St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1878-11-01

Walling, Inspector Dilks, Capt. Byrnes
and Capt. Kealy were soon at the scene.
The doors, windows and all means OF
access from without were found intact,
and it was evident that the thieves bad
entered by means of keys.
The night Waterman said he left his
post at 6 p. m, having aroused the jan
itor, as was his custom, left the build
ing, locking the hall door after him.
Everything was right and quiet then.
the upper floor, says that at 6 he arriv-
ed at the building, and found the
entrance open, and wondered at the
carelessness of the watchman. He pas
sed up stairs and met nobody and
heard no noise or disturbance. The
.janitor created an unfavorable impress
sion on a cross-examinatiOn. He said
that at 10 minutes past 6, while he was
dressing himself, seven masked men
suddenly rushed into his room, and
handcuffed himself and his wife, and
demanded the keys of the bank. His
mother in-l law, an old lady who was
present, screamed, when the burglars
drew pistols and threatened instant
death to anyone who made a noise.
They then carried him into an adjOin-
ing room, and forced him to deliver up
the keys of the street doors. With
these, four of the party went down
stairs, leaving three on guard in his
room. Three hours passed and WertOl
heard the clock strike 9. Just then one
of the men from down stairs returned,
and after whispered consultation, they
all left. After he regained his courage,
he went down to the barber shop.
WertOl said that he gave the combina-
ton for unlocking the doors of the
vault to the robbers, under threats of
instant death. His wife corrOborated
his story of the attack, but said there
were only five men in the party. Mr..
Lent, IL Broadway merchant, passed the
bank soon after z. and saw Il young man
busting shelves and desks inside. 1t is
supposed that this was one of the burg
lars, endeavoring to make things look
as natural as possible. Two officers
said that they looked through the bank
window between and z and all was
quiet. The vault can be seen from the
street.
The burglars had an easy job of it
after they got the combination. Inside
the main doors of the safe they found
an open space with shelves, upon which
were tin boxes filled with jewelry, sill
yer ware and valuable papers. These
they emptied. They overlooked a box
Oh the back shelf containing $4,000 in
valuables, the property of Edward
Schell, president of the bank, a brother
of Augustus Schell. There was an
open space of six feet between the main
door of the vault and the doors of the
inner safe, so that the burglars had am
pie space to work in. They pried open
one compartment containing 81 900 In
small bills. They next forced the bot
tom drawer, but got nothing of value.
Wedges were found in the upper COM
partments, which they were trying to
drive in, when they were evidently dis
turbed. A dozen sectional jimmies and
other tools were found scattered
around.
The managers of the bank say that
the combination of the vault-lock was
given the janitor months ago, so that
he could take out the books and make
ready for business. The officers of the
bank are Edward Schell, president and
treasurer, c. F. Alvord, secretary.
The bank officers say that the burg
lars got securities to the amount of
2,757 200, of which $780, 700 were reg
istered in the name of the institution
and are not negotiable.