The herald., 1896-05-03
THEFT OF THREE MILLIONS
IOne of the Great Steals of
History
THE RETIRED BANK ROBBER
Dan Noble, Ex.Burglar, Now Figure on
Broadway
The Story Of the nanhattan Bank Robbery
Eighteen Years Ago-The Criminals
Who Carried IL Out

many among us then who expressed
admiration. In this particular case II
was merely a burglars job. But Jop,
parenthetically. in which there was a
romance, one of which the mystery is
unelucidated yet.
And today there walks on broadway
a retired bank robber. While he pa
tiently worked out the long years or
his sentence in an English prison his
stolen fortune has grown. You may
meet in one of the uptown cafes we'll
groomed gentleman; you may ma MN
beside you a the theater-you may have
seen Dan Noble. perhaps the most Skill
full and successful of the great CRIMINALS
of this generation.
Twenty years ago there were plenty
of faro banks on Broadway. Some were
square; the majority were not. AmonS
the latter was one situated near Bleeck-
er street. 1t was "a l cent joint. patron
lied by clerks. the underiinss of big
houses aspirants to the rosues' gallery;
criminals sometimes in embryo, Some-
times in fact.
The dealcr was a type that has disap-
peared. He dressed in broadcloth that
was as black and brilliant as his hat; his
necktie. too. was black: beneath it was
adiamond Had you seen him smoking
fat cigar in front of the Fifth Avenue
hotel you, of course. WOULD have known
at once that he was gam bier, but to
the supreme expression of the apathetic
man about town.
There was nothing aparhetic, how
ever. about Dan Noble. except in ap-
pearance, and in appearance only for
appearance sake. The cntinental po
lice knew him very well. yet in review
ing the documents in the case he seems
to have frequently had the advantage of
them. He talked very well on an infinite
variety of subjects, and if you disagreed
with him he had a nice European habit
of agreeing with you. He was a great
hand. too. at making a stranger feel at
home, and then at taking that strangers
home away. A Gift such as that is apt
to lead to curious experiences. More
than once it had led him to jail At the
time at which this story begins he had
recently vacated an up-country prison
and While awaiting better things had
acquired an interest in the Broadway
joint an occupation which did not pre-
vent him now and again from summing
himself in front OF the Fifth Avenue ho-
tel.
One afternoon a girl passed where he
stood He followed her, entered the car
which she selected. seated himself at
her side, talked to her. smiled at her. till
the train drew up at Pelham. In week
Patty ran away with him. Her mother
died of broken heart. Her father be-
came drunkard.
VI
idle. In the process of dealing cards he
made an acquaintance. a shamblng crea-
'ture with shambliHg nane-Shevelin,
watchman of the Manhattan Savings
institution, who now and then would
stake a dime.
Acquaintance. fortune favoring. will
ripen into intimacy. Noble did the man
few little services, liattered him in
humanity, and To show thai he regarded
him quite as an equal, introduced him
to his friends-Johnny Hope. for in
stance. plumber by trade by practice
thief; man with a face like a brand
led cherry and an assert ment of fierce
and oleaginous manners. And there
was George Howard, man in whose
veins there ran some drops of blood of
all the Howards, for he vas gentle
man by birth. by education, with fea-
lures that represented good stock good
taste, good looks, every form of good
ness save the real one. This n. too. there
was lively young chap named Banjo
Pete. light that had fail Il in the min
strel world and who had recently passed
initiate in the art Of illuminating with
dark lanterns.
Who would not be delighted to be re-
ceived in such company to be slapped
on the back and urged to drink? Under
their sway promptly fell Tie shambling
Shevelin.
1t was indeed a delightful company.
bling Shevelin fell under the spell. An
other was falling. too but under a
spell of different order. George How
ard had begun to dream of Patty's eyes
The process of falling had it's grada-
tions And Hope. who had the rest
less eyes of the ferret. which nothing
escape. watched SheVelin. and knew to
minute when the process was COM
plete.
1t was in an entirely uncrcuitous
manner that Hope pointed out to him
the royal rode to riches That rode led
straight through the bank door, of
which this idiot was the supplementary
Sunday Watchman. If the scheme
which Hope then suggested proved sue
cessful, Shevelin was to receive a quar-
ter of million dollars-an amount
which greedily and in anticipation he
accepted at once.
The scheme was evangelical in sim
plcity. Howard, who, in addition to at
tributes already credited. was an eX-
pert mechanician, needed only to pass
few contemplative moments before a
certain door. That door opened on the
vault of the bank in which We're the
safes and which. being to the rear OF
the room occupied by the clerks was
during those hours in which the bank
was open, unapproachable by an out
slider
According to Hope it was therefore
Sunday morning when there was no one
about. HoWard's access to and egres.
from the bank should be facilitated ant
the rest, including that quarter of &
million, would go on skates.
To this Shevelin presumably assentel
and presumably, too, facilitated How
ard in his work. The word presumabl
is used advisedly, for in this tenebrou
history there are many details whic
are still obscure. Be that as it maH
Howard in some fashion learned the ma
ture of the lock in the vault, purchase
another of the same structure from tn
same maker and sat down to learn it
secret.
After many experiments it occurre
to him to bore q hole directly beneat
the combination plate and then with
wire to push back the tumblers of tn
lock This he did when behold, One
sesame, the door was ajar, the probler
solved.
There was much conviviality tha
night at the dove cote Grand discov
cries are of a nature to excite even tn
indoient, and you may be sure that
discovery such as that was not suffere
to dawn unfeasted. Pete twaneed tn
panJo to his utmost rollickne airs. MI
Hope was simply serene in sweetness
And Howard, the hero of the evening
you might have mistaken for a cotillio
leader, had it not been for his good look
and unassuming air. There were 9th
crs OF whom no particular mention
h11f to oil d.,