Sharp County record., 1877-08-17
THE GREAT BANK ROBBERY.
Trid of the Northampton Bank Burglars
Remarkable Evidence OF hn accom-
,Iice. Edson, the Bank-lock Expert.

owl rCorrespondence of the Boston Journall
o NORTHAMPTON, Mass, July II, 1877.
afi The trial of Scott AM Dunlap, the
rOt supposed robbers of the Northampton
nv National Bank in this town on the Goth
he .sof January, 1876, by which operation
S the large sumOf Sl,0OO,O ,OOOor 81, ,25O,OOO
M lin casl, bonds, and other securities was
| realized, has stirred up this community
is- as no other circumstance has done since
the MIL River food in 1874, The facts
be of the robbery are already pretty well
known-the entering of Cashier Whit
tIesey's house at midnight by gang of
% five masked men; the binding of him
M self and family and the togtmes and
e threats by which the combinations of the
E bank-lockS were forced from him; the
successful plunder of the bank and the
escape of the robbers; their subsequent
s. capture and the confession of their ac-
complice, Edison.
n AS was anticipated, the chief point of
interest has been the testimony OF Ed
II son. the bank-lock expert, and the ac-
{, complice and abettOr before the act OF
the thieves who actually COM
mitted the robbery, This man Isl curl
Gus psychological puzzle, and grows
more unfathomable and mysterious the
more one seeks to sound him. In the
most natural and nonchalant manner OF
which it is possible to conceive, he gave
evidence which, if produced by another
IL person. would have branded him with
M disgrace compared to which that at
taching TO ScOtto and Dunlap had ap-
peared scarcely worth mentioning. No
report of this trial which have yet seen
has half exposed the singularity of Ed
sons confession. Passing over the de-
& tails of his preliminary efforts, which
include the examination and subsequent
attempts at robbery of no less than 10
banks in various parts of the country
from Nantucket to Kentucky, | come at
once to the history Of his connection
with the Northampton Bank robbery,
where his nOblest triumph was achieved.
EDSON'S KNAvERY.
Acting as trusted agent for Herring
& Co., safe manufacturers of New York,
and being at the same time partner on
an equal footing in a conspiracy with
Scott, Dunlap and Corners to rob any
and all banks which Edson's expert
skill might suggest as open to burglar
ious attacks, he came to the NOrthamp-
ton Bank in August, 1870, examined the
new doors which he had placed in the
vault on the previous month, found that
the KEYS worked hard, took them to
New York to be altered, gave dupi-
Gates to his accomplices and returned
the originals to the bank officers The
robbery would doubtless have been
committed at about this time had not
the bank changed its dialS and keys, a
proceeding which put stop to opera
tions for the time being. In November
Edison came again to the bank, secured
the keys under pretense of filing them,
made an impression of them in wax
which Scott had given to him, and was
again prepared for action. His crown
inc feat of audacity was perpetrated
upon MI Warmer, the Nice-President
of the bank, with whom he took tea at
this time. 1t was, of course, a great
consequence to the burglars that they
should be obliged to invade as few
houses as possible in their attempts to
gain a knowledge Of the combinations
necessary to unlock the various doors OF
the bank, and to narrow down the pos
session OF these secrets to the feWest
number of persons was one object OF
Edson's visit. He found that Mr.. Whit
tleseY had all the combinations except
that to the inner vault door, which
was intrusted to Il young clerk,
and he therefore so strongly
urged upon Mr.. Warriner the danger
likely to be incurred by intrusting a
mere boy with such a secret that Mr..
Warriner became quite alarmed, and on
the following day told Edison that he
had followed his suggestion, changed
the combination, and given it to Mr..
Whittlesey 1t can easily be imagined
that Mr.. Edison returned to New York
in a state of great mental eXhilaration
at having so successfully pulled the
wool over Mr.. WARMERS eyes. The
bank was soon afterward robbed, and
Edison, the still unsupported agent and
trusted expert, was on hand again, with
in "a hours to examine the work which
had been rendered possible of accom-
plishment only through his own pro-
found rascality. Mr.. Edison must have
been lamentably destitute of humor if
he failed to take in at once the ludicrOus
side of his position. All this, and much
more, he told to the jury, IS free from
shame as he was from eXultatiOn, and
in appearance as careless as he was in
reality guarded. The wholesale Wifi
cation which he heaped upon his own
character equally surprised both de-
fense and prosecution, though the lat
ter must have been in some degree pre-
pared for it. TO the defense, however,