Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1895-09-26

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"Arc you game to do us faror ana
make $4,000 for yoWSeg?'
enemy into the citadel In the misery
of the struggle drank heavily.
In my excitement [ exaggerated my
poverty until it seemed impcrsonated
and assumed the guise of an enemy
threatening to enslave me. From s
O'Clock to II Ipaced that mall, and then
left it to keep my appointment with
Irving & Co, with one thought surging
through my brain, and that was that l
dared not be poor, the result being that
before we parted, to their renewed ques-
tion, "Will you do this for us?'' "Of
course I will ~ l cried, and my feet had
slipped good many steps farther down
the Primrose Way to death.
The present generation has become
tolerably familiar witt defalcations and
robberies involving enormous sums.
Previous to 1861 they We're compara-
lively unknown, the reason being that
the currency of the country was strictly
limited There were absolutely no gov
ernment bonds of currency, while the
few bonds issued by corporations We're
not usually made payable to bearer and
therefore were not negotiable ard were
of no use to the robber But in 1861, to
,..E -4atFs
banks We're taxed out of existence and
our present national currency system
came into being. In addition to the
enormous issue of greenbacks, bonds
payable to bearer amounting to hun
dreds of millions were issued by the
general government, by the individual
states, counties, towns and cities, all
becoming popular investments. The
business of the express companies of the
United States took new phase, and for
the first time in their history they began
to be the carriers of vast sums from city
to city. Then it was that those gentle
men who work without the pale of the
law discovered new prospects of wealth
and realized that even to crack safe or
vault of a private firm would be reward
ed by find Of bonds that might amply
repay all risks of robbery under police
rarntnctinn. while to execute a successful
raid on car or even an express deIIV-
cry wagon on ufrc strcru wvui,i
wealth To burglarize the vaults of
bank meant, if undetected, anything
from opening magnificent bar or hotel
in New York to a steam yacht and win
ter cruises in the tropics and summer
nights on the Mediterranean.
The first coup i'll this line, which at
once became famous, was startling III
its ease and magnitude 1t was known
and still is as ''the Lord bond robbery. y
Lord was "a very wealthy man, who had
inherited his millions. His Office was
in Broad street, where he managed his
estates. He had invested 81, 300, 600 in
7-30 bonds, all payable to bearer.
For the thief if he had any knowledge
of finance and knew how TO negotiate
them, such a sum as this in bonds was
better than the same amount III gold.
This was really the first of many
great bond robberies, and it struck the
popular fancy, but it stirred Wall street
greatly. Who shall describe the frenzy
of excitement that broke out at 300
Mulberry street-police headquarters
when the first vague rumors of gigan-
tic robbery We're fully confirmed and it
became known that Hod Ennis and his
gang had million and more OF plum
der?
All rings and pulls and gangs were
smashed, combined and recombined
again, while each and all were i'll an
agony of fear lest the booty should be
returned to the owner, minus per
centage divided between the gang and
the ring, or sold TO some clever fence, who
would plant the bonds away safely and
sell them in Europe from time TO time,
keeping all for himself and they to
have no share. What visions Of diamond
pins, Of eight or twelve carats, all Bra
lillian stones, of swift, high stepping
horses, of tho heaven of Harlem lane ON
Sunday afternoons, with "a bottle or two
under the vest, haunted the sleep of all
the detective force.
What look of relief and triumph
swept over the faces Of Irving, Stanley
and White when l gave my consent to
their proposal TO take the stolen bonds
to Europe and negotiate them there
They told me many amusing lies as
to how the secuntres came into their
possession and as to who were tie right
full owners. The truth was, as | after
ward learned, they We're part Of the
Lord bond robbery.
The next morning, Tuesday, Irving
met me near the exchange and with
some trepidation drew from an inner
pocket an envelope containing the thou
sand dollar bond. Without waiting to
examine it | walked off, saying, "I'll be
back in ten minutes. He was evident
" alarmed, and, like all rogues, suspi-
ciOus of every one. He probably had
some wild idea that / was laying trap
for him In his ignorance of money
methods he Thought it would be a long,
perhaps difficult, negotiation TO borrow
money ON the bond, but Of course |
made short work of it, and Jimmy was
more than delighted when within the
ten minutes / walked in with ten one
hundreds in my hand. A triiio like this
made n great impression upon Irving,
and from that time On | had his entire
confidence. Tuesday evening said good
by TO my mother, merely rcmarking ia
explanation Of my journey that | had q
commission given me 10 execute in Eu-
rope. Leaving her, went to our -endez-
vous, near Broadway and Astor place,
where | found Irving, who handed mo
over his doodle, 4" as he termed il, r."
marking confdentially that 1 was 10
give him ON my return his share into
his own hands, and, singularly enough,
each of the others did precisely the same
thing. About II o'clock the other two
came in, and after some parley White
handed over his bonds, and Stanley in
formed me he would give me his ON
board before the steamer sailed the next
morning. / had already paid my bill
and sent my baggage over TO Jersey
City, so about midnight l set out, they
accompanying me as far as the ferry,
and there, after shaking hands half
dozen times, we said goodby. Having
bought my ticket and engaged my cabin,