Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1874-01-15
Capture Of Notorious Banditti Descent Open
Den Of Burglars.

.'NtHtuS pdltiCuiti VI Vic Ctplute vi Il
notorious and daring band Of thieves
who have been the terror of suburban
residents If New York for half year
past. Among the party arrested is an
alleged Baltimore burglar of some dis
The Tribune says:
Masked THE es have SUGGEST ally
plundered the residences of Abram
Pest, at Catskill, of J. 2. Emmett, at
New Rochelle, of w K Soutter, on
Staten Island, and the depot of the
Jamaica and Brooklyn rallro d at East
New York All, ut onth ago the
detectives arrested a man named Charles
Hobbs on charge Of being concerned
in the robbery of Mr. Posts house at
Catskill, and through information OBJ
tanned from him it is believed the de
tectives traced the other thieves Act
ing under orders from Superintendent
Matsell to make every effort to arrest
the thieves, Captain Irving appointed
Detectives Elder, King, Fields and
Lyon, to the task Of hunting down the
band. TIE principal clue to the gang
was broken jimmy Of peculiar con.
struction and handcuff left behind by.
the thieves when they robbed Dir. En-
NETS bonse.
The headquarters Of o suspected gang
of burglars was traced, with much diff
Guilty, to the drinking saloon Of George
A. Willard, al the northeast corner of
Canal and Washington streets. The
spot was carefully watched for days
and nights until their seemed no doubt
that the band was the same as that OF
which the detectives were on the trail.
Monday there were evidences Of COZ
ference among the inmates of the sa
loon and of a preparation for departure
Several well-known burglars were OBJ
served to enter at different times and
b. various entrances, aud the detect
ives felt that the lime to strike had ar
rived. Captain Petty, or the fifth pre-
cinct, ordered out platoon OF men at
at the request OF the officers, which
swept down upon th. place so sudden,
ly and unexpectedly that there was no
chance for escape. Seven men were
seated about the room drinking and in
conversation Willard, the proprietor,
was at his post behind the bar; and
there seemed not the slightest appre~
pension of danger. Suddenly without
warning, the doorways were simulta
neously darkened by the forms Of a
squad of policemen. Detective Elder
appeared at their head, and Informed
the terrified men in tic saloon that
they were prisoners. The policemen
then stepped forward and arrested all
The Suspected thieves, who submitted
without a struggle The detectives
then proceeded to ransack the bar room
and. adjoining apartments The ob
ject Of their search was found concealed
in several old carpet bags behind the
bar. This consisted Of the pilmiement
used by the burglars during ,h.r raids
in the country. All OF the tools, Ian
terms, handouts, and DISCUSSES, which
had done service on the occasion OF the
various robb"rles were found and re-
moved In a wagon TO the central office
The prisoners were placed in carriages
and, surrounded by. policemen, were ia
ken to headquarters, where having giy
en- their names, they We're placed in
separate GELS guarded constantly by
three officers.
The band thus successfully captured
was, perhaps, the most dangerous and
best organized gang of thieves in tn.
the United States, composed as it was
Of old and experienced burglars, who
have been engaged in many of the
largest bank robberis.s in the United
States. The most important one of the
prisoners is Dan Kelly, who escaped
from Auburn several years ago, and is
one of the men implicated in the muir
der Of Benjamin Nathan. ''Patsey:'
is = notorious burglar, and 10 especially
notable: from having, it Is alleged, nul
dered the mate OF a vessel Oh the East
river seven years ago. "Billy" Hoey
is Baltimore burglar, and has follow
ed his present calling for ten Or twelve
years. He, it is asserted, was engaged
in the robbery of the New England
Bank and of the Concord Bank. Lar
ry" Griffin, Billy" Wood, and John
Garvy are all alleged daring and skill
full professional burglars, who have
heretofore walily avoided arrest by the
police, to whom they are, however, well
known George a. Willard is known
as the keeper of thieves resort, and
Matthew McGeachey, the youngest
man captured in the saloon, is nine.
teen years of age, and unknown to the
police. He claims to be a boatman
from Yonkefs. On the examination OF
these men before Superintendent Mat
sell, Hoey gave his name is John
Burns, Wood as John Thompson, and
Garvy as Francis p. Kayton.
Among the contents of the valises
were eleven SLOUGH hat, which seeming
" connect the prisoners with the elev-
en- men who have been committing
the burglaries mentioned 1t remains
to be revealed whether the families of
Messrs. Post, Emmett, and Soutter Car
identity Il 9 prisoners. A large amount
of private papers and account books
were found which may possibly be rec
ognized by some of the victims. A
pair Of handouts, the exact counterpart
OF the pair left at Mr. Emmet's was
among the property taken There was
also ladys veil, used for mask, and
a quantity ofpaper muslin, from which
masks were cut when necessary, and at
forwards thrown away. The tools used
were of the finest quality and very nu-
merous. there being four OF five dupli
Gates of every article.
kilograms have been sent to the vic
tins of the four robberies mentioned to
identity the prisoners. MIR. Post Offer
pH for thf font,,ro aDj oopyi.fiop IF h..