The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1889-07-19
A BANK ROBBER.

paying teller OF lHe Othto NatioIlal
bank. in Il tlourishing tow, in the west,
the events I am about to relate oc.
Cured. The story is almost exactly
sml,ortaut events. A partial account
of the affair was published in y local
paper, and some Of my readers may
have seen 1t.
When I left Ohio l Grated up my
bicycle, and sent it along by express.
It arrived in perfect order, and when
the roads were in good condition / took
many Il PLEASANT spin after banking
&o"Ts.
one summer morning, after a de-
1ichtful after. breakfast run in the Drac-
Ing mountain air, l rode up to the bank,
Mnu HAVING cleaned and oiled my bicy-
ale, stored it III one Of the rOomsa at the
rear of Tie lanking Office. Then l
went %leisurtly about my work. The
first til ~ to DO was toopen the vault, 4
substantial structure Of masonry with
iron doors and braclngs, and a floor Of
! 50 Il blocks OF stone.
The. vault, Was not made specially
! strong against burglars, for the cash
was tept iii the safe within. The vault
was Intended Only 10 protect the books
; and recoi dis by fire. Any mere bungler
! OF crackSmam could have got into it
Iii III, hour or twc. Tile safe, however,
was as NEARLY burglar proof as the best
steel and latest improved locks could
make l..
The vault had two, doors, an inner
Rnu an outer, which were fastened by
combination locks. Between the two
doors was Il stone floor, like that inside
of the vault.
swung the outer door open without
fl,tliculty, but when l pulled tile inner
door, L my surprise it scraped on the
stone floor, and considerable force was
required to pull it over the obstruction,
and swing IL fully open.
What WAS the cause Of this obstruc-
tion? Had the hinges OF the door been
wor. SO as to let 1t down? Had faulty
construction i'll the floor allowed n Of
the stones to slip gradually out OF place
and interfere With the door? Had the
building been settling and the vault
doors thrown out Of level? Grand
my heart beat faster at the thought
had como one been tamperiMg with the
hinges?
Iii any case there was need Of a thor
ough investigation, but what was TO he
done? The cashier was out of town;
and the president had told me the night
before that he would leave on the morn
ing's train for Enterprise, to.settle up q
disputed balance with our correspond
ent there. The absence of both officers
left me in first authority.
But before 1 decided what to do. the
safe must be examined to see if it had
been tempered with. | llurriedly en-
N, tered the vault, and scanned the eXte-
lTior of the safe. No marks Of violence
appeared. The door WAS protected by
a time lock, and by three combination
locks TO hold the bolts after the time
locks had released them. The clocks
had been set for S O'Clock, and were
now run down. The tumblers Of the
combinations had clicked in quick time
as | hurriedly whirled the knobs, Bills.
gold and silver lay undisturDed, just as
had left them the evening before.
Now What was to be done? | did
not Ike TO resume responsibilities which
properly belonged to some II else.
md here was a problem which possibly
concerned the very life OF the bank.
Unless | was forced by circumstances,
:he solving Of it WAS not TO: me.
l gave myself three minutes for a
decision. The cashier was out of reach,
and the president was now on his way
10 the station. If could reach the
station before the train left, | could
bring him back. The train was due AZ
800. and the clock now marked S.35.
The station WAS about four miles
from the town. When the railroad vas
hnilt It was found necessary TO run
Gown the valley; and SO the town which
lay back on the lakeland was left that
distance to he west. 1t would be i'm
possible To get a horse and buggy, and
get to The station in the time allotted.
IM Nv hi.xt.lnt. 7 .no,,ll = ~ ~ fI,t,.o x,,.,t, .,
Gh, ice Of success.
The tWo other clerks had come into
INTO the bank, and were at wolk at
tl,eir desks. / got out Tie cash needed
>8t the counter, remarked quietly to the
clerks that | MAS going out for Il few
minutes, ind told the receiving teller
80 attend TO my window meantime.
Then l slipped On lily riding shoes, ran
my machine out Of the rear door and
mounted. The road MAS good, and /
MAS nerved to great exertion, and al.
slough it required twenty minutes OF as
hard work as | even did, | succeeded.
Tie dark roof OF HE low station
1ui ding came III sight, just as up TIL,
valley | saw the smoke Of the approach
Eng train. | Was not too late. l
whisked up to the station and hurried
10 Mr.. Axtell, the president, who, valise
In hand, was looking up the track AZ
the train.
I related to him all there was to tell
in y very few words. lie asked me a
few questions and tlien said; OF course
I will 20 back to town. You return by
Jour bicycle. and | will follow by the
stage. Go to the bank and attend to
business rs usual. When 1 get in we
will decide what to do
I made my return trip with all posi-
plc speed, and took my place at the
teller window. For twenty minutes
business quietly proceeded.
Mr. Axtell came ~leisurely into the
Bank SOC after. lie went into the
yanlt. examined the door, and he ran
,@is hand along the cracks between the
A3b1onea. A moments inspection satisfied
- l. - u " III ~ q n.tt ~ nj y 4 oll ~ D NM