, 1861-03-29

Abont o'clock yesterday afternoon, info:- |
nation reached the police headquarters Of one |
Of the most daring attempts at bank robbery
that has attracted the attention Of The public |
for q long time past. A telegraphic message
from the Third Ward police station notified |
the superintendent that the bnildlng Of the |
New York Exchange Bank, on the corner Of
Dey and Greenwich streets, had been entered
BY burglars, who, passing through tunnel
dug by five weeks Of nnremittiDg 1abor, had |
Of tie 11pit. : Wien tie porter Of theaank ar
rived In the morning, he had entered the rear
Office, occupied as private room By the Prs
ident and higher officers Of the bank, for the
purpose Of making fire, and while go engaged,
hts attention Was attracted by suspicious
OF the vault Containing the bank safe. As the
noise, however, ceased almost instantly, and
was not repeated, the porter came to the c1n-
clusion tdat 1t emanated from the porter Of
the North River Bank, who was accustomed
at about fthat time every morning, to light
furnace III the adjoining basement.
The cashier Of the bank, Mr.. D. B. Ha!sted
arrived at about quarter before nine o'clock in
the morning, aud at once proceeded to open
the door Of the vault, but found that, with all
his efforts, it Eas impossible to induce. The
tseh oeoee Zs ts 1an III .a5 pay sent for
Mr.. Joseph P. Hodgkins, one Of the patentecs
of the lock. The latter arrived at the bank.
shortly aftes, ,and for long time peIseverad in
the vain attempt to open door only held by
one of his own locks. At length he gave up
the attempt, and proceeded assisted by some
Of the vault At twelve o'clock hole was
made In the wall sufficiently large to enatlo
the men to operate on the inside Of the lock,
and at ha1fpast u O'Clock the door was opened
only to disclose to the officers Of the bank,
who had in the meantime gathered around,
Eo$ ha Erfr1A nf a hank. hnrEG had 8iEAH
peared and that the top of the safe presented
an appearance never before observed; the
scrossb2rs having been removed, and the chilled
iron sheeting exhibiting marks Of considera-
BILE rough treatment from some Wel-tempered
instruments.
T,iy remarkable state of affairs would have
probably excited more attention thar it nctu~
ally did, were 1t not that the instant the door
was opened hole, about two feet In d lametcr,
was discovered in the flag flooring, lmmedi-
ately In front of the safe Tbs vault itself was
a small one, probably not more than1our fset
square, and was almost entirely filed up with
large double safe, manufactured By Herring.
Upon the top ofthe safe was piled q large num-
| ber Of the bank books, together with tin
boz, the property of a. L. Peck, broker Do
| ing business on the corner Of Maiden Lane
and Broadway, containing $500 in gold, and
about $500 in uucurrent bank notes, valued at
about $500 or $500. Mr.. Peck has been accus-
| toned for the last ten years to leave tho bcI
| 10 charge of the bank every night. On Satur-
day he was on the point Of putting s., SOC tn
good money in the boz, but finally concluded
I TO deposit In the bank instead. ~
Immediately after the vault had been open
I ed, information Of the probable robbery Vas
| at once conveyed to the Third ward station
| house, and had the immediate effect Of bring
ing Capt Ja1nison, Sergeant Breyoort, md
several Of their picked men, to the ecene OF
tho burglary. Upon hearing the story from
1 roff3 1os, nt
tered the tunnel, aud passed on through,
emerging in basement two doors higher up
In Greenwich street, occupied rs 8 carpet es-
tabliahment. No one WIS to be found here
and the front door waa closed. Upon entering
the vault, Capt. J1mfson stumbled on pile OF
books which we're soon discovered TO be the
bank books which had been removed from the
ton of the safe and thrown below By the bur-
glars for the purpose Of giving them moro
room to work In addition to the books On
immense number Of burglars tools were found
in the bank ranlt, In the tunnel and in The
basement or carpet shop from which the bur'
glars had evidently begun operations.
Two looms only could be found In the shop,
and, from the load Of dust settled upon them,
abundant evidence was furnished of a long
and continued disuse. There were, probably,
about two hundred rolls Of carpet In the place.
to render discovery Of the lnrge hole in the
wall aud the considerable quantity. Of earth
around it, very improbable, and in fact al.
most impossible. On another side small
spice Was curtained off with carpet In such Q
amAnner es to form small room, which had
evidently been intended aud used as a kitchen
! and sitting room- A small stove was In The
center, and around were arranged couches o.
carpet, which had evidently been used as rest
ing and sleeping places tor the robbers. Hert
Ehisky W. found By the police, as vas also
large cooked ham, and portion Of fish, to
Gether with pepper, salt, and various descrip
tions Of condiments. The burglars, when cut
8 ting this tunnel were In the habit Of throwing
l. this carpet before them, thus being enabled Il
. more on over acomparatiyely clean:and pless
r There was only one wall Of any consequcne'
D to cut through, and that was the partition be
tween the bank building and the house Il
which the carpet shop WIS sttuated.: The lat
ter being number 1e9 and the former No. Is
Greenwich street. after passing through thi
$ meut of the Nortn RiveT bank, and finally az
9 rived directly under the basement Of the Ne1
= York. Exchange Ba1ik; they there change
3 their course and coming immediately be
j neath the bsnk vault, cut their way directl
% up within the door, with nicety Of cAcula
= doubt to hsve.been directed BY person {
n no. snslI engineering genfnB. The passag
q was, With the exception Of the partition wal
IS immediately through the ssnd In which th
70 nntld1ng stood, and *the robbers eeu4n, {
= eourse, have been guided by nothing. 1n th
II natare Of WRIls thst won1d have eonsidezahl
4. assiste1 them ~ tAair excavations. j..
- The safe which the burglars 50 unsucces
Y fully :endeayorea to open, contained abot
&3D,oM IN meFey and securities Aho1
$4,000 only was In money, the FeznaIndi
being In securities OF suEh natufe as to re-
Q der tAetr negotiation Ay the robbers high
'.e;s1 e;ss1'.n4d bonds, the property. OF The pteslden
':-c,.' (; *: ~" es Tase hs haa !
! I.Tas.s%- -"s'
and Of the u..A4--.
| snsonrsn6um