The tribune. [volume] (Beaufort, S.C.) 1874-1876, 1875-03-17

until point where Main street inter
sects short street on which the bridge
before alluded to is located, and where
the first two men were expected to be
stationed. If the coast was clear, the
men who passed by the bank were to
raise their hats slightly and walk on slow
ly without seeming to take notice.
The raising of the hats was the signal
that all was right, and SO as to make as
surance doubly sure, another participant
was stationed on Main street, to see that
the clerks had left the bank at their ap-
pointed time.
This was to be done by signal; not
word was to pass between the plottcrs,
and the raising of the hat was the uni
versal token
AS the two men who started from the
front of a certain hotel already referred
to came within sight OF Shepherds
corner, where the third lookout was
stationed, they received the proper sig
nal, passed up Main street, one on each
side, as planned, and one being twenty
feet in the rear of the other. On arriving
within sight of the bridge they saw that
their companions who were to enter the
bank were at their post. The signal was
given promptly, and those who were to
u,
Bond being twenty feet in advance of
his companion. The men who gave the
signal retraced their steps slowly and re-
mained in sight of the bank until they
saw their accompices enter and the
window curtains pulled down to prevent
parties from looking in. All watchers
were to remain Mt their post for ten
minutes, so that in case the robbers were
intercepted, they could be on hand to
prevent their arrest, and to use every
means III their power to do so. At the
end OF the ten minutes they were to sep
arate and each one to go to some store
where he was acquainted, get into con-
versation with the storckeeper, and to re-
main with him constantly until the news
came that the bank had been robbed.
This was for the purpose of proving an
atidi. They were if possible to call the
storekeepers attention to the time, so
that III case they were suspected aud
arrested this could be proved too. And
as soon as all hands engaged in the crime
could conveniently do SO, they were to
hasten to the scene of the robbery. and
be very energetic in hunting up the
thieves
That this compact was we'll carried
out, is shown by the fact that two of the
real robbers hired sleigh, armed them
selves with revolvers, and set out in
search of the inoffending ones. On ar
irving at the depot they told the chief
OF police about two men whom they saw
enter the train, and who looked to them
as suspicious characters. The chief had
the good sense to see that the parties
were all right, and on this account did
not arrest them. The party who was
stationed to receive the money from the
thieves met them rs appointed.
On receiving the money this accessory
carried it to the house of an accomplice,
where it was buried in an ash pile ut the
rear of the house.
On the same evening it was removed
by the robbers, who thought it too close
to the house, and it was carried about
quarter of milo distant III an old pillow
case and buried i'll heap Of snow.
Subsequently it was feared that the foot
prints III the snow would tell tales in
case the officers came to make search,
and so that investment was not consil-
cred safe, and another removal planned.
Accordingly, at midnight of the same
night it was removed from the snow
pile and placed i'll lath-pile located IN
the neighborhood. Another conference
of all the robbers was held, and it was
concluded that the lath- pile was also an
unsafe investment, as parties engaged
around the sawmill would be likely to
discover it, and another removal was de-
cided upon. So before daylight on the
following morning, one of the robbers
removed it to u closet in the rear of his
dwelling. He shortly afterwards heard
that he was suspected as one of the rob-
bers, and this depository was considered
unsafe, and the funds were transferred
to saloon and thrown under the coun-
ter.
Later on in the evening the money
was removed to n hotel, where at mid
night in the presence of all the robbers it
was counted for the first time, when it was
ascertained that if divided equally, al
lowing percentage to outsiders who
had q knowledge of the robbery. the
share of each active participant would
amount to about $780, The entire
amount was S6,700.
The money was left in the hotel in
its pillow case until the following Sun
day, when it was concluded to remove it
to what was considered safer hiding
place. 1t was accordingly given to one
of the robbers, who carried it to small
grocery store on the outskirts of the
town, and lifting portion of the floor
buried it without the proprietor's knowl-
edge. On account of the innocence of
the storekeeper and the fact that the
thieves might want the money at any
time, it was again removed, and on this
occasion carried into coal mine about n
mile from the mouth of the slope, and
hidden in one of the chambers. "Here
at least" said the thieves, cit is entirely
safe. But subsequent events proved
the fallacy of this belief. The money
was regularly visited every day, and one