The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1878-11-02
A NOTABLE BANK ROBBERY.


Last Sundays dispatches to the daily papers
from New York brought intelligence OF one OF
the heaviest rs we'll rs in its details most re
remarkable bank robberes on record. The
victim" was the Manhattan Savings Bank, on
the corner of Blocker street and Broadway, one
of the most conspicuous corners IN New ork
city, The robbery occurred between six and
seven o'clock on Sunday morning, an hour at
which daylight had already come and at which
many people are apt to be on the street The
bank was guarded by n special outside watch
man, who remained on duty until six o'clock,
after which, in the ordinary course, his place
would be taken by the regular police. The
bank was on the ground floor, most of its int
rior, and especially the doors of its vaults be
ng plainly visible from the sidewalk Up
stairs in the same building lived the jantor,
with his wife and aged mothcr.in.law, and in
possession of the janitor were the keys of the
bank and the vault, and, stranger still, the
com blnaton Of the vault lock. About &
o'clock Immediately after the night Waterman
had left his post, seven masked men entered Il
side door from the street, rush up stairs and into
the ianitor's room, seize, handCuii and place
Il pistol under his nose and the nose of his
motherin.law and then demand the keys and
the combination Of the vault locks. The terri
fed janltor at first refuses, but threat of
death is uttered, and he yields. The burglars
now hasten to enter the bank, and opening the
vault, with Il slcdge hammer and chlscl force
open the inner safe and help themselves to the
contents These consisted, first, of securities,
chiefly registered L. 5. bonds, to the amount
of S2,741,10O only $4,000 being coupon
bonds; I'd, $1,000 in cash; and Sd, some
twenty private tin boxes containing III all six
or seven thousand dollars in cash and large
amount of jewelry, so valuable that people
were afraid to keep 1t in their houses. 1t Is
noteworthy that one tin box of jewelry and
other valuables worth $4,000 belonging to
Mr. Schell, the President of the bank, remain
ed untouched.
While the burglars Were at work several po-
hcc officers admit they passed the bank and
looked in, but saw nothing unusual, the burg
lars being at work inside the vault One of
the officers saw one of the burglars in his
shirt sleeves engaged with Il brush busting the
tables and counters, but supposed it was an
employee of the bank. After having com
pletely Quilted the concern the burglars passed
out of the front door, in broad daylight made
off with their swag, and to this day not trace
of either them or the property has been found !!
Many things about the whole affair undeni
ably look suspicious. For instance, it is not
probable that in all the United States is there
another bank which leaves the keys to the
vault with the janitor, and certainly no other
bank that intruSts the janitor with the combi-
nation for opening the vault locks. Then, the
case being so exceptional, how did the burg
lars happen to know the jantor to be in pos
session of the combination: Again, knowing
him To be thus in possession, what reason had
they to know a threat of death would extract
the secret from him? The janitor must have
been the biggest fool in existence not to know
that there was not one chance in fifty that the
robbers would carry out their threat, for his
death would only have been sure defeat to
their enterprise.
Besides, how happened it that no policeman
was around at any time except casually topass
from to nearly O'Clock, when usually half
a dozen are in sight o: that corner at all hours
day or night? How happened it that the par
tiCular box Of the bank President was untouch-
ed? And so on, and so on. We have "A dim
suspicion, when the bottom facts are reached,
if ever they are reached, that it will be found
that the bank was rotton, and that the best of
the cutting was done by its officers before the
burglars ever rot INTO it,