St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1888-07-28
A DETECTIVES TALE.
The Story of the Great Concord
Bank Robbery.

"uuc "aihiu9 up F" 'Suu 8 "" OtaCoss
Boston. last week. encountered $
welI-known New York detective. who
said he was going TO the Massachusetts,
State Prison at Charlestown. and invit
ed me to accompany him. We were.
of course. speedily admitted. when the
detective had mysterious interview
with two of the convicis
At the invita- ton of the warden we
subsequently made q tour of the
prison. In the shoe shop my detect-
i've friend called my attention to a
pale-faced man who was bending over
q pegging machine.
That was Charley Adams" re-
marked the detective while we were
in our train to this city. Though he is
better known 10 the police as Langdon
w. Moore. He is one of the most
skillful bank burglars in this coIn-
Try"
..Is he in now for robbing a bank:"
] asked
Yes. He and gang broke into
the Cambridgcport Bank in 1880. and
he is now serving out a sixtecn-years
sentence. He will bc out during the
summer of 1892. owing TO the COM
mutation for good behavior. and we
will have to. keep our eyes open after
that" 4.
"Why. he is quite gray" said l. ':Is
he not too old for more crime?"
Thieves like him are never too old
for work. Adams was born in 1880,
and has spent half of the past forty
years in prison. He always aimed at
getting big plundcE He got so much
once that the authorities wcrc afraid
to prosecute him."
How was thst?' asked. seeing
there was a chance for a story.
''Wcll. you must remember that nj
the close of The war there was an inn
meusc amount of money invested in
Government bonds. Adams and a
pal of his empticd the safe Of bank
and carried of nearly million. When
arrested he gained his liberty by SUR
rendering tho greater part Of his
booty.
''Thc Concord Bank. of Massa.
chusetts. had for its president Mr..
George Haywood who was also the
cashier of the County Savings Bank.
and he kept all the securities belong
ing to the latter institution in the
vault of the Concord Bank. All of the
merchants and most of the farmers in
that neighborhood had bonds on de-
posit in the vault for safe-keepin.,
though as 1t turned out they could
not have chosen n more convenient
place for the burglars
"A man named Harry Howard, but
more commonly known rs English
Harry. was well-known and very
skilltul burglar. He had met Charley
Adams while they were in prison to-
gciher for bursting into different
banks In the early part Of January.
1865. he happened to bc in Concord,
when the idea occurred 10 him that
the bank might lie safely cracked. On
the impulse of the moment English
Harry entered the bank and reancst-
sd change for 500 bill. Mr.. Che
shcir. the teller. declined to give il.
not liking Howard's appearance.
This only angered the ex-convic.,
and he At once proceeded to Farming
ham. where Adams was livin. on his
farm. The result Of their conference
was that week after Adams called
AT the bank and opened negotiations
for some $50 United States bonds.
Having his eyes open. he soon discov-
cred that the cashier kept the kew TO
the vault on a ledge near the door,
aud vas also foolish enough to have
the combination on paper beside it. /
adams and Howard then began
working out plan for robbing the
vault. They first took an impression
IF the lock on the outer door, and
sent H. 10 New York to have a kew
made. Fifteen days and nights
elapsed before they got the key to fit,
and nearly three months more were
occupied in making keys for seven
other doors which had 20 he opened
before ihev could reach the vs:lt safe.