The Postal Money Order Swindle
A former hostler finds himself in federal custody after allegedly intercepting and cashing a woman's mail.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Daniel Santry, formerly employed as a hostler by Aaron Kuhn, is in the county jail under the serious charge of endorsing and cashing a postal money order for $5 belonging to Mrs. M. P. Nickerson, also formerly in Mr. Kuhn's employ. The woman has been at Vernonia, Oregon, since December. The letter containing the order was probably forwarded from there to Colfax, and as Santry often carried her mail to the house, it is supposed it fell into his hands in this way. The woman recently made affidavit that the order was lost and drew her money on a duplicate. On April 12, Santry cashed the original at the Colfax post office. Postmaster Ewart learned of the swindle and swore out a warrant before Justice Kirkland. As it is a federal case, it was transferred to the court of United States Commissioner Inman. The penalty is a $5,000 fine or one to five years in a penitentiary.
“Postmaster Ewart learned of the swindle and swore out a warrant.”
Mail fraud remains a persistent concern in the digital age, though modern identity theft involves much more complex data exploitation than intercepting a physical letter. This case highlights how quickly the federal government would intervene in the early 20th century to protect the integrity of the postal system.
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