Santa Fe daily New Mexican., 1897-12-03

tools they need, and today found satchel
to put the money in. !"
So you think they are bank robbersp"
was asked
. ] am sure of it, Last night they were
in the back room till II o'clock, and they
would not let me go in there today I
guess they have cut hole in the floor ~
For three months after the bank opened
Waterman had been kept inside. Then
some one growled at the expense and he
was changed to the outside and given the
: whole block TO patrol For minute or
two MS Uncle Billy looked so confident,
the president wondered if there was not
something in it. Then he felt amused at
the idea and said:
Well, Uncle Billy, you are our burglar
catcher, you know. Perhaps you'd better
sleep in the bank here for a few nights
"I'll do it, and I'll catch burglars tool"
exclaimed the delighted old man.
1t was arranged that he should be left
In the bank at night, and he was given an
unloaded double barreled shotgun for a
weapon and received many cautions. To
give you a fair idea Of what the robbers
were after l must explain that the safe,
which stood outside the vault, was only
for day use. At the close of business each
day everything was deposited in the vault,
which was of brick, with heavy iron
door, and supposed to be burglar proof. AS
Uncle Billy couldn't get into the vault
and no burglar inside could get out, the
bank people laughed as they asked each
other how he was going to work it to cap
ture anybody. Further he was to be
locked in the bank, with no way of get
ting out
On the second night of Uncle Billys
guardianship something happened which
Parkville is talking about yet. That day
the firm of White & Gregg drew out their
deposit, claiming they were going to buy
farm. That night at 10 O'Clock, while
Uncle Billy was taking smoke ON his cot
near the vault before going to sleep, he
heard suspicious sounds in the vault He
listened and listened again and after a
few minutes was satisfied that robbers
were within. They could have got there
only through hole cut through the floor
of the office above. The old man was not
a bit ratified. He had been appointed bur
glar catcher to the bank, and here were
the burglars. His idea was to catch them
instead Of driving them off. 1t was a
lucky thing for the First National that
one Of the officials with q key to the front
door had left it lying on a table Uncle
Billy saw it as he wondered how he would
get out on the street. He saw the night
watchman down at the end of the block,
but had no use for him. The way to cap
ture the burglars was to get into the
rooms above, and the old man crept softly
up stairs and tried the door of White g.
Gregg s office to find it locked. He lifted
the sash of the hall window, crept along
on the cornice, and one of the office win
dows was found unfastened. He crept in,
tiptoed across two rooms and into the rear
one, and he was not at all surprised at
what he saw
A square hole had been cut in the center
of the floor an opening made through tho
brick vault, and the mon had descended by
rope Uncle Billy could see light down
there and hear men at work His first
move was to draw up the rope. 1t was not
missed for several minutes by those below
When it was missed, a man was boosted
up to find the muzzle of shotgun thrust
into his face and to hear Uncle Billy say:
You try that again and I'll blow your
head off
ute Uncle Billy was hailed by White from
the bottom of the vault. He explained
that he had discovered the hole in the floor,
made during his absence from the office,
and had descended to investigate. Mr..
Gregg was there with him, he said, and
also friend He talked glibly and coax
ingly and asked the old man to lower them
the rope. When he refused, they offered
him Sl0 $50, $50. Then they turned to
threats, and, finding him still firm and de-
termined, several shots were fred at him
from reyolvers. He was on his guard
against them and suffered no injury. Half !
dozen times before daylight came one Of
the trio was boosted up, but always to find |
himself SO menaced that he was glad to
drop back. They could not get out of the |
vault by the door, and Uncle Billy and his |
unloaded shotgun prevented escape above |
No burglars were ever caught in neater |
trap, and this was of their own making,
and they had planned it from the day they |
rented the office They were held in the
vault until morning and help came, and
Parkville will never have another such
sensation. Gregg and White turned out to
be two bad men, wanted by the police Of
three or four different Cities and the third
man was still more prominent. They had
everything arranged to the smallest de-
tail, but were brought to grief by man
who didn't know bank burglar from tho
man in the MOON The fellows got long
sentences in prison, and Uncle Billy got q
pension for life and died less than five
years ago. G. B. LEWIS