The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-04-27
A GOOD CASE
=F0R=
Sherlock Holmes

7 John Z. WILKIE. chief Of the
/ United States secret service, has
= returned from San Francisco.
where he finally procured a conviction
90 "the mystery Of the dress suit case.
one OF the most puzzling crimes the
government sleuths have ever encOun-
tered says the New York World. Two.
previous Juries had disagreed, and the
attorney engaged 10 aid in the prosecu-
ton threw 40 his hands. Mr. Wilkie
asked the attorney general for another
lawyer, and got the man he wanted.
The evidence was wholly circumstan-
taL
When stock was taken at the san
Francisco mint on June so. 1901 the end
Of the fiscal year. and all of the money
counted. piece by piece. the cashiers
/ vault was found 10 be SO 900 short.
The vault was built 10 hold 100000 In
gold, but there had been such an ac-
emulation of the yellow metal that IL
then held $4,000. 600. There are pigeon
holes an around Ii. each holding a sack
containing $1,000 Gold i'm sacks was
piled up on the floor. and three truck
/ loads 0bscured the lower tiers of pig
/ eOnholes. until stock was taken Then
SIX Of the lower pigeonholes were found
/ TO be empty.
Secret Service Agent William ].
/ Burns, who made a fine record I'M the
delphia-Lancaster case, was hus-
/ tied to San Francisco when the short
/ age was discovered. He went 90 work
| ON the case, working with George Ha-
zen. the local agent and his men. The
| preliminary examination placed the re-
| spOnsibility between William Cole, the
[ cashier and Walter NJ Dimmick. the
/ chief clerk who was Coles predecessor
nrs
/ was carefully looked up. Coles was
found TO be absolutely clean. but DIM
mick's past was found to contain sew
eral Irregularities i'm his early life,
/ though for several years before he en-
tered the mint his business and social
standing was high.
Suspicion was no sooner directed
. toward Dimmick than the detectives
I began TO encounter obstacles He re-
/ signed as cashier I'm September, 1890,
and was made chief clerk In the fol-
/ lowing June the annual count balanced
. 10 a cent. When Dimmick gave up the
/ cashiership two combination locks and
"a time lock on the cashiers vault were
/ changed. Dimmick's movements were
I checked up. and IL was found that he
1 was often at the mint after Office
Z hours. As he was chief clerk, this was
not very significant, but it was discOv-
cred that in February and March 1901,
I he had been seen to leave the mint as
I late as midnight. each time carrying
a dress suit case that seemed heavy,
Dimmick denied that he had ever had
a suit case. and was supported by mem
beers of his family. No suit case was
ever found that could be traced to Dim
! mick
The investigation developed the fact
/ that when Cole succeeded Dimmick as
cashier the superintendent told Dim
mick to have a locksmith aid Cole i'm
changing the combinations on the vault
door. Instead Dimmick, at his own
/ suggestion, assisted in making the
change. Dimmick first removed the
back plate from the combination lock
and then stood on the lock side while
/ Cole operated the dial from in front
Dimmick never reported that he had
aided Cole i'm changing the two CONF
binatiOns and when this was learned
| the officers investigated his actions
/ with regard to the locks when he was
/ cashier They found that when he had
any spare time he would take the back
plates off the locks and study them.
! They discovered tiny scratches on the
| driving wheel of the combination.
which would enable a man familiar
with the lock 20 tell from behind what
I number was on the notch on the dial.
Government lock experts who were
called In at first said this could not be
done, but they later demonstrated that
! it could. This indicated how DIM
mick might have come into possession
Of Coles combinations.
There was still the time lock TO guard
the vault, but it was found 10 have
been so tempered with that while il
] q rInH NJ.
forming any of its other functions.
The officers were then satisfied that
Dimmick was the thief, but their In
ability to connect him with a suit case
prevented them from perfecting a chain
of evidence that would convict.
They then began a hunt among the
street car conductors in the lines pass
ing the mint and the railroad conduc-
tors running between the Oakland ferry
and Dimmick's home.
This was a tremendous task, but IN
two months eight conductors were
found who remembered having seen
Dimmick riding on their cars or trains
and carrying a dress suit case.
One of the conductors was found in
Honolulu. and another in Boston.
MANY conductors were traced 10 other
cities far and near, but they could tel
nothing. Three of the conductors who
remembered having seen Dimmick with
a suit case were able TO fix the dates
which tailed exactly with those given
by watchmen at the mint who had seen
Dimmick leaving with a suit case The
evidence of the conductors and some
minor testimony completed the case
against Dimmick, and he was arrested
I'm the fall of 1901.
-
He was first tried In April, 1902, and
the jury disagreed, standing ten to two
for conviction. He was tried again In
August, 1902. and again there was a
mistrial, the jury being seven 20 five
for conviction. In each case the jury
was out more than two days
Dimmick's third trial began on March
6 and closed on April >. The next day
the jury returned a verdict Of guilty
Notice Of appeal was given, and DIM
mick was not sentenced. The maxi
mum penalty is five years imprison-
ment.
The secret service men believe Dim
. mick had planned the robbery of the
vault for years, and that he resigned as
lcashier to carry it out With millions
in his reach and the probability thai
the shortage would not be observed
until he had time to get to some cOun-
/ try from which Il would be difficult Oh
, impossible to reach him. they cannot
, understand why he did not take much