HIDDEN POUCH FOUND
IN OLD JAMES HOUSE.
FILLED WITH OPENED LETTERS
ADDRESSED TO A. F. GEORGE.
Sack Discovered by Plumber in
Sealed Closet at 1836 East Ninth
Not Like Those Used By Gov-
ernment in Bandit's Time.
UNLIKE PRESENT DAY POUCHES.
A rendezvous of Jesse James was recalled yesterday afternoon, when E. N. Watts, who runs a plumbing shop at 1836 East Ninth street, discovered in an old house at 1836 East Ninth street a mail pouch upon which human eyes probably had not gazed for years.
Watts was doing extensive remodeling work on the interior of the house preparatory to its occupancy as a pool hall, when he accidentally broke into a little closet which evidently had been sealed for years. In that aperture he found a mail pouch, filled with mail matter. He dragged the sack to the light and after examining it concluded that it must have been a part of the spoils of the James gang.
USED AS A RECEPTACLE.
Mr. Watts notified the postal authorities and a postoffice inspector was soon on the scene. He examined the pouch and its contents, finding the sack was filled with many letters, all of which had been opened and were addressed to "A. F. George, 609 East Fifteenth street, Kansas City, Mo." The inspector's conclusion was that the sack must have been used as a receptacle for the accumulated correspondence of Mr. George, whoever he might have been.
CLOSET WHERE THE POUCH WAS FOUND.
The inspector took the sack and contents to the federal building, where officials, who had been in the service as long as twenty years, examined it closely. They said that although the pouch resembled the official style, it lacked certain necessary features that would justify its identification as ever having been owned by the United states government. The officials were at a loss to know why anyone would try to duplicate the official one used years ago.
