Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1857-02-10
EVENING STAR.
G Id ROBBERS

4 aA"SiS AoNO AoA puk literature, and
| wonderful progress in civilization, il also. we
regret to confess, produces the bolJest burg,
lars, the biggest rogues, and the most patient
| perseyeriug scOuBdrels. New fashions in dress
come from Paris; new fashions in crime from
the great capital Of the Anglo Saxone. The
| gay French invent crinoline, the practical
| English invent garroting. The Anglo Saxon
iS great race, and in illustration Of one
| phase Of its greatness, we copy from q recent
number Of its chief organ, the London Times
the following illustrative tale, which does il as
| much credit, in a way, Us any of the grand
| larceny" operations of the East India Com.
pany
| The bullion robbery ON the Southeastern
| Railway will certainly take high rank in
the romance of crime The theft which Agar.
| Pierce, Burgess, and Tester planned and con,
pleted was no ordinary crime. Well might
the counsel for the prosecution declare that it
| was lamenaole to see such skill, dexterity,
| and perseverance employed in the execution
| Of criminal design.
On the night of May IL, 1879, gold to the
value Of fl2 600 was stolen from the van of
| a train on the Southeastern Railway, between
| London and FOlkestone The boxes WIRE
weighed in London, and again at BouIogne
AT the second place the weight, as it was sub
sequently discovered. Offered from the weight
| in London. The weight in Paris co-resporded
| with the weight in BOulogne cOuseouentIv
the boxes must have been tampered with be
| tween London and Boulosne, or, rs il was i'm
| possible to touch them while in The boat, be
| tween London and FJlkestone When the
| boxes were opened bags of shot wore found
| IN the place of gold. Of course the surprise
| was great, and the search after the offenders
earnest But, whatever may be the skill Of
detectives, We know from sad experience that
| tho criminal world is more than EQUAL to them
IN craft. For sixteen months the pursuit was
In vain, and the robbery was we'll nigh forgot
| ten, when an unexpected revelation threw
| light on the matter.
man named Edward Agar was convicted
In October, 1885, of uttering a forged check,
| and sentenced TO be transported for life This
| man some time since stated to the authorities
| that ne could give information respecting the
| great gold robbery Of 1855 On being 0ues
| toned, he announced himself as one Of the
! perpetrators, and named as his accompIices
flerce, formerly IN the service of the South
eastern Company; Burgess, a guard and
Tester, clerk in the traffic department Agar
| Is Al years OF age, and has, by his own confcs.
sion, lived by crime, for a term of from Il 70
70 years. His evidence is, that Pierce FRS
| suggested the scheme, and that he himself
thought 1t imprscticable. Pierce said he bo
lleVed he could obtain impressions Of the keys
| OF the Chubb locks by which TIE iron safes
were secured, and Agar then answered that if
that could be done ne thought the thing might
bo effected.
Now comes the execution of the plan Time,
skill and capital are all at the disposal Of the
planners. Pierce and Agar 60 down to Folk.
stone as casual visitors for the benefit Of sea-
| bathing. They take lodgings and emnIov
| themselves in observing the arrival Of the ii.
dal service trains, and the delivery of the lug
| gage from the trains to the boats This is in
May, 1894, twelve months before the actual
commission OF the robbery-so long time can
modern depredatOIs afford to spend on their
| preparations. They went down daily to the
pier as II to ENJOY the fresh air, but their con-
slant observation of tho trains and the station
aroused suspicion, and they left, but not be-
| fore they had discovered what Chairman.
who had the custody Of the key Of the iron
| safe, did when the trains arrived and the lug
gage was removed to the boats" By these
| means it was ascertained where tho key was
kept, the impression of which it was desirable
| TO obtain
But TO know where the key was kent, and
| t. obtain possession of it were very different
things, and Agar, according to his own storT
| was much dishcartened. Not so Pierce. Pierce
knew young man named Tester, who was in
| the othce Of tho superintendent of traffic, and
| Tester could get possession of the KEYS for
| them. However, time rolls on and we are in
August when Pierce discovers that the locks
are % be altered and that the new KEYS will
| be In Testers hands. Tester was the clerk
| who c0rrespOnded with Mr.. Chubb on the sub.
| ject, and by his means the impression of kew
which opened one lock Of each box was oh.
| tanned. But, as each box had two locks il
| was necessary TO obtain the impression of
another key. and the following device was
| adopted Agar was in possession of no less a
| sum than Il 000. 1t was arranged that a box
| OF bullion of the value Of 1900 should be con-
Veyed in the iron safe in the usual way, and
that il should be delivered TO him under the
| name of Archer. Agar goes for the boz, and
| 1t is delivered TO him by Chapman, who opens
the safe with key which he takes from a
| cupboard. Thus Agar learns where the sec.
ond key is kept. Now, how are they to OBJ.
tain an impression of the key Two months
have elapsed since they got the impression of
No this is October, and they are still with
out No. But they are net disheartened
Pierce and Agar go down to Dover and put up
at Dover Castle; they walk over to FOlkes
tone, and arrive just when the train is coming
in. In the confusion of an arrival the attend
ants leave the Cf1ice for few minutes Pierce
goes boldly in, opens the cupboard which
contains the key Of the safe, and hands it 10
Agar, who takes an impression and then re-
p aces il Thus five months after their recon
uOissance at FOlkestOne they have surmounted
the first difficulty which suggested itself 10
the rejecting mind Agar-they have obtained
wax impressions Of the keys. Everything else
remains 10 be done.
The next thing, of course, was to make
keys from the impressions For that purpose
lodgings are taken in Lambeth and Kenning-
| ton. Pierce disguises himself in black wig,
and the next two months are spent in filing
keys. When the keys are completed to prob
able similarity with the master pieces of
Chubb-no easy task, it would seem, for two
inexpert operators with common fles-it was
necessary to try them. Agar went down sew
eral times in the van with Burgess, the guard
They did not fit at first, but they fitted more
nearly every time he went. At last they fitted
completely, and the deed was resolved on. OF
course, after nearly years labor, it was not
worth their while to fly at any paltry game
they would wait until large sum was to be
sent Two chests would hold about fI2 600,
aud they heard that fl2 900 was shortly TO be
sent. They then buy shot to replace the
gold, Agar and Pierce are sdmi tied into the
van by Burgess, and on the 18th Of May, 1856,
twelve months after the deed was planned, tbs
boxes of Messrf. spielmann, Built & Abel are
securely riAed
Nineteen months after the crime is commit