Evening star., 1941-05-18
Little Facts Build Big Cases
By ". B. Ragsdale,


anonymous letter.
AS chief of the Intelligence Unit of
the Internal Revenue Bureau which
goes around rapping men like Al Capone,
Waxey Gordon, Big Tom Pendergast,
M. L. Annenberg and Joseph M. Schenck
for tax evasion, you might think he
would regard the reading of unsigned
epistles as waste of time.
Many of them are phonies, written
by cranks. The tips they pass along are
worthless. But, though Trey may have
no respect whatever for the writer of
an anonymous letter, he has at least
100000 worth of respect for the con-
tents. Once an anonymous tip from
Brooklyn brought him the information
which set his Intelligence Unit agents
on a trail that unearthed 100000 Of
back taxes.
For that matter. Trey never ignores
anything he doesn't understand. Little
things that turn up as small puzzles
which the everyday sort of person
would put aside and forget with the
remark, That's funny" or That's
queer" or That's odd" stir his imagina-
ton. He wants to learn why the funny"
or queer" or odd" thing happened.
Such an item as wrong name signed
to a telegram will start him off tracking
down the sender to learn why.
Months Pursuing Thin Threads.
That questioning mind, his continual
picking at the tag ends of facts that
show up in the pattern of everyday life,
helps to explain why his agency goes
ahead plowing up one big case after
another with little-publicized efficiency.
He and his men will spend months
pursuing these thin threads of facts
through mazes of figures that fill intri-
cately meshed, tightly woven, many-plied
bank accounts to get their quarry 1t
took IS agents four years to break
through the intricacies of the Sc corpo-
rations that had been built up around
Annenberg's racing news services that
reached down to 1900 poolrooms But
they found the work eminently worth
while
Time after time when Irey's men
have reached into the top of the roost
to pluck the tax feathers from a
squawking recalcitrant, they have found
that others in the same group came
forward eagerly to yield up their tribute.
BY now, it is legend that important
gamblers take along cost accountants
to figure out the Governments take
when they expect large evening.
The very fact that Ireys men nailed
Schenck, one of Hollywood's notables,
for tax evasion, is having its effect on
tax collections throughout the movie
colony. And the next case there is that
of Willie Bioff, who moved from the
Chicago underworld to the celluloid
coast to become labor leader.
Boss of Atlantic City.
Even before the Bioff case comes up,
Irey's men will be busy up in New Jer-
sey with the trial of Enoch Lewis john
son. whom familiars have often spoken
of as the boss of Atlantic City.
The man back of these, and myriad
other works of the Treasury's five de-
lection agencies for which he serves
as co-ordinator, is mild-mannered and
pleasant. He looks at you through gold
trimmed glasses with kindly eyes.
One glance about his Office is sure
clue to the derivation of his middle
name. A small figure Of Lincoln stands
in the middle of his desk. Three VOL
umes of Sandburg's Lincoln" are in
q bookshelf behind him, within ready
reach. A picture of the Great Emanci-
pator hangs at the far end of the long
room.
The Office might be that of a good
lawyer in middle-sized town. Few
traces of the art of detection are to be
seen. big American flag occupies a
standard near the middle of the room
The walls are lined with pictures of
Irey's co-workers. Save for the Lin
coin books, most of the others are law
books and tax digests. A vase at one
corner Of the desk holds spray OF
SNOWFALL, fresh cut and greenish. An
ash tray made of counterfeiters' copper
plates, three others that used to be opium
containers, provide the only visible evil
dence that crimes and criminals pro-