St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-01-09

= + f !: ! !:
N vaults In the neigh
* (@ bOrhOOd, an d of
NR course these securi-
AM tie, have to be
NM brought back to the
H)N Offices where they
MEIM belong the follow
1GWN% ing morning in Or
der that the trans
actions of the day may be carried on.
The boxes are of all shapes and sizes
and made of every conceivable mate
rial. Many of them are of Japanned
tin, brilliantly lettered with the firms
name; others are of leather, and look
like the small trunks that Englishmen
affect so much, while many of them are
of wood. These are locked, often pad
locked, thoroughly strapped, and are
carried from the brokers' Office to the
vault and from the vault on the return
trip by one or more truSty clerks, ac-
cOrding to the size of the box, and
member of the firm invariably walks
in the rear with loaded pistol
very convenient for immediate
use. When the boxes are particu-
larly large, and the securities CORE
SpOndingly valuable, the attendant COM
pany of guards, of course, numbers
more than two or three. DreXel, Nor
gan & Co., whose Office is just opposite
the safe deposit vault of the stock eX-
change, where this firm keeps its secur-
tiles over night and over Sunday, in
variably send five men to see that their
strong box is not carried Off.
Under these conditions the transfer
of securities twice q day has been going
on for years and years, and the amount
of securities which have been tempOrar-
lily imperiled reach uncOunted millions
and billions of property. But there has
never been a successful robbery within
the memory of the oldest broker OF old
est police officer in the street. About
fifteen years ago, it is true, the strong
box of GOOdale q Co.. was stolen from
the clerks who were carrying it, thrown
into sleigh in waiting, and bold, bad
robbers dashed off over the snow; but
an immediate cutlery was raised, and
they were stopped and arrested before
the sleigh got into Nassau street. Out
side of this occurrence there is no recent
record of ten cents being taken out of
Wall street from any robbery on the
street.
But any thieves who have evil de-
signs on the immense amount of wealth
stored in the buildings about the stock
exchange would now have something
more to contend with in accomplishing
their object than simply the two or
three clerks carrying the box and the
partner with loaded pistol. Wall
street, from Broadway down to William
street, Nassau street, from Wall street
or Cedar street, and Broad street, down
half way between Exchange place and
Beaver street, are completely guar ded
and watched to-day by detachment of
INSPECTOR BYRNES' DETECTIVE SER
GEANTS.
There are dozen of these eXpe-
rienced police officers distributed with
in these comparatively narrow bound
aries, and their sole business between
$3.50 in the morning and 3 AS in the after
noon is to stroll along these streets
looking for suspicious characters and
suspicious circumstances. They are on
hand early enough to follow various
clerks carrying security boxes from the
safe deposit vaults to the offices, and do
not relax their energies in the way
of circulating about the streets until
these safe deposit vaults are emptied and
in the bankers office and the bust
ines of the day has begun. After
that they lounge about the corners
smoking cigars, talking with each other
and keeping their eyes open all the
time. The have headquarters in the
Stock Exchange building, on the second
floor over the Wall street entrance.
They come in and out here during the
day, read the papers and compare notes
OF what they may have observed. The
room is comfortably furnished, and is
supplied wi4h telephone, whose num-
Der is known to every bank in Wall
street, and they sometimes have Occa-
sion to use the information very freely
and very promptly. In the case of a
suspicious person visiting any down
town bank, or in case where sus-
picious check may be offered, the Wall
street headquarters is telephoned at
once. John j. Dunn, who is in charge,
goes down into the street, and in two
minutes afterward detective sergeant
is dispatched to the place where the
trouble is, and takes hold at once. This
detective service was organized down
on Wall street by Inspector Byrnos al
most Immediately after his promotion,
and, of course, his plans met with the
heartiest cooperation Oh the part of the
governing committee of the stock eX-
change.
All the crooks understand that Wall
street is so thoroughly. guarded that
they have little or no chance to operate
there successfully, so that their visits
are very infrequent. If they come down
there on legitimate business, and are
wise in their generation, they obtain
permission to do so before they start.
Some years ago a panel thief, whose
face was very familiar to the police, in
herited some property, and had to 60
personally to lawyers Office in Wall
street. near William, the beginning of
every quarter to draw his income, which
was rather handsome one. This neces-
sity was understood at police head
quarters, and no notice was taken of
this legitimate quarterly appearance.
but he was never seen there at any other
time. When member of the
LIGHT-FINGERED FRATERNITY
comes down on the street without pre-
viouSly having obtained permission to
do so, he is taken in at once without any
ceremony and brought to police head
quarters. If he happens to be arrested
in the morning he is sent to court
with request that he be allowed to re-
main at police headquarters over night
in order that his case may properly be
considered. The presiding police jus
tice invariably grants the request and
at the hotel in Mulberry street. The
next morning at 9 o'clock, before the
detective SergeantS start down to the
scene of their labor, the prisoner is
brought in, and in the technical phrase
OlOgy of the detectives office Is stood
up-that is to say he is placed in the
middle of the room and the company of
detective sergeants slowly and deliber-
ately familiarize themselves with the
mans features. Of course, no greater
punishment than this can be melted out
to crook that has not done anything
for which he can be punished by abso-
lutte Imprisonment, for the more famil-
lar his features are to the officers of the
law the more restricted and perilOus his
u 9p he is dismissed. and it is s SC Tt
necessary to say that he is in no hurry
to make his temperance about the
stock exchange.