The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-07-14
WALL STREET.
HOW THE GREAT MONEY MARTS
TREASURE GUARDED.
The Financial Centre q District Ia
booed to Professional Thieves
Some Heavy Robberies-The
New Detective System.

A moderately stout middle-age1 man.
with closely cropped small whiskers,
gold-rimmed eyeglasses, and sedately }
respectable raiment, entered the office OF
the Detective Bureau at Police Head
quarters one recent afternoon and said tc
Inspector Byrnes: II want to go down
on Nassau street, near Pine, tomorrow
to see my lawyer"
He did not say it in a confidential way,
for it was heard by the reporter talking
with the Inspector momeut before and
still standing near. And he looked like
the sort of pecunious old fellow who
might want to see a lawyer about some
real estate transaction, or perhaps the
making of his will. 1t would not have
been Surprising if the Inspector, aside
from his Characteristic courtesy, had re-
piled with some mild paraphrase of the
response of the Bowery b'hoy to Thack-
eray's expressed wish to 60 to Broadway
-"Well, why the deuce don't you go:'
But it was little puzzling to hear him
answer:
'What time?"
cat 10 o'clock"
Very well. A man will be ready here
to 90 with you at that time"
Could it be possible that citizens were
in the habit of claiming police protec-
ton when going within block OF Wall
street, or did the elderly gentleman pat
ronize particularly dangerous lawyers
The applicant returned his thanks po-
litely, and went out. Inspector Byrnes
resumed the interrupted thread OF his
conversation. Neither of them seemed
to see anything novel in the situation.
But the reporter did, and asked an en-
plauation. -
"Wcll," replied the Inspector, ''that
man used to be a first class bank sneak
thief. operating on Wall street, and al
though he Claims to have reformed, and
done nothing crooked for several years, :
don't trust him. Men who are known
as thieves, or as having been thieves, arc
not allowed to 90 into the Wall street
district unaccompanied by an officer.
1t would be dangerous for them even to
90 below Fulton street, for if recognized
they would be liable to arrest on sus-
picion. Consequently, when they have
any real, legitimate business down there,
they come here, report it to me, and |
assign an officer 10 accompany them into
the district and see them safely out of it
again. They submit without a kick, of
course. What else could they do"
How long has that preventive policy
been in vogue:"
Ever since the first week in which I
took charge of this bureau. When as
sumed control, one of the early things
did was to send for all the forgers,
sneaks, aud crooks generally that used to
frequent Wall street, and lay down the
new law to them, that they must not 60
| down to the Wall street district any
more, except by my permission and
under the eye of one of my men. They
knew that I meant what said, and have
since kept very clear of any incursions
| upon the tabooed grounds"
Prior to the placing of the Detective
Bureau under charge of Inspector Byrnes,
ingenious sneak thefts and successful
forgerics were by no means infrcquent,
and occasionally the sums lost were ex-
ceedingly large. Here are some, at least,
of the large losses by these means in
the Wall street district since the war and
prior to 1880, when new man came
along to whom old occasions taught new
duties:
| taken from the safe Of the Royal Insurance
Company.
1S6'-fhe United States Sub Treasury lost
S43 600 by q sneak robbery.
1S70-Vermilye & Co. suffered to the eN-
| tent of Sl6, 600 by forgery.
lS7l-The Hopkins safe robbery OF $780,
| 900; the Union Trust Company robbery,
100000, and the National Park Bank for
gerry, $4,000
lS7S-Samuel White & Co., bankers, lost
$4,000 by forgery.
1S7z-The New York National Exchange
was robbed of &, 700, and James King & Son,
bankers, of $4,000
1s7S-James II. Young was robbed of
| $500, 600.
iS79-Merritt Trimble was made the vic
tim of sneak robbery to the extent of SIS,
| 900.
The new order of things was instituted
on March 10, 1880. That was the day upon
which Inspector Byrnes was put at the
head of the detective force of the c.ty's
police. The first thing he did, having
obtained that authority, was to go down
to Wall street and hire an office to be a
headquarters for such portion of his force
as he might assign for protection of capi-
talistic interests there during business
hours. The Governing Committee of
the Stock Exchange assigned room in
the Exchange building for the use of the
| detectives. There, from $3.50 A. NJ. until
80 p. NJ, every business day, sits one
of the detectives to do clerical work and
be ready t, send out in response to tele-
| phone calls the two men who are kept
there on duty with him for such emer-
| gcnc;es. Meanwhile, eight other mem
| bers of the force are on the street, pa
| trolling certain established beats in the
district with the utmost exactitudc, so
that the whereabouts of each of them is
J known at every minute of the day The
, telephone connection with the office en-
| ables any banker, broker, or other bust
ness man in the district having occasion
for their services to summon the detec-
tives at once, and the man will reach the
callers place generally in one minute,
and never more than three, anywhere be-
tween Cedar street and the Produce Ex-
change, Broadway and the East River.
| In addition to the system described
there are special arrang, mcnts for in
suring the safety of the millions of dol
lars worth of securities and money that
are daily drawn from and replaced in the
safe deposit vaults under the Stock Ex-
change by bankers and brokers in the
vicinity. The boxes containing this val