Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1870-09-17
The Surf Bank i.obbery.
A DETECTIVES STORY.

William Harvey, or, as he was better
known, English Bill, had that morning
pleaded guilty to crime which gave
him to the State Penitentiary for lif and
as took him back to his cell he told me
to come aud see him the next day, and
perhaps he could tell me something that
would astonish me. We detectives are
not easily astonished, however, and the
oft-repeated assurances, by hopeless Grim
inals, that they could and would astound
us with wonderful revelations, too often
tell us little or nothing more than we
know. A few new lodges, some robbery
yet in its infancy and only conceived,
and occasionally some really useful clues
or information, generally being the sub
stance of the prisoners confessions, aud
made in the hopes of its being used to
mitigate and shorten the present punish
the expectation of hearing anything of
consequence that / went the next day
therefore to English Bill's cell That he
was celebrated burglar, tibet and Grim
inal l had long known, but as said be-
fore, it is seldom that reliable intorma-
ton, which can be made of use to us de-
tcctives is furnished by such men.
Bill seemed none the worse from the
severity of the sentence which he had so
lately received. though to less harden
ed criminal, the bare thought of impris-
onment for life is generally SO appalling
as to age them in a lew hours. Bul Bill
had counted the cost over and over
again, aud now that the game was up,
the race run, and all chance gone, he
was prepare tc pay the penalty aud
meet his fate like man.
1t is such men as these that alone make
successful burglars or criminals. The
coward when his doom has come will
have heen a coward before, aud the
chances are that the very innate coward
ic" has been the cause OF unsteadying
his nerve or hand. and led to his detec.
tive and capture.
After few words OF ordinary conver.
Sation with Bill, he plunged into the ma,
ter Of his confession at once.
'Yon see, SIR" he said, land / will
give it nearly in his own Words" 81 have
something on my mind to tell you thai
| think you ough, To know. You run Inc
down in this 'ere game, and You did i,
well. | ain't going to blame you for tha,
that's your business, not but it's a near
kind of usiness, too, this running on Il
man down but somebody has got to do
it, suppose, aud after all, il amt any
mcaner than a man like me, doing a
something that requires officers 10 ruu
him down. However, that's neither
here nor there, and half forgive you
for bagging mel don't quite forgive
you, you see-perhaps thatll come, and
it will come it yoa and me pull together
in this little piece of business, and you
fix the folks as fixed me, the id vii
lains."
told Bill that could make no treat
or parley with him, that all our dealings
must consist of his confession TO me, bui
If he was able to give me such informa
tion as would result in my getting on
The track of the rogues, he might rest
assured that would follow up the trail
and arrest them, and see due punishment
mcted out to them if it lay in my power
"Well," said Bill, "that'll have to do,
| suppose; all ask is to get them fixed
so here goes tor what the parson used ia
call an open confession. You'll remem.
ber," said Bill, shat robbery at the Surf
Bank, down on Tide street, near the riv,
er How the Bank got pretty well
stripped, and how no one ever got d
trace of the fellows who broke in"
remembered it too well, for the non.
success of the detective force in not be-
ing able to get even the remotest clae
had been constant gall to us. and the
papers had taken care that we should
have rub on the old sore every two or
three days.
"Well," said Bill, tine and my pals
fixed up that thing, and if the other fel-
lows had worked square, wouldn't be
here now. I'd be a virtuous farmer IN
Australia or respectable citizen out
West, living on money and taking good
care of myself That's what / laid out
to do, but didn't get the rocks to do it
on, thanks TO them villain pals of mine,
and / thought I'd have another try to
make raise, and that's sunk me to what
/ am now." YA
swell, you see," ho continued, eve
had our eye on the bank long time,
and I'll tell you how il came about"
"0ne night me and some fellows were
out in boat on the river, looking
around for something that might lie han.