New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1889-04-24
Nhy-IWas Sent t0Rrlson.

- Nda lie lHVar1aDIe= custom rot
tie night Waterman of the AIer-
chants1land Mechanics Bank, at Clio
TO throw open the front doors and
; raise The curtains at 7Ho'clock each
morning. By that time all the
stores were open and the streets full
{ OF people. From X to s he swept.and
fuusted9 and the bells had scarcely
struck the latter hour when the
bank officials began to arrive. Then
the Waterman went home, the ,,doors
NWere closed, and at nine sthe lsanl
was ready for business.
One September morning the cash
Ter, teller, and two of the clerks az
Flved'to find the heavy front doors
= still closed. Peter, the Waterman,
had been in service nine years, and
\ this was the first time he had over
Stsslept his hour. The grocer son one
side and the shoeman on the ,.other
had pounded on the bank doors at a
quarter to s, and not receiving any
response, we're certain that some
thing out of the way had occurred.
There were nine Of us who entered
the bank as the cashier unlocked the
doors. The curtains had not vet
been raised when we knew thatroh-
berry and murder had taken iplace.
\ When we got the full light we saw
Peter lying on his back on the floor
outside of the railing. He was fully
dressed, and had been struck ON the
back. of the head; and the blow had
crushed in the skull. The body'was
r'cold, showing that death had ,oc-
r2curred some hours before.
Further investigat ton proved that
the door of the vault had been drilled
and blown open, and that the bank
had beenrobbed of every dollar of
gifts cash on hand. Taking the loss of
bbonds, stocks, and cash, the aggre-
gate was about $4,000, about half
Of which fell upon the bank. Burglar
'tools, fuse, flash of powder, and
oother articles were lying about, and
ION a desk we found the loaded club
(which had. dealt Peter his blow.
When We;came to investigate as ITO
l. how the:robbers had effected an, en-
trance everybody was at sea. They
could only have come and gone by
the front door. None of the windows
had been raised, the back door WAS
heavily barred, and the door leading
to the cellar had not been tempered
with.
! Peter hadno key to the lock ofr5he
front door. He could open it from
the inside, but not from the other.
The, cashier and bookkeeper, both
old and trusted men and stOckhold-
ers, Halone. hadN keys. He must, we
concluded,i have admitted the robbers
to the bank, butIthe fact OF his hav-
ing been murdered was proof Of his
integrity. Had,he put up a job with
them, theWwould, not have finished
him off. Hewast q sharp, shrewd fell
low, and what excuse they could have
/ urged'bO gain admission was beyond
- our figuring. Detectives were put to
work on the.ease, but not the slight
est clue could they get for weeks. 1t
seemed"as if the, robbers had taken
wings as they.lefts the bank Three
monthstlate1, two men, who were sus-
pected Gfbeing, :::sgood fellows" were
arrested;at appoint 200 miles away,
and in another State, for stealing a
horse and buggy. In following up
this case TOO fp-oGnyiction it was prov
ed that theyihad arranged to do a
bank in a,,eountry town, and that
the RIG hall been Stolen as part of
the programme, One of the men was
recognized iasiatperson seen in our
town about the time ,of,our robbery,
a: and the bank people became satisfied
y that both oftthem had a shand in it.
.yrhey had no proofs, and the matter
would have haan permitted to drop
y but for me.
1.-The loss of cash was only about
ST., 600 Aboaat $35, OOOinsecurities
belonged to dapositors, and the bal
ance was the loss of the bank. None
of the securities had been negotiated
thus far, and Mt was my theory
that the robbers had them
ssecu1r3y hidden AWAY >.spme-
where While L could mot be
positive that either of tthe. men ! ar
Erested for stealing the horse, and
buggy svas the parity wanted for sur
job, tvs of our citizens 1Were,so posi-
tive in Identifying ONE eofttheGl that |
was ready to chance lit. The banf.
fl2ad offered a big REWARD :fors5he ar
resi- of the robbers sand murderers,
and after Cue elaboration with my
q 4 and saYeraI -cOnsaIf;a tions with