STOPPING A POST-OFFICE.
The Unpaid Draft--The Forged Order--A Reliable Witness--Giving up
the Mail Key--A Lady Assistant--Post-Office Records--The official
Envelope--Return of the Post Master--The Interview--Embarrassment
of Guilt--Duplicate Circular--Justice secured.
One of the coolest and at the same time silliest pieces of post-office
rascality that I have ever known, occurred a few years since in Rhode
Island.
A small draft from the Post-Office Department having been presented by
a mail contractor to the post master of P., payment was refused, on
the ground that the office had been abolished some time before, and
that there was little or nothing due the Department. No time was lost
by the contractor in apprising the proper officer at Washington, of
the non-payment of the draft, and the reason assigned therefore; when
reference was at once made to the official records. They, however,
failed to show the discontinuance of the office.
Here was a mysterious and singular affair, and a letter was
accordingly despatched to the seemingly delinquent post master,
requiring an explanation of his course. A reply to this was very
promptly sent to the Department, to the effect that some months
previous he had received from the Appointment Office formal notice
that his office had been discontinued, accompanied by an order to
hand over all the mail matter remaining on hand, together with the
mail key, and other property of the Department, to a neighboring post
master, and that he had of course answered the demand.
A re-examination of the books still showing the office to be a "live
one," he was written to, and directed to forward the original document
upon the authority of which he had shut up his office. The papers were
duly forwarded, and sure enough, there was the "Order," signed with
the name of the Second Assistant Post Master General, who was then at
the head of the Appointment Office. It read as follows:--
Post-Office Department, March 28, 1846.
SIR,
The Post Master General having decided to discontinue the
Post-Office at P----, from and after the expiration of the present
fiscal quarter, you will, at that time, please hand over all mail
matter, the mail key, and all other property belonging to the
Department, to the Post Master at M----, on his presenting this
order.
Very Respectfully,
Your Obt. Servant,
WM. J. BROWN,
2d Asst. P. M. General.
Although a tolerably fair imitation of that officer's hand-writing, it
was at once pronounced a forgery. My services, as Special Agent, were
called into requisition, and all the facts, as they then stood,
communicated to me. As speedily as possible I visited the scene of
this perplexing and extraordinary official mystery. Arriving at the
site of the late post-office, I found its former incumbent to be a
highly respectable merchant, well advanced in years, and blessed with
one of those countenances which, to a person at all accustomed to
study character in that way, at once dispels all doubt and distrust.
He was of Dutch descent, and, while intelligent on general subjects,
was poorly "posted" in the arts and devices of cunning knaves. From
him I received a full statement of the shutting up process, and
obtained some additional facts, which afterwards furnished me with a
clue to the whole mystery.
On one of the last days of March, Mr. G----, post master at another
village in the same town, called on him in company with one of his
friends, and presented what purported to be a copy of an order from
the Department, directing him to close the office, and to give up the
property in the manner already described. Of course the post master
felt and manifested no little surprise, for the office had been
established but about a year, and he had heard of no application or
desire in any quarter for such a proceeding.
"It is all right, I suppose," said he, after carefully examining the
"copy" which had been handed him without a word of explanation; "but I
think, before I hand over the property, I ought to have the original
order."
"Oh yes, it's all correct," responded the witness (who had seen the
copy made from the spurious order, supposing that to be genuine); "I
saw it compared with the original myself, and it's a true copy."
"But the quarter will not be ended till to-morrow," remarked the
astonished official; "and, on the whole, I think I must refuse
compliance, unless the original instructions are placed in my hands."
"Then I understand you as refusing to obey the order of the
Department, do I?" said the applicant.
"Not at all," was the mild response; "I am perfectly ready to comply
when I see the written command over the signature of the proper
officer of the Department. It can be but little trouble to produce
that, and I think, under the same circumstances, you would demand as
much yourself."
"But do I not bring a reliable witness to prove that this is an exact
copy of the original?" asked the visitor, impatiently.
"True, but my request is reasonable, and I think I will adhere to it,"
he replied; and the gentleman, with his companion, left the premises,
simply remarking, "You will hear from me again, to-morrow." And sure
enough, he did.
