Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1895-04-22

$50 pm
WEATHER PRoBABILITIEs.-For this
Ian fair. preceded by showers 20 day !;
s,sig. tonight winds shifting to northwest
erly.
rBJ1LYn WILLIAMS CoNFEssEs.-
.p;llv, Williams, arrested in Washing
,on s6me days ago for completely in the
robbery of the safe at the Ferry wharf,
hos made confession to District At
, ,l Birney, which shows that Wash
;ncton has been Tor the past year in the
hands of a gang of organized thieves.
This gang has plundered, robbed and
wavlaid and even went so far as to
Man for the murder of Sergeant John
Z DAILY. because he was in the way
and frustrated some of their crimes.
Among 1.-THE crimes attributed as set
ont in this confession are the following !:
Robbery of the branch post Office IN
Georgetown; robbery of Dyer's grocery
in Georgetown, when $500 were secur-
ed; the burning of the Lady of the
Lake" wrecking of John Clark's safe
at Rosslyn; the shooting of Charles
0rme, at the Bateman-English prize
fight, near Bladensburg, when an effort
was made to steal the gate money; the
holding up of R. A Golden; the robbery
of the Washington and Alexandria
Ferry Company's Office; the robbery of
an old man in Georgetown of the saw
ings ofa lifetime, aggregating $500;
the attempt to waylay John and Clar-
ence Crary, in charge of the foreign
book at the Alexander track, and final
Is the plot to murder Sergeant Daily.
Billy Williams, as is well-known, is an
oll-time criminal. He has been appre-
hended on number of charges and
seved five years in the Virginia peni-
tertiary for the murder of Policeman
Arnold, of this city. He returned to
Washington and appeared to be lead
ing an honest life. His confession i'm
plcates a number of sporting men,
but the authorities refuse now to men
ton any names. Jack Bolan, who was
made to figure in BillyIWilliams's state
ment as a member of the gang, called
ut detective headquarters yesterday
morning upon learning that he was un
der suspicion, and was informed by In
spector Hollinberger that his arrest
was not contemplated. Bolan stoutly
denied even the romotest connection
with Williams and Desmond, or that he
had any acquaintance with them. With
the exception Of Dempsey, all the men
implicated il the safe robbery are
known to the Washington police, and
they expect to catch Alton soon.
Dempsey has not been located, but
every possible clue is being worked out
Williams having turned
states evidence is now being treated as
q witness, and has been given the large
double cell once occupied by Frank
Ward. The robbery of the ferry-boat
safes, for which Williams was arrested
the last time, occurred about o'clock
on the morning Of April /, and was
participated in. so Williams says, by
four men-Eddie Desmond, (the man
whom the Alexandria police arrested)
Jack Dempsey, Charles Alton aud Will
liams. James Fornshill, the watch
man, who was seized and bound,
saw only three men, but Williams
was the fourth person and he stood
on the outside keeping guard.
Five attempts were made to rob the
safes before success crowned their eff
forts. Each time the men crossed the
river in their boat, but something al
ways happened to spoil the job. On
the last night, however, everything was
Alton, who had the lay Of
the ground and knew all about the
safes, climbed up from the boat aud rat
tied the gates. Desmond and Dempsey
seized the Waterman and bound him
with boat cord. Desmond then kept
watch over....the PROSTATE Waterman
with a revolver, while Jack Dempsey
cracked the safe. One safe, it will Dc
was not blown open.
This was a Herring safe, which, it
seems, had the same combination as
when it left the factory. The other
safe, being an old-fashioned key con-
Germ, was not hard to open. A little
powder in the key hole blew off the
outside iron plate, after which the
cement could be readily dug out.
Williams received his ''bit" of the
money, not a very large amount.
Nearly 500 was secured in all,
5000 of which was in gold.
Part of Williams's confessions deals
with what became of the gold coin.
He says it was taken to sporting
man, said to be Ed. Heath, and eXchang-
ed for currency. Williams says that
Alton visited the ferry Office at least
halfa dozen times previous to the rob-
berry, for the purpose of securing points
about the place. The steamer Lady of
the Lady was burned about 2 o'clock
on the morning of February Is, and
Williams alleges that Alton did the
job. He says the boat was burned for
insurance, and intimates that certain
parties were interested in the deal and
paid Alton for his work. Some, how
ever, suggest that the steamer was
burned in order to divert attention
from another place where a robbery
hae been planned. Detectives Horn
and Weeden have succeeded in locat-
ing the store where Alton, on the night
of the fire, purchased a five-gallon can
of coal oil, and they claim that they
will have no difficulty in proving con-
clusively that Alton did the work. In
quiry is now being made by the detec-
tives as to what insurance companies
carried risks on the boat, and who Of
ficiated as attorney for the steamboat
company. 1t is understood that Will
liams has informed the officers of Des-
mond's history in Chicago, where he
saus both Desmond and Lack Rolsn