The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1874-11-18
bold Express Robbery .


express safe on a train between New
York and Scranton, Pa, was taken
from the cars and robbed.
The southwark train from Scran-
ton to New York arrives here at
twenty minutes Of and stops ff-
teen minutes for tea. The night
was unusually dark and the express
messenger hungry. He locked the
safe and the door Of the express car
and went to bis supper The burg
lar watched an opportune moment,
and when the safety-valye 0 the ca
CINE was blowing off, be thrust his
hand through the window by the
side Of the entrance door to the car,
raised the latch, opened the side door
on the opposite side from the depot,
placed a railroad tie upon the ground
and to the door of the car, and by
that means n~oislessly slid the safe,
weighing 9lS pounds, to the ground.
Then putting the tie to the ground,
and showing the side door back to its
place, be dragged the safe by main
strength toward the river. Forty
wards from the railroad track he
came to o high board fence, and not
being able to lift it over he wrenched
the lower board off and pulled it
about fifty yards further, alongside a
worm fence. Here, in its shadow,
he applied q lever to the handle, and
by a sudden wrench easily broke
open the safe, which was nothing
more than a common sheet iron box,
guarded on the corners with iron
bars. a q~uarter-inch in thickness by
one aud a quarter inches in width.
1t was no more trouble TO open It
than it would be TO a blacksmith to
get at the contents Of q clam. The
burglar then went about $50 yards
further into the field of s. S. Bogart,
lighted his lamp and proceeded to ex-
anime the contents of each express
package. He was evidently in a
hurry, as in some instances be did
EHW N H|HNa a
not get all the money from the enye-
lopes. One package from Portland.
Pa, to q firm in New York, which
hal been pat in but a few minutes
before, containing 81, 900, was torn
open, but being wrapped in a lot Of
paper was left on the ground; anoth-
er envelope, containing 1000 from o
national bank at Scranton, Pa, to
the Nashua Bank of New York, was
gone; a draft for $64S, Is from Phelps,
Of Oswego, n. Y, was among the
torn envelopes. Payment has been
stopped. Several small drafts, rang
ing from Sl3 to $50, were also found;
also several gold and silver watches,
ear and finger rings, with some. 9TH
er byouterie that either the thief did
not appreciate or overlooked in bis
haste. After rifing the express
packages be made hasty tracks across
Bogart's grain field southwark in the
direction of Manunka Chunk station,
the imprints of his boots being plain
ly cen in the ground, which were
just eleven inches long and evidently
new ones. The qnickness 0 fhis oper-
ations may be judged from the fact
that Mr.. 4. Henry, a farmer living
just below the station and who was
on the way to it, saw the light 10
Bogart's field while The train was
not yet q mile from the scene Of the
robbery, and on his approaching it
suddenly disappeared, and be heard
the footsteps of some one running.
This could not have been more than
twenty minutes from the time the
messenger left the ear. The messen-
ger did not discover the loss until the
train bad U ten miles, and then
~telegraphed back from Washington
that it had been lost somewhere be-
tween Manunka Chunk and Oxford.
Detectives from Washington and
Hackettstown came up late the same
night as far as Oxford 10 search Of
the safe, and che news was flashed
privately over the wires that the rob-
berry had taken place. If this had
been publicly given out no doubt but
that the robber would have been
easily apprehended but, through
stupidity and fear Of public blame,
the news was withheld as late as pos
sible, and it was nearly 8 o'clock this
morning before the robbery became
generally Known.