Towards sun-down on the following day, the abolisher of post-offices
made his appearance, and, with an air of authority, without uttering a
word, threw the extinguishing document upon the counter. The post
master took it up, and after adjusting his spectacles, examined first
the outside. It had the usual printed endorsement on the right hand
upper corner, "Post-Office Department, Official Business," was
properly franked by the Second Assistant, post-marked "Washington,"
and plainly addressed to the "Post Master, M----, R. I."
On withdrawing the letter from its covering, it had, sure enough,
every appearance of genuineness, and no doubt remained that it was the
official action of the Department. The post-office effects were
accordingly put in shape as hastily as possible, and handed over. But
"The course of _knavery_ never did run smooth."
Strong suspicions began to arise that the neighboring post master,
before mentioned, was the author of the whole transaction, and when
the knowledge of a motive on his part was supplied, his guilt became
to my mind clear and positive.
It appeared that at the time of the establishment of the now defunct
post-office, there was a tremendous opposition, in which he took an
active and leading part, but the member of Congress for that District
favored the application for the new office, and it was finally
granted. Being but two miles from the old establishment, there was, as
had been anticipated, a considerable falling off in the receipts of
the latter. The snake was "scotched, not killed," or in other words,
post master number one had bottled up his wrath, and was biding his
time. The affair had now become with him a matter of pride as well as
interest, and when joked, as he frequently was, about his defeat in
the post-office contest, he was often heard to say that the new
post-office was "short-lived any way."
He was quite an active, prominent politician, and when a new
nomination for Congress was to be made, he thought he saw his way
clear. He struggled hard for the selection of a personal friend, and
succeeded, not only in the nomination, but in the election. But when
the pinch came, the Honorable member failed him, and could not be
persuaded to take the responsibility, for the new post-office had
proved really a great convenience to many of his constituents and to
some of his friends, personal and political.
With the advantage of this information obtained from the ex-post
master and one or two other citizens of that vicinity, I proceeded to
visit the office which at one gulp had swallowed up the other, without
apparent injury to its digestive organs. The post master was absent,
and the office in charge of his wife. This was a piece of good luck,
for it would enable me to examine the books and papers to greater
advantage, and what was better, to interrogate the lady and her lesser
half separately. Two or three points were very important.
Might not some wicked wag in the Department, knowing all the
circumstances of the case, have prepared the letter in question, and
sent it as a hoax? This could be easily settled by referring to the
account of mails received, for the record in that event should show
the receipt of a free letter, either direct from Washington, or from
the Distribution office at New York. Then another test, was a
comparison of the "order," with the hand-writing of the post master.
But the most troublesome point of all to reconcile, was, how the
official envelope had been obtained, for that was beyond a doubt
genuine.
Introducing myself to the lady assistant, who happened to be alone in
the office, I remarked,--
"I am in pursuit of a letter which should have come here from New York
in March last, and I wish to see if your New York packages, during
that month, were all regularly received. Where do you keep your
transcripts, the books, or sheets, you know, upon which you copy your
post-bills?"
They were taken from a desk and laid before me. Turning to the record
of the month in question, not a single free letter was entered as
received at that office for the last two weeks in March, from any
quarter!
"Who made the entries in this book?" I inquired. "My husband," was the
prompt answer.
Having the general style of the "order" in my mind, I glanced over a
few pages of the book, and observed several peculiarities in the
formation of some of the capital letters which I had noticed in the
(to this time) fatherless document. It was written in bluish ink, and
so were the pages of the records made at about the same time,--a
trifling circumstance to be sure, but yet a link in the chain of
evidence. The wafer too, used in sealing, was strikingly similar in
size and shade to those contained in a large box upon the desk. The
"order" was on a half sheet of letter paper of different size and
stamp from the wrapper enclosing it.
It now remained to establish some reasonable theory to account for his
possession of a genuine official envelope. Some farther reflection
supplied that theory which in the sequel proved to be the correct one.
