The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1871-02-18 00:00:00

PILLAR-BOX ROBBERIES IN LONDON.

During the last three months a gang of London
thieves have been exercising their ingenuity in extract.
leg letters from the pillar-letter boxes erected in the
streets in various parts of the nietropihs, and so
ingenious and successful have been their operations that
they have succeeded in possessing themselves of a large
sum of mosey, and also in baffihg the combined
exertions of the police and postal authorities to put a
stop to their "little game" until the other day, when
a scheme concocted for the apprehension of the thieves
fortunately proved successful, though one of the pri-
sailers afterwards contrived to effect his escape from
the Hertford police station.
The mains operandi of Cie thieves has been to steal
letters from the pillar lettenboxes, to appropriate those
containing checks and notes, to get them cashed as
soon as possible, and, when practicable, to forge the
endorsement. The scheme laid for the discovery o f the
robbery was this :—The London police authorities put
themselves in communication with Mr. Chesshyre,
manager of the Hertford branch of the London and
County Bank, by whom a check was drawn for the
amount ot E 7 Gs. 3d., in the name f John Gardiner,
and made payable at Hertford to Frank Summers.
Tics check was placed in the hands of Detective-
Sergeant Hancock, by whom it was posted at a pillar
letter-box at Kennington. Premising that the
check would be prementedat the Hertford bank early
on Saturday by one ef a gang of suspected thieves,
Sergeant Hancock, with ,two constables, arrived at
Hertford by the first train reaching the town on that
day. The two constables were posted in the vicinity
of this bank; Sergeant Hancock took up his Position in
the window of the post: office, which commands a view
of the bank entrance, and two of the local constabulary,
with Superintendent Jarret, watched the arrival of the
trains by the Great Eastern and the Great Northern
Railways. The train,. --;ving at the Hertford station
, on the former line at shout twelve o'clock brought two
of the suspected partiei wh : -nediately wade their
way to the Loudon mao s Punk, narrowly
watched by the conezacles is disgoise. in arriving
at the bank they in PAVAIII for a ',sw minutoa,
during which aomett was seen Lc, AM between
them, and then one tee fellows went: to the bank
end csehed the chec. ...Lie Dad beim -,lared by Mr.
Chesahyre, and rx l by Sergeant l Mewl. urn.
ruediately the press had endore..d
biven by the bank It, and the knit vaa cpaiticc;
she law& of Serge • . llancook, his' federate being
apprehended by S. .rl‘er ib.establse aide.
The TOM who -o.friatedf tb. check toe this name
of John Hall, ogee 'l2, butt is be lencesu by the
sobriquet of " Otht to waned
Benjamin Poulk a;ias ' Bon the e," and le about
35 years of age. a a brat gave 1: name of Join.

Jowkins, and said he was 14 years of age. Although
he is a short, alight-built man, he is known as •
desperate character, and but for the fact that he was
completely surrounded by constables when appre-
hended he would doubtless have made • desperate
attempt to escape. They were both well and neatly
dressed. He and his confederate were at once taken
to the Hereford police station and left in charge of
metropolitan and local constable, who received in-
structions from Superintendent Jarrett not to allow the
prisoners to leave their cells under any pretence what-
ever ; but, after they had been confined abort an hour,
the man Hall,who had been crying, and protesting that
he was not aware the check had been stolen, asked to
be permitted to leave his cell to write a letter to his
friends. This he was allowed to do, and after he had
written his letter he was put back into the cell, but,
although there were two bolts and a lock on the door,
the censtables forgot to either bolt or lock the cell door
after replacing Hall. He observed this omission, and,
quietly biding his time until there was no one in the
police station except himself and his comrade, he
opened his cell door and walked od unobserved. About
hailan-hour after his departure his absence was dis-
covered, greatly to the consternation of the police, who
risard a hue and cry in every direction.
It is estimated that between £5OO and 1.'600 has been
etolen from the London pillar-boxes within the last
month or six weeks.