Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1901-12-11
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BANK ROBBING, NEW STYLE.

Nitro-GIycerine Burglars Captured
Styles in bank robbing in the west
change as easily as in other forms OF
industry, says a recent dispatch from
Lincoln, Nebraska. In the days Of the
James and Younger boys 1t was the
fashion to rideJinto a town in broad
daylight and proceed to shoot 1t up.
While the town was being stood up a
pair of the leaders would go into the
bank and compel the cashier and his
assistants to empty the vault into
their pockets.
Once in awhile citizen would get
bank robber; but the mortality was al
ways greater among the towns people
than with the attacking force. With
the retirement into state prison of the
leaders the industry languished.
It was revived about a dozen years
ago by the Daltons, in Missouri and
Kansas, but they tackled the wrong
town one day and lost the most daring
Of the gang at the hands Of a trained
sharpshooter who kept a livery stable.
That ended the rough and ready style
in the west.
In nearly every town Of any import
ance in the west Is to be found bank.
II is almost impossible to give these
banks adequate protection in the
smaller towns, and this fact, coupled
with the necessity Of keeping from s5,-
600 to $4,000 on hand in usually inse-
cure vaults, has made them tempt
ing propositions to criminals Of nerve
and skill.
Four years ago 40 banks in Kansas,
Nebrask and Missouri were robbed
in less than ten weeks. The method
employed was the same in each case.
The robbers, usually two or three in
number, would ride into town after
nearly everybody had gone to bed.
force an entrance into the bank and
with the use of dynamite break off the
time and safety locks. BY an insen-
ious plan of drilling and exploding
the dynamite the burglar-proof devices
were shattered and the contents reach
ed in a few minutes.
| BY the time the alarm had spread
the robbers were away, as they did
not tarry to make an extended search
of the ruins: but took only what was
in sight.
In self-protection the banks organ
lied a mutual insurance-against-rob-
berry company, and this still flourishes
in Des Moines. This company put de-
tectives at work and in a few months
ran the robbers down.
For three years western banks 5uf-
fered comparative immunity from rob-
berry without; but about month ago
robbers began operating in Iowa and
South Dakota. In three weeks IL
country banks, situated within a ra-
dius of 200 miles, were entered, their
safes blown to pieces and from a few
hundred to ten thousand dollars Sc
cured.
The new men had introduced a new
fashion in bank cracking. Instead of
dynamite, nitro-glycerine was used.
Heavy, water-soaked blankets were
employed to deaden the sound of the
explosion The nitro-glycerine seemed
to be much more effective than the old
explosive and the efforts taken to
stine sound prevented in almost every
case discovery of the robbery until
morning.
The watchfulness of young wo-
man, a telephone operator in Spencer,
has just led to the breaking up of this
sang. She noticed, while on her way
to work, some strangers driving
through the outskirts of the town
early one morning.
| AS soon as she arrived at her post
she telephoned to the sheriff at the
county seat, and he organized a posse