Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1872-10-25

about to tie Mr. Van Hovenberg to the bed,
one of them said :" Here, that isn't the way
| you want to lie, - and Immediately took hold
OF him and placed him in a better position.
The man that was set to watch the ladies,
after making his gags, reclined in a lazy,
self-possessed, Lord Dundreary style and
eonversed with them in the most engaging
manner possible. Finding that they were
lying in uneasy positions he fixed their
pillows. He covered the two girls who had
| been placed on top Of the bed quilts, with
quilts taken from another bed. Seeing q
pear in the room, he politely offered to one
of them. In fact the ladies all bear witness
to the gentlemanly manners of their unwel
come guests. They say that not a single
blasphemous word was used by the men in
their presence.
HOW THEY GOT IN.
The basement windows are protected by
iron bars, which were found marked by
muddy feet. One of the parlOr windows,
not being secured by any catch, was easily
opened, and all the gang entered it without
difficulty Then to separate and proceed,
some into the basement to bind the servant,
and Others upstairs to burst open the
| doors of Mr.. and Mrs. Van Hovenberg's
room, into which they entered with whoop,
were portions of an arranged plan. The
thieves must have made great deal Ofnoise,
but the night was inclement, the rain was
descending, and the streets empty.
THE loss.
is estimated at $500 900 it may 90 higher;
it cannot emuch less The officers were not
acquainted with the contents of all the box
es rihed. One lady was very crreful to make
list Of all the numbers of her bonds, but un-
fortunately she deposited the list in the box.
Wallace Smith of Mechanicsville had IS 900
in bonds stolen, and the Cashier of the Mer-
chants and Mechanics Bank ofAlbany loses
100000. The loss to the estate Of J NJ King
is 23i 900, mostly in bonds. Mrs j. B. EnOs
had 81, 900 carried of, and many others lose
| amouts ranging from $4,000 to S25, coo.
The bondsare supposed to be mostly reg
istered, and are not negotiable Some of
the railroad stocks can be disposed of easily
by the thieves. although, according to the
latest judicial decision, they can be claimed
by the legitimate owners at any time. The
robbery has deprived many persons of all
they had on earth The loss of the bank
was 80, 800 in cash, and S22 900 in eollater-
al securities.
Mr.. Van HoygNBERC's 5 STATEMENT.
The burglars hauled me out of bed. There
We're two great strong men. One on each
side of me held revolver at the side of nv
head and bid me make no noise. They took
me down stairs TO the bank vault and told
me to open it or they wOuld blow my brains
out. | ialtered and hesitated as long as |
dared, and finally went to work at
the lock to open it. They had my
hands in handouts behind my back,
and made me work at the lock in
tl.f I 81 IL
ing them in this way hoping some one
would come by the bank on the street and
give the alarm. They had men stationed
outside the bank at all points to give them
warning of the approach Of any body
Every little while one Of the men from out
side would come in and say. - aint that
(ioul name) got that lock open vet. We
had better blow his brains out and end him. "
Then they told me if | did not hurry that
they wonld kill me and blow up the safe.
The only excuse | could make them was that
| could not do anything with my hands las-
tened behind me. Then they l0osened the
euis from one of my hands and told me ..be
quick and open that lock spent about
twenty minutes more in delay and when |
found 1t was useless 10 resist any longer |
opened the lock. They then placed the
handouts on my hands and remained there
safe. They had dark lanterns and dirk
knives and every utensil for the thorough
pursuit Of the Williams calling After they
got through they took ne up stairs and
placed me in bedroom alone By myself.
where | only remained about n minute. The
last Of their footsteps had not died ont in the
hall when | got up and took the revolver
with my hands still behind me and went
down stairs. Ny daughter Sarah had slip
ped the cuff from her hand and she cut the
rope which bound my feet The men were
in the house about three hours. Il was
near O'Clock when they left.
MRS. vANHoyENHEEC -TArENENr
The first heard was a load knock at my
room door. | did not know what u make
OF 1t. In another minute the room was full
of mea. One Of them came u the bedside
and took hold Of my husband and hauled
him out. begged them 10 Spare his iise
They said they would not harm him but we
must keep still After they took him out
OF tue room they went looking around the
room. Cne Of them asked me where my dia-
inonds were. | said did not have any that
we were all poor in the house lie said he
did not believe l.. He took up my watch
from the dressing table and looked at it.
asked him what time it was lie replied one
O'Clock. lie said he would not take the
watch. that
THEY CANE THERE FOR SoNEI
and money thsy would have. lie laid down
ON the sofa and placed a pillow under his
head. Then | said 10 him. "You are one
| of the Scoundrcls who robbed the Ballston
hank He said he was on the canal and
did not know anything about the affair
During this time asked for my daughters
and they were brought in and placed in the
bed with me and my little boy about ten
years Of age. We did not have any gags in
our mouths at this time. soon my little
boy began % cry and make n noise. One
| Of the men down in the hall heard him and
/ said 10 some one near him, 60 and cut
I that (iuOl name) throat and stop his noise. +"
I The man came up and took the boy out Of
I bed
| pleaded with him not to hart him. He
/ said he would not lie took imaway and
placed him in dark clothes press and COW
| cred him up with bed clothes and closed the
/ door on him, and then went down stairs
| again to whore the men were ut work nn
4 the safe.
| asked cne Of the men how he got into
| the house, and he said it made no difference
to me they got in and were there for
| money and would get it before they left the
house. During this time some of the men
were in the hall. some in the room and one
was lying on the sofa, but be soon got up
! and placed his p How on the floor in the
/ doorway. lie wanted 10 know what time
my milknan came along. and told him
about hali-paSt seven in the morning. lie
told me that knew | was living to him
when ! said that. Another asked me when
my hatcher came. told him we did have
the butcher come TO the house we had TO
60 to the market for our meat. After they
had got all through down stairs they came
up and commenced to gag ps.
How the gagS were made. One sat down
on the side of the bed and deliberately tore
the sheet into strips, tied knots on the strips
and made gags which they put into our
mouths. They also tied our feet with cord
rope. They first rolled some of the torn
sheet around oar ankles 50 the cord would
not cut them. After all this had been done
they closed all the room doors and went ont.
Shortly after they came into the room and
took Mr.. VsnhCyenberg ont. One OF
them asked me for the revolver. I told him
| did not know where il was.
lie said You did not get 4 chance to
use it, did you ~ After they got through
rlling the bank they came up to the men in
the hall and all went ont. They had not
/ been gone over minute or two before
heard Mr.. Nanhoyenberg trying to get out
of bed in the next room. | called to him
the best could to lie still or they would
murder him. soon heard him 90 down
stairs TO alarm the neighbors. Ny daugh-
ter, Sarah, cut the strings which bound my
feet the handouts had to be filed off
MISS SARAH HoyESBERC's $ STATEMENT.
| sleep in room alone. The first heard
was a loud noise. thought | was dream
ing. When came to my senses there were
two men in the room beside my bed One
of them placed his hand over my mouth, the
other placed the steel handouts on my hand,
after he put my hands behind me- They lei