The date of the Washington post-mark I had before noticed, was very
indistinct, in fact could not be made out, although the word
"Washington" and "March" were tolerably plain. At that time the
present style of envelopes were not much in use by the Department.
Could it not be an old wrapper, or the "fly leaf" of some former
official document from head quarters? This idea was certainly favored
by the fact that on one side it presented a ragged appearance as if
torn from another half sheet; and if its fellow could be found on the
premises, the two parts must necessarily fit together, and
conclusively show that a branch of the Appointment office had really
been temporarily established without authority of law, not far from
that locality.
It was now late in the afternoon, and the post master still absent,
though momentarily expected home. An invitation to take tea with the
good lady, was the more readily accepted, from a desire to prevent any
comparing of notes between them with respect to the inquiries and
examination already made. At the table I ventured, for the first time,
to broach the subject of the "stoppage" affair.
"I believe the last time I passed over this route, you had two
post-offices in town," I remarked.
"Yes," was the reply, "but it made so much bother, and did so little
good, that it was abolished some months since."
In her manner of receiving this remark, I could discover no proof of a
participation in, or knowledge of the process by which the rival
concern had been gotten rid of. And I might as well say in this
connection as anywhere else, that I have never in my own official
experience, known any instance of a wife or child being made an
accomplice, partner or confidant, "before the fact," in the commission
of serious post-office offences. Prying ladies have sometimes,
however, from curiosity, rather than pecuniary considerations,
exhibited a remarkable aptness in getting at the written contents of
letters, without the consent or knowledge of the owners.
The cloth had not long been removed before the post master's approach
was heralded by the scratching at the door of a large Newfoundland
dog, the circumstance being at once noted by the lady as indicative of
the safe return of her husband. In a moment more the sound of the
horse's hoofs were distinctly heard, and as soon as the nag had been
passed over to a boy we had left in the office, the post-office
annihilator entered.
"My dear," says the affectionate wife, "you have got back once more."
And with this salutation she announced her guest, as "a gentleman who
had come to see about some post-office business."
He eyed me rather closely, and with a much less amiable expression
than he assumed on learning that I was a near relative of his "Uncle
Sam," which I saw it was essential to make known to him, in order to
secure decent treatment; for he was decidedly savage in his looks and
manners on the first introduction, taking me no doubt for some
troublesome customer (as I eventually proved to be, by the way,) who
had come to bother him about some trifling affair.
An intimation that I would like to see him at the post-office was
sufficient. We soon found ourselves there alone, and I commenced
interrogating him thus:--
"Did you receive notice from the Department in March last of the
discontinuance of the office at P.?"
"I did, and was ordered to take possession of the property of the
Department," he replied. "The old gentleman," said he, "rather hated
to yield; but, when I showed him the documents, he caved in and made
the best of it. The fact is, the office never ought to have been
created at all."
"When did the order reach your hands?" I asked; "and do you remember
the circumstance of its arrival in the mail?"
"I well remember all about it," said he; "I opened the mail that day
myself, as usual. I think it was one of the last days in March. I
shall never forget the astonished look of neighbor N., as he perused
the order converting him into a private citizen once more."
"He wasn't satisfied with a certified copy of the unwelcome document,
was he?" I remarked. "And, by the way, what was the object of serving
a _copy_ of the paper on him?"
"Well," he rejoined, with a slight embarrassment, "the fact is, I
thought I had better retain the original for my own protection, in
case of any fuss. He had to have it, however, before he would shut up
shop."
At this juncture I produced the "order," and laying it before him,
requested that he would turn to the entry of a free letter on his
"mails received," at the time of the receipt of this one. The search
was in vain, as I well knew it would be; and he undertook to explain
that circumstance by claiming that official letters frequently came
from Washington without wrapper or post-bill.
By this time he evidently began to construe my inquiries into a
suspicion of his fraudulent conduct; and, as in all such cases, every
attempt to extricate himself only made the matter worse.
"Come to think of it," said he, "I was absent from home the day that
letter arrived, and on my return I took it from my private box where
my letters are put," at the same time pointing to a pigeon-hole in a
small letter-case over the desk.
"And would your wife open the mail in your absence?" I inquired.
