Sharp County record., 1888-06-21

before they could reach the vault SAFE
Even then they were foiled, Tor
when the two men entered the bank
one dark. rainy night, they discovered
that the cashier was not silly enough |
to leave his safe key on the ledge over
night, so they had to adopt some other
plan. At first they decided TO blow
open the safe, fixing the time for the
approaching equinOctial storm. But
the storm proved to be a dry one
and so Adams and Howard were COM
peled to abandon the project, though
they spent five nights in the bank with
their tools before doing so.
IF there is any thing l admire
about these big bank burglars it is the
pertinacity with which they conduct
their operations. Having wasted near,
ly four months Howard was disposed
to give the thing up, but Adams IN
sisted upon making another and bolder
attempt.
"One bright, sunny day. Howard
drove up in front of hardware store,
nearly opposite the bank. dc was
dressed like country farm hand and
ordered four or five pounds of nails OF
different kinds. While the clerk was
filling the order Harry stood at the
door and saw the bank officers and
clerks go away for their dinner. A
few minutes after Adams appeared,
and receiving signal that the coast
was clear coolly entered the building
locking the outer door behind him.
He found the safe key on the ledge, as
he expected, and, opening the vault,
soon stripped it of its contents,
amounting, as l have said, TO nearly a
million.
II need not say that the burglary
created a great sensation and the po
lice all over the country were put on
their mettle by the offer of big re-
ward for the recovery of the stolen
money and securities.
"Six months elapsed, however,
without any clew, and with the excep-
ton OF Captain John Jourdan, of the
New York police, nearly every body
gave it up as a bad job.
"It's curious how often mere acci-
dent will put detective on fresh
scent. and that is just what happened in
this case. Captain Jourdan had dis
covered that man named David Kim
ney had been selling altered bonds,
and as he was known to be a pal OF
Charley Adams he jumped at the con-
clusion that the latter had had hand
in the burglary. He found, that Kim
ney was very 'fy," so there was no
chance of working him. In the month
of October, 1865 Jourdan and George
Elder, well-known detective in his
day, were standing together on the
corner oA rtAUn ------.4I-a
,street when they saw Hhomias Barton.
young fellow who had just served
out a sentence for counterfeiting. On
the impulse of the moment Elder laid
his hand on Barton's shoulder, and
was surprised to find him trembling
with fear. Slipping his hand into the
fellows pocket Elder discovered that
his prisoner was loaded down with two
thousand dollars in counterfeit postal
currency, for We had no silver in those
days. Of course State prison stared
him in the face, and Jourdan decided
to use him as a stool-pigeon in order
to capture Kinney"
"How could he do thatp" was my
natural question.
Easy enough. 1t is common
practice to use small fish to catch big
ger ones, so Jourdan obtained the con-
sent of the New York district attor-
ney to promise immunity or light
sentence to Barton if he would help
the police. The end OF it was that
Kinney was led by the counterfeiter
into a negotiation for bonds, and when
arrested he was found in possession of
a quantity of Concord Bank bills and
several thousand dollars worth of
stolen bonds. Kinney being thus
eau ght in turn consented TO save him.
self by revealing the hiding place of
Ch aries Adams. 1t had taken over
three months to secure Kinney, and
the detectives supposed that they were
near the end, but they soon discovered
their error.
'In January, 1866, Captain Jour-
dan and George Elder, accompanied
by four or five policemen, proceeded |
TO Camden, N. j., and thence drove to
the village of Pauls boro. twenty
miles away. They arrived between
midnight and dawn, and approached
a handsome villa standing on
the banks of the Delaware river.
Adams was found in bed, and
being arrested, was carried off to New
York by the Captain, Elder and the
rest remaining behind to search for
the stolen property. You will stare
when | tell you that after tearing up
the carpets and breaking the furni-
ture, they next proceeded to examine
the house, finally demolishing the en-
= I'll /