The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-11-20 00:00:00

DARING BANK ROBBERY.

A daring burglarly was committed at the National
Bank at Pittson, Pennsylvania, on the night of the 2nd
inst. The roof of the building was gained by means of
ladders. The bank roof was covered with tin, and it
required much caution to proceed over it without
arousing the occupants of a room in the boarding house,
the window of which opened directly on the roof. But
over it the burglars passed without disturbing any one,
and selecting a spot about eight feet from the window,
and about four feet from the front edge of the roof, they
carefully removed a portion of the tin, putting heavy
clods ot putty on the places where they cut. After
this they cut a large hole in the roof, which admitted
them to a low attic over the top wall of the bank.
Along this they crept until they arrived at a point
just over the centre of the brick arch of the bank
vault, and here they commenced operations again.
Their work must have been very rapid, but it was
very successful, for they managed to cut a hole two
feet square through the fifteen-inch brick arch. The
debris was thrown to one side, but in such a
position as not to interfere with a ready
passage from the vault to the aperture in the roof.
The opening once made, a fine rope ladder, left by
the thieves, was let down, and in this way the floor
of the vault was gained, a distance of about eight feet
from the top of the arch. The vault contained, be-
sides the books of the bank, three Marvin spherical
safes, which were stationed at the end opposite the
doors. A gas jet was suspended in the centre of the
vault, and this the burglars lit to enable them to
proceed with their work. A hole was drilled into
the lock of one of the safes, and this, it is thought,
was charged with nitro-glycerine. A fine linen cord
was then made fast to the electric fuse attached to
the charge, and this cord was made to run through
small screw rings placed in adjacent shelves,
and so carried on to the roof, from whence the
shot was undoubtedly fired, as it would have been
impossible for any person to have withstood the
concussion caused by the explosion, as shown by
the inner door of the vault, which was bent nearly
double. This latter was made of half-inch iron. -The
theory is that after the explosion the burglars decended
to the vault and ransacked the contents olthe safe,
which was successfully blown open. But they found
little for their pains, as nothing was discovered but a
lot of currency and a quantity of mutilated bills. A
bag containing about one hundred dollars was dis-
covered, and the whole was probably removed at once
to the roof, as it was subsequently found there. The
thieves now proceeded (it is supposed) to the work
of opening the second safe, for when the vault
was opened next morning the outside covering of the
lock was found blown off. It is thought that the
second explosion awoke the proprietor of the boarding
house next door, for he at any rate sprang out of bed
and informed his wife that he believed something
wrong was going on inside the bank. He hastily took
a kerosene lamp and went down stairs in his bare
feet and around the rear of the bank. When he
got there he was confronted by a man who leaped
from the ladder, who in turn was quickly followed
by another, and still another, the latter having
jumped from the roof. An alarm was raised, but the
thieves made good their escape before assistance
arrived. In the sudden flight of the burglars they were
compelled to leave almost all their paraphernalia,
such as jimmies, screws, bits, braces, fuses, bar