St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-04-20
GUARDING A BILLION DOLLARS.
The Money Storedin Wall Street and Vici-
ty-Holc 1T Is Protected.
New York Mail and Express.

and safe deposit vaults in Wall street and
vicinity not far from 81, ZOO, 600, 000," said
Mr.. Robert Pinkerton to a reporter for the
Mail and Express as he sat in comfortable
cosy chair in his Office in Exchange Place.
~ may be a trfe out of the way in my esti-
mate, but not very much. The protection
Of all this wealth requires the services OF
large number Of men in addition to the usal
mechanical and electrical devices employed
for that purpose, The bulk of this large
sum of money is stored in the vaults OF safe
deposit companies. The waits are built OF
| fre-proof and burglar-proof material, and are
made as secure as modern invention will al
low. They are connected by electric wires
with the nearest District Telegraph Office.
Armed watchmen pace to and fro in the
rooms upon which the vaults open. These
men are required 70 give a signal over the
wire at stated intervals during the night, in
order to prove to the proper authorities that
they are faithfully attending to their business
and that nothing of an evil nature has hap
pened. If the signals are not given an
armed posse Of men are at once sent to the
vault in question. In addition to these
watchmen who patrol the street in front of
| the building in which the vaults are placed
! Private watchmen and detectives are also on
| the lookout for suspicious persons. You
would think the precautions l have already
mentioned would be enough to protect the
property, would you not! There is, how
ever, one more protection. Police from the
several stations down town pass along the
streets at intervals during the night, and keep
a careful watch of strangers found on their
beat. In the morning, when the vaults are
opened and large amounts of specific, stocks,
bonds, etc, are taken out, detectives ac-
company the messengers to and from the
offices to which the property is to be convey
ed. am of the opinion that it would be a
difficult matter for an armed mob to force its
way into any of the great deposit companies
vaults, for few men within, well equipped
with rifles and cannon, could defy an army
of desperadoes.
NO GOOD BANK ROBBERS.
care there as many professional bank
robbers now as there were formerly!" in
quired the reporter.
81 don't believe there is the making of
regular gang of first-class bank burglars
among all the thieves of this country " re-
piled Mr.. Pinkerton. Nearly all the old pro-
fessionals have either died or have been ar
rested and put away in prison, and the
younger men don't seem to have the ingenu-
ity of their predecessors. Look at the noted
bank burglars who have been caught and
shut up within fifteen or twenty years.
There's Jimmy Hope, who was arrested in
California for robbng the Manhattan bank
of this city; Bob Scott and Jimmy Dunlap,
the Northampton bank burglars, Roary Sims,
Charley Bartlett and Eddy Mcclure, who
were released from prison two years ago, af
ter being in jail fifteen years for ''lifting''
the Bowdoinham bank in the state of Maine;
George White, alias Bliss, for participating
in the robbery of a Concord, New Hamp-
shire bank; Langdon w. Moore, alias Char
ley Adams, who cracked the safe of private
banking house in Boston; and finally, but
by no means least, Max Schoenburn. one of
the most successful burglars who ever lived.
After cracking the safes of the Lehigh coal
and navigation company and the Ocean and
West Maryland banks he escaped from this
country and went to Belgium, where he was
arrested and sent to prison for term of
fourteen years. Besides these 1 might men
ton Joe Chapman, Ike Marsh, Charles Bal
land and others. Many of these men were
hunted down by detectives from from our
offices. The young burglars are now exer-
cising their skill upon jewelrY safes in diff
ferent parts of the country. They have met
with such success that the jewelers. of the
United States have been compelled to organ
iZe themselves into the Jewellers Security ALI
ance for the purpose of mutual protection.
The burglars were first taught by Max
Schoenburn that the Lille safe could be
opened by knocking off one of the iron
hinges of the door. They learned their les
son well and have profted by it. A Lille
safe was cracked in Brooklyn and another in
Troy only a few weeks ago by some of these
very men.
DETECTIVES AT PARTIES AND WEDDINGS.
care the detectives employed to protect
ladies wearing diamonds at parties or the
theater?'
eyes it is customary for wealthy ladies to
employ detectives to guard them, whenever
they appear in public wearing costly gems.
You will find my men at nearly every fash
ionable wedding, reception, party or even flu
neral that takes place in this city. They go
to the weddings dressed as guests, and min
gle with the crowd without attracting attention.
They watch the expensive gifts presented to
the newly married pair, and have care lest
well dressed thieves succeed in removing the
diamonds from the dresses ofthe dear friends
who may be present. Detectives must be
sharp, quick and leyel-headed if they are to
amount to anything in criminal work. Our
agency takes no cases inovlving family mat
tiers. Much ofthe work done by us involves
the looking up of the habits of clerks in
banks and business houses, and the en-
ployes of express companies who have the
handling of large sums of money. 1t is the
rule of some establishments or companies to
have the habits of their employees examined
yearly. a man is found to be spending
more money than he earns, or is becoming
reckless in his expenses, he is warned by his
employer, and, if he still persists
in his course, is dropped
from his position. When important bus
mess interests are at stake, merchants or
bankers cannot afford to have in their offices
men who have the least bit of irregularity at
tached to their habits of living Opera sing
ers and actresses who in certain scenes wear
expensive jewelry or precious gems employ
detectives to watch them while at the the
alter. We had detectiye with Patti for
months when she was singing in the west.
Sarah Bernhard would not travel without
one.".
EUROPEAN DETECTIVES.
'sHow do American compare with Europe
an detectives?"
''The systems employed on the other side
of the Atlantic have developed finer class
of detectives than we have on this side The
Scotland yard detectives in London have the
reputation of being the sharpest in the world.
John Shore, the chief inspector, is probably
without his equal in the detective service
His men are sent to all parts of the world in
search of criminals. The Old Jury Detective
Force is another strong corps of detectives.
Their work is confined more especially to the
banking district of London. The French
detective system is more like that employed
hnrn thara H.