Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-01-21

ASii oul tIiol < lirb i'm WIN A4Ap
name after that of Burton's. I suggested
that l only remain with him a few min
utes. and that a private interview be ar
ranged later and it was the understand
ing that I call at his house in the even
ing
He. however, briefly outlined the cir
cumstances known of the robbery as fol-
lows: Some time day before yesterday,
as 1 am informed by my cashier and con-
fdential man, who by the way is the son
of my old friend and college chum now
dead-missed from the vaults, packages
of currency amounting to S26. 0O0. 100. AS
the bills We're said to be of large denom-
nations it would not make much of a
bundle. The bank is in charge of Harry
Fielding, the son of an old friend as I
have informed you. He has the receiving
and paying teller, who is my son Rich
ard, and -four other clerks under him, be-
sides a girl s~tenographer and the %janitor.
| The money must nave been taken be-
tween the hours of eleven and two, at
which time the loss was discovered. l
was here until eleven. you will note that
| have a good view of the vault through
that side door which is always open; it
is possible that the window may have
been entered from the street. but highly
improbable as you notice it is quite a
thoroughfare; or this room could have
been entered from the bank proper, but it
would have been necessary to pass the
desk of the cashier before entering the
door. The door has a spring lock and |
always aim to pull it shut, however, I am
not sure that | did so on this occasion
although I think l did; there are some
other circumstances that l desire to go
into but will p%ostpo them until this
evening. l recognize the fact that you
have a difficult undertakings, however
trust that in a quiet way you Will en-
deavOr to unravel the mystery. l desire
to impress upon you the fact that I
would like no publicity, unless 1t should
transpire that the bank was entered
from the outside I asked for and re-
ceived the names of the four clerks, the
s~tenographer and j%anitor, then passed
out of his office. l stopped at the desk
of the cashier and showed him my book
and the names of Messrs. Burton mad
Downing. He did not seem inclined to
want the book and I did not press it upon
him, as my purpose had been accom-
plished in accounting for my presence at
the bank.
I put in my time as best 7 could until
noon then returned to the hotel. I was
accosted by the clerk and I showed him
the two names that l had received. and
said that I was well pleased with my
mornings work. While standing at the
desk one Of the group Of young men 1
referred to came in, and I was introduced
to him by the clerk, whose name proved
to be George Spratt | explained to him
pretended business. He was very So
ciable. Said he noticed me at the bank
in the morning.
We went in to lunch together and our
conversation naturally drifted to the
robbery; | allowed him to do the talking
asking as few questions as possible, as
| did not desire to appear more than or
dinarily interested. From him I learned
that Mr.. Downing was the sole owner of
the bank which did a large business with
the small banks throughout that section
of the south. besides having quite a
large city business, also correspondents
in all the large northern cities. With
their New York correspondent they al
ways kept a large balance to their credit;
Mr.. Downing was a very rich man, own
ing considerable real estate in the city
and a large plantation in the country. He
was a widower and lived in a large and
handsome residence in the city with his
son Richard, and daughter, Bernice, who
was a lovely and accomplished young
lady, who looked after the affairs of the
household; Bernice was engaged to be
married to Harry Fielding, the cashier,
who, although he spent considera BILE Of
his time at the house did not live there;
Fielding had been a ward of Mr.. Down
Ing since his twelfth year. at which time
his father had died leaving him a small
competence; he had graduated at college
Il lew years previous with nlSn nOnOfS,
since which time he had been engag ed at
the bank paying close application to his
duties. and was an exemplary young
man; that Mr.. Downing looked pom him
as a son, and usually consulted him upon
all matters of business pertaining to the
bank. His son, Richard or Dick as he
was usually termed, was inclined to be
wild, or in other words lone of the boys
during his collegiate career he travelled
in a fast set and although his father
made him a liberal allowance, he was
always in debt After his return from col
lege he continued on the same course UNI
til a year or so ago when he seemed tC
have settled down, however, although he
was looked upon as a wild boy, still he
was considered the soul of honor, in fact
was never known to do a mean or dis,
honorable action. Since entering the
bank, and within the last year he haG
been advanced to the position he now oc,
cupied, which would indicate that his
father was gaining confidence in him
Spratt seemed of the opinion that the
bank was entered in some way by q
sneak thief.
After lunch I walked with him as fan
as the bank, and as the day was such a
beautiful one | leisurely walked towards
the outskirts of the town, thinking of the
circumstances attending the mysterious
robbery, for it undoubtedly was a mys-
ferrous one. There We're only two theOr-
ries to be entertained; first, that a sneak
thief had in some way cOntrived to pass
through the entire length of the bank,
and had entered the vault from OF
through the private office of Mr.. Down
ing; second, that some person or per-
sons connected with the bank was the
thief. OF the first theory l decided that
there was only a bare possibility of 1t be-
ing the correct one, and if so the local
authorities We're better able to cope with
it, as they are acquainted with the local
characters who would do a job of that
kind: so for the present 7 wOuId eliminate