Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-04-19

~ ouhN ~ IN |
Hope. The directors don't know any,
thing about it, but I'm short in my ac-
counts. There's only one way out of it.
The bank'u have to be robbed by profess
sional cracksmen. That will let me out.
and in addition I'll get my rake-off from
the robbery. I want you to rob the bank.
You'll find $55, 600 in cash in it on the night
you arrange the job-Il attend to that
SO, 900 at least. I've always heard that
you were square in these divisions, and,
therefore, I'll trust you to hand me my
share after you've done The job for put
ting you onto it.
This sounds good enough to eat re-
piled Little Johnny who wasn't born
next week, and who could see a man
trap as far as a 12-inch gun will shoot.
Fact is, it's SO sweet that it's almost
cloying. Now, I've heard your PROPOSE
ton. You give me a couple of days to
investigate you and then We'll talk bust
ness
"They appointed another meeting at
the same place two days later. and in
the meantime Hope looked into the job.
He found that his man really was the
cashier of a prominent Westchester
county bank in a town not more than
half an hours run from New York. So
when the cashier called Upon him at
the appointed time he was ready to talk
business.
you'll have a hard nights work. said
the cashier, for in order to avert sus-
picion I'll have to leave the vaults and
safe all locked up tighter'n a drum. as
usual. You'll need several assistants
"'You just pass those details up to
me- replied Hope. Every man to his
trade. They don't make 'em so strong
that I can't get into EN-
"Then all of the details were ar
ranged and the robbery was fixed for a
certain night in the following week.
The cashier was especially solicitous that
he was to get his share OF the proceeds
of the crib cracking. Hope assured him
that if there was $S55, 600 in the job s25, 900
would be enough for himself and his as
%sistants, and the cashier would get the
rest.
ION the night fixed Little Johnny and
three of his best men went up to the
town in Westminster county and pulled
off the job. 1t was a matter of four
hours before the gang, after o~verpowering
and tying and gagging the night watch
man, got into the main safe. They found
it empty. They then tackled the smaller
safes. These, too, We're empty. Little
Johnny was mad, as can readily be i'm
agined.
LIT was the first and last time 1 ever
played the part of a good thing in a
job like that, he said afterward.
Now, that was pretty clever work on
the part of the cashier. wasn't it? He had
simply looted the bank himself, and the
robbery which he had arranged was SIM
ply to cover up his own trail. There have
been 'Napoleons of finance without num-
Der developed from the ranks of bank
cashiers, but + never heard Of a cleaner
bit of work than that. 1t was, l think, a
bit of absolute genius.
"Of course, Little Johnny and his as
sistants had only to pack their tools n
get back to New York. They weren't in
a position to say anything about how
they had been fooled. Little Johnny
il,,l TO ,,NeI il, t1n af+nrrnD, nc tho
account of how the bank had been robbed
of cash and securities 'approximating
800, 900 in amount and grind his teeth.
The bank's failure was announced a few
days later.
1.-Two months after hat it fell to my
lot to handcuff myself to Little Johnny
and to take him UP to Sing sing on a
New York Central train. One of the in
dictments against him was pressed for
some reason or other and he got a five
year stunt. The train we took for the
Shining Sing prison was a local affair, and
it stopped at all the little stations. Little
johnny who sat next to the window,
looked idly out at the loungers around
the stations. AT one of the stations not
far from Sing Sing ! noticed his face sud
denly darken with rage and asked him
what was up. He pointed out a slick
looking man that was sitting in a dog
cart beside the station, and he cursed
MN III Il DlOOu-CllulllS way IOI lNo llllll-
utes before he was able to tell me the
story I've told you. The man in the dog
cart was the cashier who had been crafty
enough to put it all over Little Johnny
Hope, probably teh most willy criminal in
his particular line who ever operated in
this country. The failure of the bank
hadn't hurt the cashier at all in the es-
imation of his tow~nsmen-bank was
robbed by cracksmen, y see, and how
could the cashier help it? Oh, that
cashier was good, all right.
well. it wasn't up to me to say any,
thing about what Little Johnny had
told me, although 1 frequently saw the
cashier flying high in New York after
that. I lost track of him after a couple
of years, however,, and concluded that he
had struck out for the west or somewhere
or another, with his beautifully contrived
rakedown from the Westminster County
bank. ~
He was the emaciated, plaisted old
vag I saw in Jefferson Market police
court last week.
L TNTFCI IECvTIIAL w