The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-05-24
MISS HAINES' BROTHER.
From the San Francisco Argonaut.

I'D IL
bankers. was simply in charge of it on
moderate salary and under heavy bonds
an5 had the credit of being a capitalist
n --bore no credit was due. The syndicate
ted a l-story building for the bank
The front of this was rallied off in the
N ,,sral way, and the rear was divided into
40 rooms. One was used as a private
room in which business appertaining to
n che hank was transacted, and the other
b was my bedroom. l was a young man
and single, and l had not only to act as
n rresidcnt. cashier and teller during the
5o, but as Waterman at night The only
\ holm had was bookkeeper, and he was
4 with me only three half days per week.
81 The remainder of his time was put in with
sbinping firm in the same town
Won will say this was a curious way of
y rpnning a bank, but l can find YOU a dozen
Il of them in the territorial towns of to-day
conducted on the same primitive princi-
. Mes I was doing business with one six
a weeks ago where the family kitchen was
directly in the rear of the cashiers win
dow. and a woman who was cooking din
ner left the meat frying on the stove to
n come in and cash check for me. Along
side the burglar-proof safe was a trmdle
he'd. and on top of the safe itself was a
smoked ham and sack of -four 1t was
banking and housekeeping combined.
II was figured that l had only one
4 danger to guard against. A tough man
might drop in some day and rest the muz-
zle of his guns on the ledge of the window
and order me to pass out all the money in
SIGHT. The safe was always kept locked,
and it was seldom that / ever had more
than 500 outside. To prevent any ex-
pcriments, however, l gave out that l
had arranged a shotgun battery Just
where it would do the most good, and
that by pressing a lever l could blow the
body of any bad, bad man through the
front window and clear across the street,
and that he would be dead at the end of
his voyage. Everybody believed this
fiction to be fact, and some people were
so timid that | had to do business with
them away from the window. 1t was ex-
pressly stipulated in my contract with
the syndicate that if | received anything
for safe deposit it must be at the risk of
the depOsitOrs, and they must be so
warned in advance. / had scarcely opened
for business before a dozen people in town
wanted the use our safe AS we were
to do more or less business with them l
could not refuse to take temporary charge
Of valuable papers and various sums of
money.
The bank had been running about three
months when my brother Tom, who had
been telegraph operator at Big Bend, $50
miles away, was transferred down to
Grand Crossing only ten miles away, and
he seized the first favorable opportunity
to come down and see me. l may tell you
that Tom was mechanical and electrical
genius and is now living on the royalties
paid him for half a dozen good things.
When we had visited for a couple of
hours and he had looked things over he
said
You sleep here, and you are loaded for
bear, but it wouldn't be any trick at all
for sharp men to clean you out 1t won't
be another three months before some
body will try it on you"
How"
well, you'll get a caller in the evening
probably, and the first thing you know
you'll get a rap on the head, and before
you come to he'll have opened the safe and
Skipped with your cash. It's a cOmbina-
ton see, but if that can't be hit it can
be drilled or blown open. | think I'll
make things a little safer for you"
The bank had no cellar but as stone
was plenty and cost only the labor of
Quarrying the walls were built two feet
thick, To get below the frost line they
had to be sunk nearly five feet The space
lnclosed by the walls was fiinty soil, so
hard that pick could scarcely disturb it,
The floor of the bank was a little more
than four feet above the earth Tom was
about week, working at odd times, to
get things in shape. He cut out trap
door in front of the safe, brought
down wires and battery, and when he
had finished we had Contrivance which
ne alone had power over from Grand
Crossing. BY means Of switch up there
he could spring the bolt of the trap door,
and the door worked on a spring
TO close the opening again. A
staple in the door and another
IN the frame permitted the use of a peg,
50 there might be no fear of accident
during business hours. The understand
ING we had was that Tom should drop
mat door every hour between o'clock at
night and the next morning, and the
scheme worked as easy as rollingoff log
+ or The first few nights the click of the
bolt woke me up as the door fell, but after
lime 1t failed to penetrate my drowsy
senses
had to run my bank to suit the con-
Vemence Of the public, and it was never
closed before 6o'clock in the evening and
was often open until z. AS a rule, all
persons who wished to use the safe over
MSht came in between 6 and z. / gave
each one receipt for whatever he de-
posted, but made no charge whatever.
- anu many 0lgnJ bndJ SAFE neld
e-',OO outside of bank money, and on
such occasions ] felt a bit proud at the
confidence reposed in me.
TOMS trap had been working for a
month ormOre when | received a strange
Cduer one evening at $3.50 o'clock. A
woman was by no means a rare sight in
IoWn, though they were none too numer-
GUS, but this visitor of mine was young
woman, stylishly dressed and as pretty
as peach. I'll admit right here that |
nag Jumping of the heart at sight other,
anu mat when she smiled on me | was as
oduly mustered as a boy caught stealing
eYRs' She was from st. Louis, she ex-
Plalned, and had come out in search of a
brother who had mysteriously disap-
pared. She would be at the hotel for a
MGek or two and wished me to safe deposit
SooO IN greenbacks, She gave me. the
ndlhe OF Miss Nellie Haines to insert in
sue receipt, and you will, of course, smile
NJ contempt when I admit that had to
eol1lt that money three different times to
Make IL come out straight. l, of course,
Guefed my assistance in the search for
formation, and, Of course, she sweetly
SSiIlauked me and said she'd come in again
que ana come, and when l saw her by
os S}nght / WAS clean gone. Regular case
IL loNe at first sight on my part, and /
n"1e no more excuses to offer. l wrote
oa'gral letters for her, and she wrote sew
=, ~ Tor herself, and the search for the
-'I2'Ihg brother was well begun.