The Grange advance. [volume] (Red Wing, Minn.) 1873-1877, 1877-07-18
A STRANGE BANK ROBBERY.
HOSv.the Crjlne VNA~ Tpsacrsf to the Ter
Tried TrHVelerM.'' ~ %ss "a
BY ANNIE A. PRESTON.

BY ANNIE A. PRESTON
One dark, rainy night lin November,
1853, the FIJI Rock Bank, that nestled
beneath the sleepy Gins shading the
principal street ola quiet New England
village, was entered and robbed OF a large
UNI OF money. =
The situation, was peculiar. a large
remarkably intelligent black mastiff WITH
white feet, called a." Silver stocking made
the bank Msehome, always sleeping there
at night. If a stranger came around he
would howl like a park Of artillery; but
heswas never known to bark at cone with
whom he was familiar. Everything in
the bank, the morning after, the robbery;
was found just as it. had been. left the
Afternoon previous. ,ss The safe was locked;
nothing had been disturbed, only the
money was gone. SaAs&a - - VI
President Strand and Cashier Moreton,
gentlemen of unblemished reputation, had
gone in company that evening to attend a
political meeting in an adjacent town,
and, on, account of ,the~storn, remained
there over night. They drove home the
whose reliability in every respect was the
pH1UC ICdllS, lldu Uccu IOUUcU Ill
their absence, As is often the ease with
country banks, whose business IS not large
Or complicated, the president and cashier
alone attended to the clerical duties Of
Flint Rock Bank. no other person being
employed in it's .<Essss' ~. r.
Various efforts were 3vainly made to fer
ret out the thieves. All sorts of rumors
were af1oat concerning suspicious charac-
ters that had been seen in the Village
few days before the robbery. andsit was
said that carriage had been heard driv-
ing through the the streets that same
night. Popular i opinion finally settled
down to the belief that the money was
taken by gang Of New York burglars;
but the robbery and the different means
used to trace the perpetrators formed the
chief topic of conversation among the vii
layers during the entire winter Miss
Ethel Moreton, the beautiful young
daughter Of the cashier, had been made
ill-by the excitement and by nervous fear
lest her father should be blamed in some
way for thesloss. and had not LETT her
room since the crime was discovered. 81
One evening in the foil lowing pril,
Mr. Witherell, owner Of the store IN the
village. called on Mr.. Strand, the bank
president, at his residence, and showed
him a bank note which both. the gentle
men agreed was the same one that MI.
Witherell had deposited in the bank on
one afternoon preceding the robbery. The
note had been torn and mended in such a
way that it was quite noticeable, and was
remarked upon by the two gentlemenat
the time. The note was in one of: the
packages Of money that had been taken.
Mr.. Witherell, on being asked how it had
again come into his hands, said:
''Mrs. Remington gave it to me this
afternoon, in pay ing bill which her hus-.
band contracted soon after they came to
town last autumn, about fortnight be-
fore the bank was robbed. They bought
Cashier Moreton's Elm street house,
moving into it, you know, when he took
possession Of his new house around the
corner"
After some further conversation upon
the subject, the two gentlemen went to-
gether to call Oh Mrs. Remington, They
found that her husband had just returned
from two weeks business trip. On
making known their Grand, Mrs. Rem
ington, a quiet, lady-like little woman,
said:
''When we purchased this house Mr..
Moreton, the former owner and occupant,
proposed that we should take the furnish.
ings of the front hall, that had been made
to order to suit the rather curiously -shap-
cd room. An antique chair fits the curve
of the stairway, the mirror hat-rack Just
suits the niche made by the chimney tlue,
and the carpet, of course, was cut to fit
the floor.
thinking that we should be unable to
suit ourselves better, we bought the arti-
cles, not moving them at all the past win
ter. This spring, while my husband was
absent on his recent trip, 1 though that
1 would clean house.. and, accordingly.
began in the front hall. II found the Eat
rack to be on castors, easily rolled out of
its niche, and began with brush and dust
pan to clean where it had stood, when,
far back in the corner, with a few au-
tumn leaves, covered with dust, found
that bank-note.
Il had no idea how it came there, and
thought would not mention the finding
to any one until my husbands return.
when would advise with him about it.
This morning Mr.. Witherelrs bill was
sent in. We had promised to pay the bill
the first of April, and, as we are compare
lively strangers here, thought it best to
pay at once. looked over the contents
of my pocket-book, and found that by
using this ten-dollar note 1 could make
out the amount. 1 gave the money to the
messenger with some misgivings, but
thought if had done wrong my husband
would, on his return, which had not ex-
pected so soon, make the matter right.
had just related the circumstance to him
when you came in"