New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-02-18
rur ROBBERY IN DEMENT'S
,,urxrs OF THE POLICE AND OTHERS
on THE AUDACIOUS THEFT.


curious to look at place IN which burglars |
". cracked FIVE safes sunday ard had OBJ !
.~,,ed 1875 in cash The public appeared to be
: ,,e1 ~ laugh at the success OF the burglars |
cha expense of the police. and the police |
nd n want to put the blame for the robbery |
Nr bennett. Every body. police included, ad- |
,.ad that the robbery most daring one.
The police declared yesterday that Mr.. Den |
Its Christian charity had invited the burglary
n, bennett has caused texts Of Scripture to be
,~layed prominently in ali of his restaurants
IA .e also has tried to reform number OF
thieves who talked of repentance when they were
,ooking for job. Captain Thompson Of the
oak-st police station. swore softly Yesterday as
hA declared that Mr.. bennett had given employ
,nsnt TO a number of men lately out Of prison in
the expectation that aid and kind treatment
,r,uld help To reform them. Employees in the
park Row restaurant admitted that men who
had served terms of Imprisonment for theft had
noon employed there and mad disappeared before
,be burglary was committed There appeared
"a he q well-defned belief that some Of the crooks
who had been befriended by Mr. bennett had
made use of their observations in the place 10
make plans for the robbery Of the safes.
An almost cOmical piece of infOrma ton. tend
ing 10 show that the burglars had also planned
10 rob Nh benefits restaurant in Brooklyn. was
impaired yesterday by the engineer who is en-
Moved in that place. 1t was the business of the
engineer TO be in the place on Sunday. and the
thieves rang up the telephone TO find out II any
body was inside When the engineer answered
the ring at the telephone bell he heard the same
voice on two Sundays say:
Hello. Is that Dennetts?"
Yes"
AL right Ring off
4 former detective-sergeant who followed
Chief Byrnes into retirement. said yesterday
that he thought he could guess who had com
mitted the burglary. but he did not want to be
dragged into the case The way in which the
safes were opened" he said. shows the work Of a
few old-tme burglars who have been loose In the
civ for several weeks. They never use any eX-
nIosiyes in opening safes, but always use the
drills and drag.
cantain O'Bren Of the Detective Bureau. in
tnated that he knew, or could make "a goou
guess as 10 tie cracksmen who did the Joo IL
admitted that they were irst-class burglars and
had done a clean Job Il can guess pretty near
Who lid the lob he said. but what good does
II do? Suppose arrested them. what beneht
would il be? There is no one to identity them
They are the best class of crooks. those safe
burglars They do not go into a house where
anv one who could afterward identify them.
They select building that is deserted. where
they can work without any one seeing them We
nav arrive at a conclusion to what men did
the robbery but as I said before. what would
their arrest amount to If no one could Identity
them? We got the nan who robbed Brentanos
safe and had to let them go for the same
reason"
DETECTIVES SLEEP AFTER MIDNIGHT.
Captain O'Brien was asked If he thought the
police were 10 blame for not preventing the rob-
berry Il do not see why they should be- he
said -Four Of the safes that were robbed were
away up on the third floor where they could not
be seen. The one in the restaurant was con-
cealed behind cashiers desk. where IT was In
visible from the street. Then again there was
no Waterman employed in the building THIS
robbery can in no way reflect OF. the DETECTIVE
Bureau We hold the city as safe as possible
rntil midnight but our detectives have then got
70 get some sleep. We cannot DO better until we
secure night force Of detectives.
The Chief of the Detective Bureau was asked
II il was true that bennett was accustomed 70
employ ex-convicts with the idea OF reforming
them II 90 not know that he has any In MS
employ now" he answered, but ! know ne ha 9
had such men working for him. ! have inysef
recommended ex-convicts 10 him for work thnk-
ing that they were honest in their assertions
that they wanted to reform
Asked IL he thought that the ROBBERY Was
planned with the connivance OF some one EN-,
ployed in the restaurant. Captain OBrien salo
that he did not hold such an opinion He De-
Neved that the burglars got into the restaurant
from the skyght, whicl they proDepiy leachei
from some other building. He said he had no.
made a personal examination Of the wrecked
safes but had sent some Of his best men 10
investigate the case. Among them were De-
tective-Sergeants Reap. John OBrien' Naieiy'
Rynders and McCauley
DOORS LEFT UNSECURED.
The tools which the burglars left behind them
when they left the restaurant with their booty
are in the care Of the Oak-st police. captain
Thompson, of the Oak-st. station, called al
Headouarters yesterday and held consultation
with Captain O'Brien. He said that the police
Investigating the robbery had found open one OF
the doors of the bennett Building opening into
Theatre Alley. The Captain said that, as
result. he would prefer charges against Police
men Finley Flay and McKenna, OF his com
mand whose post covered the alley in the hours
when the robbery occurred. The Captain also
said that as he was leaving his station TO go
10 Headquarters, word was brought 10 him that
a door In Theatre Alley leading to The DAILY
News" Building had also been discovered uhse-
cured
Large sums Of money often kept in the
safes OF the stores conducted by MI bennett
In the City Hall district of Brooklyn. HIS man.
ager In that city, w. J. Phair. was asked yes
terday If any special means would De Drougnt
into service TO protect the safes and stores
from a visit by burglars, such as took place
In New-York on Sunday He replied: Mr.
bennett would much prefer TO lose ms business,
his life and all his money rather than employ
a Waterman on Sundays. IL Is true that we
keep large sums OF money in our safes but we
nave confidence in the makers OF 'he,.i. am
believe that they are burglar-proof. although
that not proven by the incident In our
NewYork store Sunday morning. we USED 10
close doors at II 80 on Saturday nights
Mr.. bennett came around a number OF times
and found people eating after midnight NOW
i am compelled 10 close up fifteen minutes
earlier. OF course. the place Is crowded win
people at that hour. and they all have 10 get
out before midnight. Mr.. bennett Will DIS
Charge any employe found on the premises arter
midnight Saturday"
EXPLOSION OF A WATER