The New York herald., 1871-09-12
VANISHED VOUCHERS.
An Alleged Burglary in the Comp
trOlIer's Office.
Tho County Bureau Rihed-Bills and Vouchers
for 1869 and 1870 Abstracted Excitement
In the Court House-A Derelict Custo-
dian and Sharp operators-A
Strange Story Altogether.

While the whole town was excited In regard to
the great argument going on in the Supreme Court
Chambers. yesterday morning; while tho crowds Of
hangcrs-on to Tammany were lost in wonderment
as to whether that Injunction" would be perma.
nent or otherwise and their chances Of "ducats''
accordingly safe or unsafe; while the 'sver.
tongued" Richard was engaging the attention Of the
crowd with his musical cadences as he read item
after item Of "those" accounts while everybody on
the tip OF expectation" stood waiting for the grand
den0uement, while the crowd who hurried up and
down the thOr0ughiares bem0aning the fact that
their time would not allow them to attend and hear
whether the grand sensation would be another OF
Foley's failures or not; while the bulletin boards
were being closely watched by anxious passers.by
the word was quietly and quickly passed about tnat
VOUCHERS HAD BEEN STOLEN
nom the Comptroller's Office and tnar the accounts
for the years 1869 and 1870 would be- therefore, very
incomplete, and could mol, Of COURSE be offered In
evidence II they should be asked for. The news
new like wildhre The crowd In the CITY Hall Park
caught 1t up; the loafers philosophical on It; the
policemen passed 1t along quietly one to the other,
and even the little sparrows seemed to
squeak, "they're gone," they're gone" 'the
notes." 'the notes." Immediately there was
rush for the Court House. and particularly for the
Comptrollers ofice. Legitimate and itinerant re.
portcrs were quickly on hand, and the ofllcias IN
the County Auditors Bureau were interviewed at
length in regard to the occurrence. They bore 1t
remarkably WELL John Hou9htallng stroked his
blonde goatee twisted his brilliant breastpln so
that 1t shone more gorgcously. ana told the
anxious reporters that "Stephen" cOuld tell
about II. Stephen-surnamed Lynes-was per.
fectly willing TO tell what he knew, but
M0lOney could tell better. Moloney adjusted lis
eyeglasses, looked at his interOcutOr, and explained
the occurrence as far as ne knew. Another clerk,
Mr.. Carroll, sat with his elbow on the desk, and
went through q detailed account Of the affair as
correctly ana as glIbly as II he wero thoroughly
trained walter Of Delmonlco's or Moquln's going
through the bill of iare. lie said he only knew that
Murpny-wnliam Murphy-went out to his tea last
Sunday night about i've or ak or seven O'Clock,
and while he was gone the door was opened and
the closets were rlned Of bundles OF documents.
What the
PURPoRT OR VALUE OF THE DOCUMENTS
were lie could not say but In q few days 1t could
easily be determined. as the books In tue safe and
the books at the bank and vouchers untouched
exactly what the nature Of the documents were.
1t was supposed. however, that they consisted
mainly OF vouchers for cOunty liabilities and ''ad
justed claims" for 1869 and 1870.
These documents were slowed away In pigeon
holes in ordinary black vi alnut closets which were
secured by most ordinary-l0oktng tumbler locks.
1t of course no very diicult job 10 pry open the
closets the most diicult part Of the work being to
located without attracting attention. TEls feat
was
MORE THAN ORDINARILY DIFFICULT
for any stranger to perform, especially on Sunday.
The main doors OF the Court House are securely
locked oil day and anybody my desiring r to enter must
folks on the upper floor of the building can hear
and answer their summons. Besides tne Janltors
family there are watchmen In the building, one OF
whom cares for the Comptroler's offices and
another for the Chamberlains onces. The watch.
place goes on duty at six p. NJ, and Keeps guard
until seven. or thereabOuts In the morning, when
he Is rellved by the day watchman.
THE EVIDENCES OF BURGLARY
consist in portion Of the heavy ground glass sash
This glass is fully three-eightns OF inch thlcK.
This glass was cut or broken away at the lower
% hand and ida arm and enable him thus to reach h the
knob on the inslae and thus open the door, which
fastens with spring locA. Once inside this door
PRY OPEN THE DOORS OF TnE LOCKERS
and secure whatever documents were needed. These
lockers were pred open evidently with small
jimmy. In each locker were twenty pigeon.holes,
pnS % Sp a.
and, II carried away IN one package, must nave
measured at least two ieet square, rather suspici
GUS looking bundle TO leave public building with
The burglary was evidently not the work Of an
named William Murphy, LETT the building, as IS
stated on sunday nght Tor about an hour and half,
II the WORK was done by anybody not In the build.
ing he must have watched the iantor. ana,
sssnS n% stree. saEi ;ss a' Door Aa1
en- entered the m building ana =, hurried through
time stated but did not discover thing out Of the
morning by watchman Micnael Regan. fhe latter
glass from the portion cut away lay smashed into
pieces the door behind the door and the doors Of
the closets stood partly open. Among tho
STRANGE CIRCUMSTANCES
Connected with the afIalr are that the watchman.
Murphy, was not IN the building yesterday and It
was not known where he lived. The Waterman
troiler himself, who might be supposed TO he deeply
interested, kept closely ooseted, while Chief irving
70 see him and obtain his views on the mat
ter. The pieces OF glass had been carefully
whether they had been smashed in by q mans nst
or with q smaller and harder Instrument. The de-
ess 5s but
q jimmy and that certain pigeon holes were vacant
The superintendent OF the building left on Sunday
he left everything was secure to all appearances.
MANY THEORIES
are sxtant as 70 the necessity or utility OF oSain
are many uncharltaole enough to say that 1t wass
'PuT UP JOB"
by inside parties to delay the litigation now pend
Ing but this theory is exploded by the fact that the
vouchers could be readily duplicated either rom tle
books at the bank or from the books OF the
1t is asserted thas the work was done IN obedience
to or for pay BY parties opposed to the Comptroler
intrinsic value but that their abstraction at this
time would help to
on to the Tammany leaders and create q worse feel.
ing against the managers OF the CITY finances.
Whatever the true state OF the case may be
to come, " ever. Inc abstraction was evidently
made by somebody who knew Just where to go ana
tina. II was done Dy any person not no now or IN me
generally dscredited. The superintendent OF the
building, Mr.. Baulcn. says that