Another fact transpired about this time, which assisted still further in locating these alarming robberies. Among them was one of a letter mailed by the cashier of a bank in Vermont, for an office in one of the Western States, and enclosing a quantity of the notes of that bank. The bills had peculiar marks upon them. They all found their way back to the bank through the usual channel of redemption, within a week of the time they were mailed; hence, of course, the letter could not have gone beyond New York. Besides, it was sent to that office for distribution, and the post bill was on file there, and described this identical letter, by its unusual rate, and as being pre-paid by stamps. In all the other cases, the post bills were not to be found, either in New York or other distant post offices, and they must have been taken with the packages themselves.
The fact that the night mails had suffered chiefly, warranted me now in confining the investigation principally to the night clerks. They were generally a worthy and reliable class of gentlemen, some of them having held this responsible station for many years. In the inquiries and examinations which I was obliged to make, I found some instances of conformity to circumstances and limited means, that would confer credit on any men, or any age.
But it will perhaps be said, that cunning men may be dishonest, and yet keep their ill-gotten gains out of sight; surrounding themselves with the appearances of frugality and even poverty. This may be so sometimes, temporarily, but it is nevertheless a fact that rogues steal money to spend it, and for the comfort and ease which they expect it will confer, which expectation, however, never is realized. For it is the universal rule that money, or any other property not honestly obtained, "bites like a serpent, and stings like an adder;" and realizing the fabled vulture of Prometheus, unceasingly feeds on the undying life of him who steals, not fire from heaven, but a baser thing from earth.
The sad experience of thousands who have thought them selves cunning enough to cope with the shrewdest officers of justice, will show that however artful and ingenious may be the devices adopted, there are ways enough to meet and expose them. Honesty is, therefore, not only the best policy, but the only safe and impregnable barrier against suspicion, detection, and misery.
Pat R. was appointed as a night porter, at the urgent solicitation of a prominent, and at that time, somewhat influential citizen of the First Ward. He was recommended as a robust, athletic man, just suited to the drudgery which somebody must undertake in such an office, of attending to the lifting, handling, and removing of heavy mails. In that capacity it was not expected that he would discharge any of the more responsible duties of a regular clerk, such as making up and assorting mail-matter; but the labor of the office accumulating, he gradually added to his nightly employments that of "facing up" the contents of the midnight mails, after they had been emptied out, and separating the letter from the newspaper packages. Had this last fact been furnished me at an earlier date, by the head clerk of that department, this troublesome investigation would probably have been sooner brought to a satisfactory termination. But, supposing from Pat's position and legitimate duties, that he had not the requisite opportunities for committing depredations, he was about the last one to be looked after. And when I did conclude to extend my particular attentions to him, I was somewhat startled by the discovery, from an examination of the "time register"—a book in which each clerk is required to enter his name and the time of his arrival at and departure from the office—that Pat had not been on duty for nearly a week! This was of course known before to the then first clerk of that department, but the sickness of the absentee, and the death of one of his children, which had been alleged as an excuse, (through another porter,) seemed to be a plausible and satisfactory explanation.
But the Agent thought otherwise, under the circumstances, and deemed it best, at all events, to ascertain in a careful way its truth or falsity.
By the aid of a reliable day clerk, who lived in Brooklyn, in the neighborhood of Pat, I learned the name and general standing of the physician whom he had employed. An interview with him, supposed on his part to be for the purpose of ascertaining whether Pat was a man of strictly temperate habits, and in all respects fit to be employed in a post office, confirmed the part of his story relating to the child's death, but disproved the rest of it, about his own illness. But the doctor went the whole figure in regard to Pat's good character and fitness for any place which was not too intellectual. I could see, however, that my referee cared more about keeping a paying customer, (all professional charges, as he stated, having been fully liquidated up to that date,) than for posting me up in any matters that would jeopardize so good a situation, where all the monthly payments were in hard and legal currency.
By this step I obtained the first tangible justification of my suspicions against Pat. He had assigned, in part at least, a false reason for his absence. At about the same time, I consulted one of the Brooklyn penny-posts, whose beat took in Pat's residence, and who reported that he had on several occasions recently met him with a gun on his shoulder, apparently starting on a hunting excursion.
He was very poor when he entered the office, and by way of testing his ability to live without work, it was arranged with an agent for procuring laborers for a Western railroad, to call on him, and offer him a chance to go to Illinois as foreman of a gang of hands. But it was "no go." His health was too precarious for that.