The Washington weekly post., 1899-06-20

Philadelphia. June 19.-Shortly before /
O'Clock this morning, when the safe of
the Fairmount Park Transportation Com
pany, located in tie receiving office at
Belmont Was filled with the receipts of
two days. amounting in exact figures TO
S3,305J, q gang o. masked cracksmen,
numbering about ten or twelve. sWOoped
down upon the place and stole the money.
after holding up the receiver and five otE-
er men. binding them hard and fast with
picture cord. The mouths of the captured
men were gagged with rags.
The audacious attack has never been
paralleled in Philadelphia, and rarely
throughout the country. With the skill
and strategy of a military expert, the
scheme was plarred and successfully eX-
ecutcd. and the track Of the perpetrators
was covered up with infinite care.
Not only were members of the gang at
the immediate scene Of the robbery. but
it is a fact that pickets were operating
miles away, destroying telegraph and tele-
phone wires at the terminus Of the park
trolley. so as 10 insure the defeat of any
communication which the trolley employees
would be likely TO send to the detective
bureau.
Three Men Under Arrest.
As soon as word of the robbery reached
the Central Station, Capt. Miller detailed
half OF his staff of sleuths to work on
the case. Frank Levan, one of the men
who was held up. gave the detectives a
fun description Of the sensational held-up
and described the robbers as well as he
could He said that the men all wore
regulation masks and were roughly
dressed
The detectives are positive that the rob
bers had made a careful study of the
ground before they went TO work last
night. They chose Monday morning be-
cause the big receipts from Sunday traffic
were in the safe
As result of the vigilance of the
police, three men were arrested later in
the day III the park on suspicion of being
connected in some way with the robbery.
Al a hearing before Magistrate South the
men gave their names and addresses as
Peter Duffert and Charles Smith. Cf New
ark, n. J., and Albert Leeds. of Twenti-
eth street and Ridge avenue. Duffert
and Smith said they were trdmping from
Reading to Baltimore. Their appearance
however, was too prosperous for Vag-
rants, in the Magistrates opinion, and nc
held them in 500 bail each for further
hearing. They were sent TO MOyamenSing
Prison.
Conductor Not Suspicious.
The men who were bound. gagged, and
laid along the sides of the wall like
becves, expecting every moment TO be
sEct, are; Frank Levan, night receiver;
Frank Watson. night conductor; Henry
+. WhitehOuse. night conductor: James
Cavanaugh. fireman of the power house;
William Cadmus, labOrer, ana Philip
EaVes electrician.
These victims were all employed by the
trolley company.
The first appearance Of the masked
men at the place was seen by Albert
kohlhause, a conductor Of the line Kohl
hause says he went over to the spring,
1j0 feet north of the car barn, IA 12:l5 this
morning 10 get a bucket of water. This
spring is in a clump of trees and from it
can be seen the window of the receiver 5
office. He saw two men, one a biz, tail,
stout man and another smaller fellow,
and above them on a bluff crowd of
men. He did not think anything serious
was going 10 happen, so he carried the
bucket TO the barn and went home.
Frank Levan, the night receiver, One of
the men gagged and bound by the rob-
bers. told this story Of his experience:
while | was standing at the southern
door of the office next to the stalled ears
| heard footsteps in the rear. Turning,
! saw two men with masks on their faces.
They had two big reYOlvers apiece in their
hands, and came directly up 10 me at the
desk ! saw at once that IL was up with
me. They told me not TO move nor cry
out. or they would kill me. One fellow.
who was of enormous size. stuck one of
his pistols against my ear. They took
me into the conductors room an1 tied
nv hands and feet with wire picture cord
and laid me on the floor, with my face
to the wall The electric lights were burn
ing brightly all the while, and when
got in the conductors room | saw White
house was being held up in the same way
by other desperadOes. also with masks oil.
and being bound and gagged.
Talked in " hispsrs.
"When we were laid on the floor a man
was detailed TO guard each of US. In a
few minutes in came another victim,
whom L think was Watson. d conductor,
and he went through the same thing.
Then some more of the men came in and
were bound. and by this time / thought
there must be twelve or fifteen despera-
does at work in the car barn, and that
they expected TO gather in the whole list
of employees and then crack the safe The
burglars worked very quietly. They
whispered whenever they said anything
to any of their number They turned our
bodies away from the safe, so we could
not see them, and started to work on the
| safe.
"They must have been accomplished
! CTacksmen, for II only took them ten
| minutes TO blow the safe. The works IN
/ side. however, got tangled up, and they
worked and hustled Ia open the doord
| wider for an hour and a half The eX-
/ plosiOn OF dynamite filled the rooms with
| a vast lot Of smoke and nearly Choked US
! The tools they must have gotten from the
/ machine shop, as they started 10 work al
once when they had Us bound.
Wires Had Been CUT.
| shortly after the money was taken.
the guards who We're over us with drawn
pistols left, telling US 10 be quiet or We
! would be shot. After considerable tussl-
! ing, philip Eaves, the electrician, who
was one OF those bound, got himself loose
/ ard he then lOosed us / tried 10 reach
! City Hall by wire. but the wires on both
telephones had been cut. and had 20 run
( in the pitch dark cross country 10 the
! Belmont pumping station, where / gave
| The alarm. and they telephoned in from
! rb-r, shortly before o'clock 10 the Pity
! The car barn OF the trolley companV. in
| which the receivers once l. located
! stands In a deep raVinr leading from Bel
! mont Mansion. Il pleasure resort. 10 the
| Srhuylkil River. The building i sur
rounded By heavy timber land aad H.
| isolation rendered IL perfectly adapted for
! IA. work OF thr robbers.
| Charles A Porter. President Of the Fair
! uouut Park Transportation Company.
/ l,GI tbis afternoon that the clerks had
| made an examination OF th- books. and
I found that the amount OF money stolen
/ vs. q 90 -. This was the cash IN The
( conductors canvas bags, which had been
| handed in as each car came into the barn
( There il every reason 10 believe that
! some former employees Of the transpo-fa-
] fion company Mere implicated IN the rob
/ b.ry." said Mr. Porter. We have been
| compelled To hire meE of whom We knew
! Hftle The familiarity of the robbers with
l mo methods pursued by the company
shows that they were not ignorant out
I siders II Is my opinion that expert
! cTacksmen have gained the ear Of some
/ .f.rsHa 81.