The Kootenai herald. [volume] (Kootenai, Idaho) 1891-1904, 1894-03-10
Thieves Secure Three Thousand Dol
lars From Michigan Bank.
THEY MAKE THEIR ESCAPE
Two Masked Men Force the Assistant
Cashier to Open the safe While
They Load Up.

Cured in Washtenaw county during the
past few weeks, the burglary of Bow
dish s. Matteson's store in Aun Arbor
being followed by the shooting of ON
GERS Peterson and Smith, who were ar
resting the perpetrators at Yysilanti;
then the officers were thrown into
white heat blythe burglary at Comstock
Hilps house In Lodi, and the shooting
of HIPS son by the burglar.
But these affairs were thrown into
the shade by the daring manner in
which two burglars robbed the Dexter
Savings bank. Nothing to equal it has
ever been done in that section of the
country, and it had all the earmarks of
raid on a western bank by the James
or Dalton gang.
The bank at Dexter is situated
on the main street, where half the peo-
pie of the village pass. The custom of
the bank is to open at o'clock, and at
z this morning Orla G. Gregory, the as
sistant cashier, went to the bank for
the purpose of sweeping out. He fn-
back room with some ashes AS he re-
turned to the bank office he was con-
fronted by two desperate looking men
who had entered the front door and
locked it after them. They wore gray
-overcoats and their faces were covered
with black masks. They covered Greg
DRY with revolvers and ordered him to
unlock the safe, which he did. The time
lock on the safe was set to unlock about
1870, and five minutes earlier could not
have been unlocked.
The men cleaned out the safe of all
the cash and took the coin, which
weighed about twenty pounds. The
men turned to go, and Gregory started
after them. They turned on him and
struck him with a sandbag several times
over the head, beating him into uncon.
seriousness. They then picked him up
and placed him in the safe vault, clos
ing the door on him, and made their es-
cape.
At just O'Clock Cashier H. Writ New
kirk entered the bank, and, seeing
nothing wrong, started to read a news
paper, In about five minutes he got up,
went to the vault and, finding the door
unlocked, opened it. Seeing Gregory
there and silver scattered about upon
the vault floor, he supposed that Greg
ory was sick and-in falling had knocked
down the coin box. Fastening to his
side and finding him unconscious, New
kirk fastened to call a physician. 1t
took several minutes to bring Gregory
to life, and then he told what had hap
pened, becoming unconscious again. |
Newkirk gave an alarm, and in half an |
hour the officers here had been notified |
and had started for the scene. Every |
available man in Dexter secured a gun |
and started out to scour the country,
but up to the present time have met
with no success.
The bank officials were reticent about
giving out the amount of their loss.
Cashier Newkirk said he thought the
loss would be from 81 900 to 81 500, but
outsiders claim 1t will be in the neigh.
borhood of $4,000. 1t is certain that
the burglars got away with all the
available currency, which is usually
from $4,000 to $4,000, as an officer of
the bank visited Ann Arbor this morn
ing and secured currency from the Ann
Arbor banks with which to pay checks.
The loss, should it run to the highest
notch, will not affect the standing of
the bank, which has ample capital back
of it.
The officers are working on the case
almost without a clew. Not a person
in all Dexter saw any strangers in the
village yesterday. If the job was done
by outsiders they must have come in a
buggy, as, had they carried the bag of
silver far, they would have been no
ticed. Word was received that three
persons boarded an east-bound train
about the time of the burglary, but they
have been identified. The officers are
now inclined to the belief that persons
living not far from the bank were inter
ested in the affair, and they have
couple of men under surveillance, but
no arrests have been made.