The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1866-02-23

The particulars of the robbery of the
National bank of Concord, Mass, will be
recollected by many, but a recapitulation
OF the circumstances in connection with
the arrest OF Two of the robbers, and the
recovery OF a portion of their spoil will
be OF interest. On the 25th of Septem-
Der, 1860, between the hours of noon and
two O'Clock in the afternoon, during the
absence Of MIR. Cheney. the cashier, at
dinner, the bank was entered and robbed
to the amount of S3l0,00O in United
States bonds and securities, notes and
moncy-the entire funds of the institution
at the time. The sIolcn funds embrac-
ed a large quantity of the deposits of
the Middlesex savings institution, and the
loss fell not only upon the bank from
which they were distracted. but upon
hundreds of people whose hard-earned
savings had been deposited there for secu-
rity. The thorough manner in which the
robbery was effected and the ingenuity
which It's executors displayed i'll planning
and carrying out their designs exhibit
degree OF science on their part perfectly
astonishing in the annals of crime
Great, however, as was the skill displayed
by the thieves, the efforts of the detective
force i'll icrrctlng out one of the criminals
and discovering large portion of the
abstracted funds, and invested with no
less interest The New ! ork Herald con-
tains the following details OF the crime
ana ihe detection Of the criminals which
constitute an almost romantic chapter in
the police annals ot the country:
TIE COMMISSION OF THE ROBBERY.
The cashier On the day named had.
before leaving the building. locked up all
the valuablcS in the strong box or safe of
the vault, and put the KEY behind some
books on the shelf He then locked the
door Of the vault itself, put the key in his
pocket. descended the stars. locked the
door leadin" into the street, the KEY OF
which he also put in his pocket. and then
Went home. On returning he found the
street door open, anl on COIN" up stairs
the vault door locked. The door of the
strong box was also locked, but the kew
had been taken away 1t was now eyl-
dent, OF course. that it had been visited
during his absence. but was Impossible TO
ascertain the extent OF the robbery. aS the
lock of the safe was Of the combination
pattern, and was provided with two KEYS
only, one of which the thieves had car
. ried away. The other was in the posses
sion of Mr.. Haywood. the president. who
was absent in Boston, and six hours
elapsed before lie returned. in obedience to
Il telegram, when the extent of the rob-
berry first became known
THE AID OF TIE POLICE SOUGHT.
Col. Kurt, chief of the police in Bos-
ton. was Immediately consulted. and of
terc,l the bank the services Of detectives
, Heath and Jones, and subsequently,
Hunt, of his force They went to New
York and reported the robbery to Super
intcndent Kennedy. who placed the affair
in the hands of Chief John s. Young.
) Captain Jourdan,o ,oof the Sixth precinct.
and detectives Elder. McCord, Radtorl
and kclSer. The impression at first was
that the robbery had been effected through
the agency or connivance-ot some one ac-
: quanted with the bank-it had been Sc
cleanly done. Superintendent Kennedy
, Offered all the facilities in his power TO
= aid the work of detection. and the officer,
began operations.
d IN PURSUIT.
The next step Of course was to ar
rest the man they suspected Detective
Hunt went to Framinoham. about twenty
miles from Boston, where he was knowl
to have had house and farm but til,
bird had scented pursuit, had taken th'
alarm and disappeared. All efforts t'
+ find him Or even to trace his whereabouts
proved unayailing. He had been Il
birmingham up to three days after th
robbery. but then suddenly vanished. !
consultation was then had as to what fur
ther steps were to be pursued. 1t wa
reasonably supposed that the suspected
s person had an agent in this city for til
negotiation and sale OF the bonds, o
-- would have if he wished to convert then
u into more ready funds. Captain .Jourro
: suspected a certain Individual to be tha
II man, and accordingly this person receive
r. most aSSiduous attention from Detective
of Hunt and Elder for period of tw
H. months He was followed by them q
h. closely as his shadow, and no movemer
c!' his during that time escaped their ol
scrvaton.
HOW THE DETECTIVES ''DO IT."
e. This man, in the vocabulary of IL
le detectives. was what is called Yer
" learv" man-that is, he was cxtraorl
e, narily watchful. Like all men engage
IN in unlawful work, he was at all tins
lie suspicious that his movements We're Iii
- der scrutiny, and accordingly it was Il
IN easy task to trace his footsteps wilho,
T. acquainting him with the fact For il
V stance: on emerging from his house |
t. would stand for some time on the stoo]
e. looking up and down the street ; then /
no would pass down to the next avenue. an'
in suddenly turning the corner, would ste
a in the shadow OF the first house and wa
d. and see if anybody like a detective we
dogging him. After delay Of some mi
re utes he would become satisfied that ;
was right. jump into car and 90 dow