The New York herald., 1877-01-07
BANK ROBBERY AT PETERSBURG, VA.

PARTICULARS OF THE THEFT AND FLIGHT OF A
DISHONEST CLERK WITH NEARLY SEVENTEEN
THOUSAND DoLLARs-ARREsT, CONFESSION
AND coMMITrAL OF A PROMINENT CITIZEN
IMPLICATED IN THE NATTER.
[By TELEGRAPH TO THE HERALD
PETERSBURG, Jan 9, 1871.
most profound sensation created in the com.
munty to-day by the arrest or Richard Basby, a
prominent miller and cizcn the charge OF colu-
sion with OF tho clerks OF the Citizens Bank
whereby the firm o! I. j. Gates L Co., OF which the
former member. enabled TO lrauduleaty pro.
funds OF tho bank the amount Of $l00 000 This
arrest leads Ia the development ol circum.
stances pertaining to the robbery OF tho Bank Of Pc
tersburg by and The flight Of samuel II. Thorburn
Saturday, December 80. The Bank Of Petersburg,
having no vault, sent daily, after business
hours, the tin box, in which kept ITS
currency and securities 10 the vault OF the
Citizeus' Bank Tor safe keeping. On that day Thor
burn the individual ledger clerk, lett IN the bank
alone to complete his days work. with directions from
the cashier lock tho door OF the vault when he
had completed his work While alone he obtained
to the department OF the vault which tho box
kept, iorcing tho lock he stole thcrerom
rcncy to tho amount of Sl6, 30 In hrs hurry be
overlooked, or however cid not remove package OF
,,
and several valuable diamonds deposited coateras
Thni night he fled the city Monaay being Now Ycar's
hay tho bank Of Petersburg had no use Tor IT'S funds
and tho robbery, therefore, was not discovered until
Tuesday morning ana suspicion then only rested on
Thorburn because OF his failure to put in al appearance
ut the bank.
THE FLIGHT rnoEBrgN.
messenger sent 10 HIS house learned that he had
told his aIniiy Saturday night hs Was gong away
on business Tor the bank warrant Then issued Tor
his arrest information teegraphcd TO all the prlnc
pal police hcadquaricrs bn, np'hins has been heard Of
him. The bank now Oilers fcward OF $500 Tor his
apprehension Thorburn was hghly respected and
We'll connected, and was member oi the Baptist
who knew him. and seemed uuaccountablc TO them.
On Friday II was communicated TO the officers Of tho
Citizens Bank 10y member OF Thorburn's family that
his hcit and hsn were caused by his having boon IN
duccd Ly prominent miller OF the city make ccr
tam false entries ~ his ledger 50 that he would DO
enabled 10 ovcrdraw his account
DISCOVERY WHICH TO AN ARREST.
This led to an examination Of the books 0f the bank
and the discovery that T. j. Gates Co. wus the nrn,
Of which Mr. iagby is The financial and managing
partner On Monday Bagby was notified that lie must
make good The dcncit IN tho meantime, however. It
was noised about and Bagby not complying with the
demand Of the bank he was this morning arrested on
warrant sworn out by b. A. Harrison, tho paying
without bail Tor EXAMINATION this afternoon at four
O'Clock. MIR. Bagby has heretofore enjoyed high
repu.a.o1 "a inc community "U ana a. rGspeSaTy S Ms,S
dist church He has been foremost In Sunday school
work and all charitable enterprises Thorburn's
friends attribute his to insanity induced by
.toxcation, but the community believe there has been
too much method In his madness. These events pro-
duce great depression and excitement here Tho firm
OF T. j. Gates Co was always regarded as ourisbng
aud substantial until about year ago when they com
menccd the expectation OF flour to South America, In
which they unsuccessful, and 10 that source Is
ati iibutcd their financial embarrassment and possible
ruin.
CONFESSION AND COMMlrTAI.
Bagby brought before the Mayor this afternoon.
The evidence showed that Bagby first brought the
deficit to the notice Of tho bank. He confessed that
he arranged with Thorburn carry BY false entries
the amount overchecked. Bagby made q largo ship
mcnt Of -four TO Rio, and he hoped to mako good the
deficit from the profits thereof 1t proved however,
disastrous speculation, ana lie learned II he
asked Th0rburn to state the matter TO tho bank ofli
GERS. This Thorburn refused to do until the end OF
tho fiscal quarter Ba2by was sent on TO tho Quar-
terly Court Tor trial without ball. lie will be curred
before the Circuit Judge on habeas corpus Monday