do not write to Mr. Drummond in regard to my confession, or the manner in which the affair terminated."

At the time of mailing the rifled letter, Jacobs deceived the witness by adroitly substituting a fac-simile envelope, prepared for the purpose, in the place of the one containing the seven hundred dollars. By the admission of the postmaster, the original was afterward burned.

From the day of detection onward, the demon of unrest seemed to hold possession of the poor sinner. His little home, that might have been a paradise radiant with the happiness which flows in perennial streams from purity and virtue, was soon broken up. Overwhelmed by the disgrace, he could not endure the humiliation of going in and out in the presence of neighbors who had known him in the days of innocence and peace. He became a wanderer on the face of the earth, drifting aimlessly from place to place, and living in continual fear that the officers of justice were on his track.

correspondence

are by no means restricted to the periods when letters are in the actual custody of the postal authorities. Although there is no method for arriving at exact proportions, it is safe to say that, in cities like New York, far greater loss and annoyance are caused by depredations occurring outside of the office than within, through the dishonesty of the messengers employed by corporations and business houses. Often, too, the most aggravating impediments are thrown in the way of the officers who undertake the detection of the culprits, on account of the per

"Merchants, bankers, and others, do tinacity with which the suffer

not hesitate to commit the custody of their mails to mere boys."

ers insist that the trouble cannot possibly originate among

their own employés. As shown by innumerable examples, there is a painful readiness in such cases to denounce the whole post-office establishment as a den of thieves, and at the same time an invincible repugnance to the acceptance of any theory that would locate the leak nearer home. The same law of

human nature which leads a man to regard his own wife and child as the best, embraces, in a greater or less degree, every person and object connected with his establishment. When compared with the external horde, even the half-paid errandboy borrows a glory from the countenance of his master.

Merchants, bankers, and others, whose wits have been sharpened by innumerable conflicts in the battle of life, and who learn with rare skill to trust important undertakings to the guaranty of faces, do not hesitate to commit the custody of their mails to mere boys, whose services are hardly deemed worthy of pecuniary recognition. As a class, these messengers are overworked and under-paid. Not a few are the sons of widows, whose sustenance, with that of younger brothers and sisters, is drawn in part from their meagre wages. Occasionally the pressure of home poverty, favored by abundant opportunities to steal, overcomes the scruples of conscience. Far more frequently, however, the erring fall through ambition to rival associates in dress and outward show, or to procure means for vicious indulgences.

It would require several pages even to catalogue the outside delinquents apprehended by special agent Sharretts in New York city during the past few years. Notwithstanding the difficulties to be overcome in conducting many operations simultaneously, the methods of that officer are so perfected as to be well-nigh infallible. A few cases will show how the experience was acquired, and how the work is accomplished. Similar detections are taking place in other cities also, but New York is the great metropolis of rascality as well as of commerce.

THROUGH THE TILES.

A very indignant sufferer was Rev. Theophilus Boanerges, D. D., managing editor of a leading religious newspaper. In the columns of the "Behemoth" he thundered against the iniquities of the post-office establishment, and groaned in spirit over the multiplying evidences of modern corruption and degeneracy. Patrons were warned not to intrust remittances for

HE WOULD NOT BE CONVINCed.

237

subscriptions or advertisements to the mails. The doctor also called upon Mr. Sharretts, and though his strictures were severe and obviously unreasonable, he was treated with the consideration due to the cloth, and assured that no effort should be spared to bring the offender to justice.

It soon appeared that in the employment of the newspaper was a lad about sixteen years of age, - a marked favorite of the doctor, whose multifarious duties embraced the carriage of the mails to and from the post-office. As the losses in that locality were confined to the correspondence of the "Behemoth," the special agent began to observe closely the movements of the messenger, and soon became convinced that he was following the right trail. Desiring the co-operation of the complainant, he called at the editorial rooms to expound his theory, and lay out a plan of operations. "Sir," said the indignant divine, interrupting the story, "you are wholly wrong. The boy is honest, and commands my entire confidence. The trouble is in your post-office. There you must look to find it. To hunt here is an idle waste of time."

"I beg leave to differ," remonstrated the officer. "I have examined the facts bearing on the case, and can come to but one conclusion. I think I can make the matter clear to your mind also."

Impossible!" interrupted the doctor. "There are but two keys to the box. I keep one myself, and the other is in the possession of the postal clerk who handles our letters. The boy could not steal them if he desired."

Seeing that no voluntary aid was to be expected from the editor, the special agent withdrew, but by means of other assistance learned the routine of the office.

The mail for the paper was delivered to the boy in a locked box. This he took to the editorial room- a cosy apartment, located over a bank — and deposited on the table unviolated, so far as could be seen by such cursory observation as the internal arrangement of the building would permit. Light was admitted from above through a ceiling formed of glass tiles, each about two feet square.

As the divine invariably opened the mail in person, and would not listen to any plan of procedure that implied the dishonesty of the messenger, it became necessary to secure his co-operation by stratagem. Again the special agent sought the editorial sanctum, remarking, with an air suggestive of an important but somewhat unpleasant discovery, "Good morning, doctor. On looking the field over more carefully, I must admit that your views may, after all, be right."

"Didn't I tell you so at the outset?" rejoined the thunderer, triumphantly and cordially, as if his opinion of the acumen of the officer had improved manyfold since the last interview.

"Yes, doctor, you did. I surrender unconditionally. I am after the clerk who makes up the box for your boy Harry. Now, I want you to make lists of the letters received by each mail, and to send them quietly to my office. On comparing these with other lists taken before the letters are delivered into the hands of the clerk, any discrepancies will immediately appear. But don't say anything to Harry. Boys are boys, and the secret might leak out — perhaps reach the ear of the suspected clerk."

"Trust that to me," replied the editor. "I will follow your instructions fully."

On receipt of the third list, a number of letters were found to be missing. As they had been traced directly into the custody of Harry the errand-boy, the last doubt was now removed respecting the identity of the thief, he alone being in a position to intercept the missives before they reached the hands of the reverend gentleman himself.

At the request of the special agent, the bank authorities caused one of the glass tiles over the editorial table to be slightly raised in the night; and the next morning, accompanied by a policeman in plain clothes, he brought his eye to the aperture to observe what might happen below. A number of letters of seductive aspect, specially prepared for the occasion, had been placed in the box in addition to the regular mail.