The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-01-14
oUTWITIRD a KEEN CROOK.
A Banks Failure and Its rrs-arranEsd
Robbery.

n nnlr OFNflfTtn I 'iAo w sA'Ah 'hAf"e
tho frat half dozen u eminent New York crook
takers, and the other a star u tho st Louis corps
d rlcuth, found themselves holding a sort q
Q experience meeting atadinner they took tose'her
the other evening.
Il happened TO Re In the Jefferson Market eour,
awhile rack, .eld the New York detective, W then
a se,dy, emaciated, palsied old man WAS 'yngged'
by the magistrate for begging On the streets l
hadn /, SEEN this man for nearly thirty years
hut I thought / recognized him as he stood lean
ing on the 'ail In front Of the magistrn,es desk.
and when no stepped tnck, after getung his thirty
day dose, spoke 10 him and found that | wasn't
mistaken In his identity Tho sight q him took
me hack 70 the days when Boss Tweed was Win
this town, and when tho situation was that
police officials had a good deal more intimate
knowledge Of tho doings Of professional Grim
inals than they have nowadays Here's tho
stcry that tho old man recalled TO me
Ono day In the fall Of 1870 one Of The most
finished and successful bank burglars who ever
worked a drll in this county, won't mention
his name. for he's still alive, and he took a brace
years ago, after doing his last ht-uas walking
along Sixth avenue enjoying his parole and the
mellow sunshine. There wrLe a whole lot OF
indictments banging over him, Of course, but
they didn't woTry him any, for he happened to 10
on pretty fair terms with some Of the men attached
10 tho municipal administration Al that uma
As ne swung along be was aocosted by a proc
porous Hooking man whom he did not know, al
though tho prosp-rouslooking citizen addressed
him by his proper mama The crook took tho
stranger into a cafe aud asked him things
"ln the trst place, how did you know meT
he inquired Il the atrnncor..
swell, Il appeared that the burglar had been
pointed GUT 10 tho stranger by = detective who
reptiiiously extending aid and comfort I. the
euemy-ono II tho old-time bands OF New York
well said the top-no,ch craftsman to the
stranger, ! don't suppose you re seeking my
| ncqualn'anceship for III. sake Of being introduced
into society Or for The Enjoyment Of my winning
"Then tho stranger up and told him what his
graft was
,,i sIP E. 'h to '1 n Fs ri ( hank !r : s' ii Hs iSs Son. %Sa',
know anything about 1t, but I'm short In my
accounts There only opo way out of II Tho
II get my rake-oI from The robbery. want
you 10 RIB n. bank. YoUll find S25, 900 IN casn
$40. 600 nj least I've always heard that yW
ore square in these divisions Of plumber, and there
fore | Il trust you to band me my share after you 70
done the !ph for putting you onto IT,
""This sounds god enough - eat, replied the
cracksman, WHO VAS quite some more than seven
years u Hkr, anu w N'ull W a HlhH-lINp ~
far as A l3iuCh gun II shoot 'FRCt is, It's 50
sweet that IT'S almost glowing Now, We heard
your proposition You give me : couple oidays
10 investigate you and thtn We II talk business
They appointed another meeting AZ the SAM
place a couple Of days later ard in the meantime
The cracksuan, whose facilities we're excellent,
was 'he cashier of . prominent ur-State bank,
IN a town not more than an hours run from New
Yrrk. So when the cashier c lied At tho ap-
pointed time he WAS ready 20 talk business
"You II have 4 hard nights work. said the
cnshier. FOR in order 20 avert SUSPICION II! have
10 leave the ynri' IS and snfe al locked up t%ighteI'n
That's my end 81 H. replied the crack .nA
You Just pass thoss l.tlc details up 70 ne Ev,ry
man 70 ht4 trade Thy don't make EN- so strong
Then ell 0. the details were ARRANGED and .hs
robbery was fixed for d, certain night n The fol-
loNirs week, TIf c:sAiri VS. Esp. daily solicit.
Of TIE crib-crt'king The brakeman assured
him that il there was sa5 900 in III, Job $4,000
would be enourh ioI Iim.rli AID LIS assistants,
ron the night axed NE cracAsnan Ard three
al hi. best men went up 10 the town ard pulled n
IN, r 100, .,,i I, T H9er q M2l,,s O. sn iS0 bu HgI ne G s56 gs me
rirg the nigh water nan got into the main safe
They found it eimpty. Then they tackled n.
,opnotch rracksman was mad, you may bciiev,
ut WIS the lirst and last um-l ever played the
part Of a good thing in a LOB like that he said
"Tho csshir had simply looted The bank him
esIt ard the robbery Which he had arranged WAS
sinrlv IN cover up his " 'rAl There have been
Nepoleous Of lirance without number developed
from the ranks Of bank cashiers, but ! never heard
Of 9 cleancr BIZ Of work than that, II was almos.
genius
nothing t1I II but e pack their kits and drill back
tyr New York. They weren't, Of course. IN a
position to say anything about how they'd b--r
taken IN. The t]op-u1tCh Tncksnlnn bad 10 reed
In the afternoon papers the lurid accounts n how
the bank had been robbed Of cash and secur ties,
'a~nrroNimatlng 100000 In amount and grind
lis teeth and cpsq The bank failure wGs an.
norrc-d q few days later.
sc"rwo months after that Il Eel! 20 my lot 10 hand
cuff myself to this toD-uotch Cracl : an and TO take
him up the river on q Central train one n the
indictments ogalnts linn was vressrd for some rec.
son or other and he Ind got : fvryear stunt
was te king him 70 Auburn for his stretch. The
brakeman looked idly out 81 the window al The
thror g atNund ~" stations where the w in STOPPED.
AZ ONE Il the ST. tons. ahou, AZ hours run from
New YORK, ! Ioucrd his face suddenly darken
with rage. and ! asked him what WAS M He
pointed out . sllrklook!ng man who was sitting
IN a dngCart beside the station, and be cursed him
in a blood .~cur3lsrg way for two minutes before
ne was able 10 tell nc the story I've told you fellows
The man in the dogcatt was the cashier who'd
been crafty enough 70 put II all over one ~ tho
most ACCOMPLISHED ali-nrount crooks in the West.
-rn Hemisphere, The failure Of the bank hadn't
hurt the cashier at all IN tho estimation Il his
townsmcn Bank YRS robbed by cracksmen,
y's-o, md how could the cashier h"lp IT.
well, ! didn't see that IL was up to me N say
anything about what tho cracksman hsd told mo,
although ] frequently saw the cashier fving hlgh
IN New York after that lost track Of hum alter
a few years, however, and concluded that be had
struck out for the West or somewhere or another
with his beautifully -%contriyed rake down from
his bank
IN the Jefferson Market court a while back"
C..I.... Raced A., ill.,.