Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1890-10-18
BREAKING A BANK.
HOW THE JOB WAS DONE BY sKILfuL
CHINESE caAcKsMEN.
n.,s,ied Account of the Robbery at Dali
les. Ore. An Express Agents work.
A HumiIsated Chinaman.
Portland oregonlsn.l

Portland orceonisnI
The robbery OF tho First National
Bank OF The Dslles, Ore. on the night
Of September Is, 1890, has proved TO
have been, in tho cleyerness OF its e1ecu-
ton and in tho apparent escape OF IT'S
perpetrators, one Of the most memorable
Of similar undertakings in the North
west
Every day some new incident comes
TO light which adds interest to the long
story of the crime and the steps that lea
up 10 the arrests which have Already
been made.
THE CASHIERS DISCOVERY.
The Firs. National Bank OF Tho Dial.
les il oficered by ID. Z. Thompson, OF
Portland. rs president Vice-President,.
Scbenck. and Cashier, II. NJ. Beall. OF
Tho Dalles About o'clock on the
morning OF September 10th. Mr.. Beall,
ne WAS his won't, went into his BANK.
opened the combination OF the vault ana
The two time.locks of the big sale when
stood in tho rear Of it. On opening the
cash apartment at the bottom OF tue saie
he saw at once that something was
wrong. for the stacks OF gold were scat
tered about and the leather apartment
pouch or bill holder was lying down IN
The lower left-hand corner. When he
lifted this ND he saw small hoie
ehout the size Of mans hand IN the
back wall of the safe, and an instants
suyvov of the money told him that the
bonk had been robbed. The directors
were called in. the cash counted, and
the discrepancy made good. No time
was lost in putting the officers OF the law
In possession Of the facts, and reward
OF 81. 500 was offered. The money taken
was 50, 450 IN gold and about 500 IN cur,
rency. The bill-book evidently had
fallen down in such way as either TO
Illustrate or efiectually discourage the
further work of the robbers who thus
missed 1000 moro in gold and a book
full Of currency and valuable papers.
HOW TIE CRIME WAS DONE.
The bank is located sixty feet from
Washington street on Second.
The workers, though the first work
they did was under the crosswalk which
crosses the alley, did not allow them
selves TO enter and depart from their
place Of operations at that point, Dut
traversed a distance Of a block and O
half under the sidewalk along First to
Washington, then along Washington to
tbe alley. They were thus enabled TO
90 nnder the sidewalk, which is through
ont six feet above the ground, at point
which would Afford no clue 10
their operations. Once at the
rrosswalk, they tunnelled under
il. as the alley had been filed In to
level with the street, though the side
walks rest on supports. Once through
the alley. they were between the earth
embapkment OF the street and the stone
foundation Of the furniture store, Ell
fectually screened from observation by
the sidewalk over them. Here they
loosened stones and effected an entrance
under the furniture store. There IS EVIL
dence that here they made an effort to
reach the safe Of the Pacific Express
Company but apparently learning that
thew had miscalculated their location
and we're
STILL iNDEh luh itis-NtANtN'- HAN'-t
they left off this part of their work and
crossed through into the basement OF
the EXPRESS Office, about midway be-
tween the safe and the rear wall. From
this apartment they made their way
through the stone wall into the vacant
space. in the rear Of the bank, an
Enclosure probably eight by twenty feet
in dimensions, having the rear wall OF
the building behind and the four-foot
wall of the vault IN front. This vacant
space. while in q measure protecting the
vault from immediate assaults from the
alley, proved also an excellent harbor for
the saie-crackers, where, unobserved,
they could work at their leisure
ON the vaults wall. This they
proceeded TO do, and with mar
vellous precision. Having got inside
and directly below a large horizontal
ioist, to this they attached by strong
screws a wooden brace, which served to
support the wall over their aperture.
The safe was then reached in due course
of time and three bricks taken out at
night and replaced in the early morning,
after the work of drilling into the safe 8
and stood against the rear wall OF the
vault. No inspection, therefore, was
made of the back of the vault and no
warning was given. A queer gaseous
smell was noticed on one or two morn
ings preceding the robbering, but was
supposed to be sewer-gas. So the good
work went on, and the steel wall OF the
safe cave way in time 10 sharper and
harder drills than you can find IN the
shops at The Dalles.
AGENT HILLS GOOD WORK.
As far as human eye can see the rob
berry would still be as great mystery as
on the morning when Mr.. Beal discov,
cred il, il il had not been for the clever
work Of the agent OF the Pacific Express
Company. Mr.. Frank n. Hill, who IN
spired by love of justice, and also, II
will not be unfair 10 suppose, by a desire
for the 81, 800 reward, which he seems II
a fair way to be entitled to, had ms
thinking cap on all the time after The
occurrence. So did everybody else, but
seven days went by and the mystery
was as deep as ever. The bank officials
from President Thompson down, hat
put this and that together and taker
them apart again with no success. She
riff Gates and Marshal Gibbons specu
lated in vain for clues. The mighty Sui
Ivan had come and gone, but excep
that he took the burglars tools back L
Portland with him, had accomplished
nothing. But on the morning of the
seventh day, Thursday, September Odd
Agent Hill made OH exciting discovery
BETTER LATE THAN NEVER.
Some two hundred yards west of th
depot at The Dalles stands a story-and-a
half Chinese wash-house The train
have rumbled past it for fifteen years
and all that time observing passenger
could see above its porch, in big blac
letters, "Wah Yune Kee." The doc
was plentifully furnished with red sigr
boards. bespangled with gilt and legend
ed with Chinese characters. Here. f.
seven years past, All Sin has done bus
ness, With every changing owner III
A.. ,a,oa zroa tant The Ua,.a a