The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1872-08-29
The Baltimore Bank Robbery,
! From the Baltimore American Aug, 1af

From the Baltimore American Aug. 1914
Decidedly the most bold daring we'll damned,
well-eXecuted and successful bank robbery that
has ever been perpetrated in Baltimore, or in
the United States, was accomplished in this city
between the hours intervening frS1 IN the close of
business on Saturday and dayidht of this Mon
day morning., at the Third ~ fional Bank of
South street. near Second sire t. After the bank
had been opened this morning by the proper
person, the teller, as usual /broceeded to open
the vault, but to his great surprise, failed to
move the inner door. ok seemed to per-
form its usual functions, tin the door would
not open, and the teller ily concluded that
something unusual mus wrong on the in
side OF the vault. Il Smith was sent for,
and after an hour of hal labor the locks were
cut off. and then it wa discovered that the vault
had been compile ely faAsacked, an entrance
having been effected hereto by means of hole
about eighteen inch squ,S Re leading to small
loom in the adjoWing ma ble-front building,
owned and until Efcently Occupied by John S.
Cuttings. esq. OHfurther ii estigation it was
discovered that tle tin boxes belonging to pri-
vate depositors, left in the VAIN fc4. safe keeping
together with the valuables al books of the
bank, had been removed from theH ault through
the hole above noticed into the off be adjoining,
and suspicion was at once direciedto the par
ty supposed to have committed the 9Aring act.
On the 10Th of June two prepossesS pg look
ing Young men. apparently Englishni4 rent
ed from John S. Cuttings, esq, the loWs floor
OF his building, ostensibly for the pur b. e OF
conducting a grain and commission busih&s is.
They furnished the office in good style, and to
all appearance were doing thriving and leglti-
mate business. 1t now turps out that the os-
tensible business OF BE firm hich went under
the name of stablerS Co., as merely blind,
the National Bank. I'm W ehman of the bank,
Michael Barnett. was d uty day and night,
aIr and fiS a tI,air RI
conducted that that mo- so the Slightest sa
was heard. In the baf office 6Stabler & Co.,
the wall directly opp tie the bai = vault shows
that large picture OF chart had7 Zen hanging
Just over the place where the hole was cut.
Thus the party engaged in the work might have
been working Oh the two walls, thirty-two
inches in thickness, for several weeks. This
back office was also detached from the front by
| brick wall, and was reached by door, and
by closing the latter the work could have gone
on quietly dav and night without interruption
or observation even from any one entering the
| front office. The appearance of the office of
Staber n Co.. in the Cuttings building, showed
clearly that the burglars must have been thor
ough masters of their business. In the first
place they left behind them after accomplishing
the robbery, overas. slippers, pads, ETC., but
no arucle bears any name or mark which could
possibly lead to discovery. They also left a
dark lantern and one of the most complete set
OF burglars tools to be found. All the tin boxes
taken from the bank vault had been broken
open, and the papers that would prove of no
Value except to the owners scattered about the
moor IN the greatest confusion.
The counters of the mythical firm of Stabler
Co., presented many fragmentarv evidences
OF Il substantial luncheon having been enjoyed
-We-dralned bottles of wine and stronger
Stuf cold boiled chicken, brown bread and
butfered toast. empty sardine boxes and frag-
ments of cheese! Evidently Messrs. Stabler 4
Co. were men of good appetites and vigorous
digestion. They seemed to have enjoyed their
food like honest men, and ''lett some for man
ners.' very capacious receptacle, and one
which would hold he funds and papers of the
most extensive grain house in Baltimore, we'll
hlled certainly, for here they stored the debris
OF their own and their neighbors' walls as they
patiently picked ii away. good square cart
load and more of bricks were piled up in this
vault, which no doubt looked 50 financially
pleth0rlc and substantial to all the unSuspect-
ing innocentS who had intercourse in the front
Office with our grain firm. Messrs Siaber II
Co.. were very neat workmen too, for the car
pet in their private office where they broke
through the wall was scarcely soiled. A cot
ton cloth had been spread down before the
aperture, upon which they neatly caught all
the dust and DIRT The brick appeared to have
been carefully stored away out of sight as fast
as removed, whilst they placed the dirt in some
OF the many table drawers about the place, thus
managing to keep things snug and tidy in case
their field of operations during the day.
The vault in the bank, and from which the
money and valuableS were taken, is of the Ordi-
nary kind, but constructed in such manner
that it was supposed burglars could make no
impression upon it. That portion of the vault
cut into was eight inches in thickness, built of
hard burned brick laid in cement, and outside
OF thai was plating of boiler iron nearly half
an inch in thickness; then came the party wall
proper of the bank, sixteen inches in thickness.
The vault was supplied with a burglar-proof
Lille safe and Miller safe. The adroit rob-
bers failed to get into the latter safe, although
desperate effort was made to blow the door off
with gunpowder, but the Lille safe was forced
open by means of a iackscrew. This morning
the bank officers caused he door of the Miller
safe to be cut away with chisels, when it was
found that the robbers had failed to secure up
wards of one hundred thousand dollars in cash
The robbers, it appears, after getting into the
vault, so hampered the inner door that it could
not be opened from the outside. this being done
probably for the purpose OF delaying the bank
officers in getting into the vault this morning
thus enabling the robbers to get as far away
from Baltimore as possible before the robbery
was discovered. The loss to the bank is esti-
mated at about $4,000 in greenbacks and other
available funds, which it is understood, will in
no way impair the credit OF the bank, it having
Il surplus of profits safely invested. The loss to
the deposltors OF the tin boxes can hardly be es-
tlmated, as many OF the owners are absent from
the city. The detectives have taken the matter
In hand, but as the perpetrators most probably
left the city before the robbery was discovered,
there would seem to be but little hope of success
IN recovering the property. 1t is to be hoped.
however, they may be successful.