Receiving an affirmative answer, I requested him to call her, taking
care that they should hold no private conversation. Exhibiting to her
the outside of the letter, I asked if she recollected taking it from
the mail and placing it in the post master's box. They exchanged
glances, and, on the second look towards him, I was just in time to
observe a trifling nod of the head by way of intimating that she had
better say yes. But she thought otherwise, and was quite positive that
if such a thing bad come loose in the bag, at any time when she opened
the mail, she would have noticed it.
"To come right to the point," said I, "this document is disowned by
the Department, and no authority has been given to any one to
discontinue the other office."
A forced laugh from the post master followed this announcement, but
the honest wife looked worried.
"Well," he answered, "if it did not come from the Appointment Office,
then some mischievous clerk in the Department may have sent it as an
April-fool hoax, as it was near the first of April; or some one may
have slipped it into my private box unobserved, though no one could
well do it unless it was the boy that you see about here."
"I see no motive that he could have had for doing it," I observed.
"But he might possibly have been hired to do it," was the reply.
In accounting for the envelope, it now became an important point to
settle whether or not the post master had been in the habit of
preserving all official circulars from the Department. If so, and this
envelope had been torn from one of them, the remaining fragment might
still come to light as his certain accuser. A search of the files
showed the preservation of all such documents for two years previous,
but nothing appeared to match the covering of the "order."
Still believing it was obtained in that way, I adjourned the
investigation for a few days, and meantime applied to the Department
for duplicates of any printed circulars that had been sent to this
office, and the return mail brought me one that was so sent, but a few
weeks previous to the fraud in question. Its absence from the
postmaster's files, while all other similar documents had been
carefully saved, was a strong circumstance to show that a part of it
at least had been used for this dishonest purpose. But the damning
proof was yet to come. In the printed words "Official Business," which
were in capitals on the outside of the duplicate circular, there was a
defect, or "nick" in the letter O, and the last S, in business. On
comparing this with the covering of the spurious order, exactly the
same bruises were found in the same letters, identifying the one with
the other in the most positive manner, as the coincidence would be
almost miraculous of the same type being battered in precisely the
same way, upon circulars printed at different times.
Nor was this all. In folding the circular before the ink was fairly
dry, some parts of the printed words in the body of it had "struck
off" upon the inner side of the "fly leaf," which parts of words
could, by a strong light, be distinctly observed upon several lines
directly under each other. Referring to the printed page of the entire
circular received for examination and comparison, a copy of which was
known to have been sent to this post-office, _the same words were
found to occur, and precisely in the same relative positions_.
Thus was the final link in the chain of evidence closed and riveted; a
chain which held the guilty one in its unyielding grasp, and set at
nought all attempts at evasion or escape, had he been disposed to make
them. His only alternative was silence or confession, and of these he
chose the latter.
A full report of all the facts above stated was made to the
Department, and the tricky post master soon received an official
letter from Washington, concerning whose genuineness the most
sceptical could have no doubt. In this case, "the engineer was hoist
with his own petard." In stopping his neighbor's office he was himself
stopped; and, furthermore, received a reward for his misdeeds, the
nature of which any future post-office stopper will learn by sad
experience.
The defunct office was resuscitated, and its former incumbent
reinstated in all the rights and privileges of which he had been
deprived by the treachery of his unscrupulous opponent.
Nothing but the most obstinate determination to carry his point, at
all hazards, could have impelled this man to the extreme measures
which he adopted for ridding himself of his rival. Forgery is a crime
of sufficient magnitude, one would think, to deter from its commission
any one that is not prepared to go all lengths in the execution of his
designs. And the present case shows how far pride and self-will may
carry a man who yields to their suggestions, and how small a matter
may be sufficient to raise them to an irresistible height, and create
a tide which may sweep away conscience, and honor, and all that is
valuable in character, to say nothing of an enlightened regard to
self-interest.
The man whose discreditable exploit we have recorded, paid dearly for
his short-lived triumph; and whoever is in danger of suffering his
pride or obstinacy to hurry him beyond the bounds of prudence and
virtue, will do well to "sit down first, and count the cost."