The sun., 1879-06-22
THE OCEAN NATIONAL BANK.
ROBBED BYITs OFFICERS. BIZ THIEVES.
AND BIZ ITS RECEIVER

and VINO the Nonucre Wero-Ahe touuuct
.fthe Hank Omcer.- What the Detective.
1d-uow the Able Receiver has Finished
the Work Besua By the Bank Omeor.
4.
The Ocean National Bank was robbed on
Sunday. June ~. 1869. The robbers carried
away t76s. .S79.74 and left t1 800 05s.
The bank closed at tho usual hour Satur-
day. June 20. The colored janitor. Peter Grant.
who lived In the attic story OF the bank build
ing was in the banking room that night be-
tween and 10 o'clock. aud again Sunday
morning. and found everything in order lie
was out Sunday night but saw no light and
heard no noise when he returned at late hour.
Adjoining the bank building on Fulton street
was a saloon. which opened at "a o'clock Sun
day nights for the custom OF early Monday
morning market people. About dnybreak
Monday morning. tho people In this saloon
hoard noise like that made by something
heavy falling but paid no attention to It,
The ianItor entered tho bank shortly af-
ter o'clock Monday morning. and as soon as
be opened the door noticed peculiar suffocat-
ing atmos phere Going behind the counter he
saw tho floor Uttered with tin boxes. papers.
coin and currency. He looked into the Pres-
dents room and saw strip OF black stun
stretched across the loor He went to the Presl-
0entb uebkt huu bolllnu II oAhNh1 WhoAo
the Presidents chair always stood was largo
hole through the floor to the basement below.
He ran to the entrance door saw Eliza Boyce.
the mother Of the woman who kept the saloon ad-
Joining and told her the bank had been robbed.
She went for a policeman. and Sergeant Phillips
OF the Twenty seventh Precinct came and took
possession. Shortly aitorward. W. II. Dunn.
one OF the messengers OF the bank arrived.
About half past o'clock Joseph d. Martin. the
porter. and Edward Dunn, another messenger,
came. and Lyon. the receiving teller and Clark.
the paying teller. and other employees were
there before o'clock Mr.. Morgan. director,
c. s. Stevenson. the cashier. and Theodore
NJ Davis the attorney OF the bank Detec
tves Kelso. Elder and Farley from Police
Headquarters put in an appearance short
ly after O'Clock. The porter Martin
and W. II. Dunn examined the vault soon
a. they arrived. Tho outer door was swung TO.
but not shut tight They threw It wide open
and smoke issued from the vault Bags con-
tanning nickel coin we're burning. There was
asmell Of powder. The books. papers. and old
clothes left by the burglars that Uttered the
vault floor we're soaked with water. Dunn and
Martin examined critically the outside vault
door. and could discover no signs OF violence
The lock worked perfectly. An examination OF
the premises by Lyon. Dunn. Martin and the
leisurely manner in which the burglars had
gone about their work was apparent The
windows and doors above and below had in
side iron shutters. with small damond-shaped
apertures at the top. These holes we're covered
with black cambric muslin and oiled Tx. A
hole 20x25 inches had been cut through the
floor OF the Presidents room from the baseme ent.
Ihe plaster had been neatly removed the SIZE OF
the hole, and the Joisis and hoorlng honey
combed by norinR. The hole was where the
chair at the sident's desk had stood. and 1t
was evident that all but removing the bored sec
ton had been done some days previous. There
Was no litter on the basement hoor. and paper
had been pasted on the under side TO conceal
what had been done For some weeks previous
TO the robbery the President had not occupied
his desk but hnd done his writing aud transacted
business at the directors table near the vim
bean moved under the hole and Afforded easy
ingrsss and eZress 10 the Presidents room.
In the basement were found hai-eaten sand
wiches. "A package OF United states bonds. a lot
OF silver ware, several hundred dollnrs IN notes
and mutilRted fractional currency. q dark Ian
tern some tools. and old clothes. The doors to
the basement were locked and the window
blinds fastened. In the Presidents room were
coats and overulls a roll Of oiled SILK. ana the
bank noor behind ths counter WINS covered WIN w,
depositors' boxes and their contents, which the
robbers deemed worthless, or unsafe 10 carry
away. In the vault all was confusion. A pow,
erful jackscrew OF novel construction. sectional
jlmmes. sledges OF steel and copper. wedges.
drills. bits. powder cans, fuse. blow pes. dark
lanterns and all the parRphernaia OF flrst-class
burglars outfit. with bags Of gold and nickel
coin. bundles OF checks. packages OF bonds,
notes. fractional currency. old clothes, BOOKS,
and papers, all soaking wet. encumberrd the
floor. The second vault door had been un-
locked but the third door was wedged, sprung
with jimmies. and wrrnched open by he pow
erful JAckscrew. One large safe was tipped on
It's side and propped with books. 10 enable the
burglars 10 work upon II with greater facility.
1t had been blown open with powder. and an-
other safe was wedged and priod 10 pieces win
lmmies. Bage OF gold coin were leit untouched
the vault floor The contents ot one OF the ban X
boxes, IN one Of the safes, was not disturbed;
Several thousand dollars in greenoacks ana
tl60 900 IN gold aud gold certificates belonging
The news OF the robbery spread like wildhre.
Crowds oi people. depositors, friends. and
others hOcked 10 ihe bunk. and the police had to
clear IT OF all but "A favored few The President
permitted 70 examine the work OF the burglars
was VIM. NJ Bacon. safe builder, expert. and
agent OF the Covert combination lock. The
vault had three doors. Bacon had four
years previous. rebuilt and sireugthened with
i the Covert combination lock, The outer
door and the lock were critically examined
by Bacon. The combination dial plate had
not been tampered with. There were no
signs OF an Indicator oil. micronleter hav-
Ing been attached. The door had not been
forced open. 1t had been unlocked Some one
who knew the combination had unlocked 1t. .ol
Il had been left unlocked. In this decision W,
II. Butler u rival safe builder. lock agent and
expert, coincded. He, in connection with
Patrick keneally detective OF the twenty
seventh Precinct. examined the lock and re-
tive that he had locked the door Saturday
afternoon at ten minutes past six o'clock
Martin. the porter. Grant. the lnnltor and
Dunn's brother wore equally positive that they
saw the door closed aud locked. The second
door the experts, Bacon and Butler decided
had also been unlocked, They were told
that the keys were always hung upon the cas-
ing OF this door. and therefore did not marvel
that IL of rod no opposition 70 the burglars. 1t
was not hs strong AS the third door, bolnR in
tended 10 oppose fire rather than thieyes but II
would have required time TO open II, had not
the Keys been found. How the burglars know
where to look for the key that un locked the bolts
was not then and has not since been explained
IL.
The bank owned the building on the south
east corner OF Fulton and Greenwich streets
and occupied with It's business room. Presl'
dents office and vault the first hoOr. The
vault WAS built Of granite in large dressed
blocks and lined outside and inside with five
plates OF heavy boiler iron. II had three com
partments and three doors. Tho first door was
q iron backed Dy heavy steel plates. and held
b. extra strong bolts projecting into each iaamt
aud secured by Covert combination lock. The
second door was iron, fastened by duplex
Yale lock. This lock had two keys; the first
threw the bolts into the recesses In the door
lanhs. and the second locked the bolts. The
third door WIS inch h-nnd-h-quarter iron, aud
eseured by a combination key lock. Butterworth
No Rack All This I'M rd dOGF WeFe two large