner in bonds of
ST 800 and committed to the Cook
County Jail. Since then he has been
sentenced to Leavenworth prison.
Thanking you for your kind atten-
ton in this matter and your constant
observations of the regulations rela-
tive to reporting suspicious circum-
stances, we are,
Very truly yours,
E. L. Jackson,
T r 'McWhorter