Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-07-12
THE MONEY RECOVERED
MEN WHO ROBBED NEE's SAFE
ARRESTED.

The solution of the mystery which sur
rounded the robbery Of the safe OF r. j.
Nee & Co. on the night of July last was
made last night by Detectives Pratt and
Hewlett of the local detective bureau In the
arrest of two colored employees of the store
and their subsequent confession to the de-
tectives of the crime. The case has baffied
the police for some days. but they have
been working quietly all the while, and the
results were shown yesterday evening. The
men under arrest are Walter Harris and
George Clark. Most of the money was re-
covered by the police officers.
The robbery was cleverly carried out.
and 1t was suspected from the first that
some one who knew the combination of the
safe had committed the crime. The store
was locked usual on the evening of July
3, about $40 being locked In the inner
drawer of the safe. When the cashier,
John Lyden, opened the safe on the Fourth
TO get money from 1t he discovered that
the money was all gone. There had been
no suspicious up to that time that the safe
had been entered All the doors of the
store were found locked The safe showed
no evidence of having been tempered with,
and yet IT had been opened, the inner
drawer unlocked and $411 and two checks
taken from II. There was not the slightest
clue to the robber. The detective office was
notified of the loss. and Detective Pratt and
Hewlett were sent to investigate the case.
They learned that several persons in the
store knew the combination of the safe and
that some former employees also knew 1t.
Harris Arrested.
In the careful watch that was kept on
the employees of the store it was discovered
that Harris intended to leave for North
Carolina yesterday. He was allowed to
make his plans. and had reached the sta
ton, when he was picked up by the sleuths.
He was taken to police headquarters, where
he was put through series Of questions
about what he did the night of the crime.
AT first he denied that he knew anything
about the robbery, but before he finished
the crOss-fire of questions that connected
him with the crime. the police say, he con-
feSsed that he and the elevator boy, Clark,
took the money.
According to their story, repeated by
the police, they left the basement door of
the store open on the night of July 3. This
was pointed out at the time of the robbery
in The Star as the probable means of en-
trance to the building. At night the men
went to the store and easily found their way
TO the office, where the safe was. They
pulled curtains over the window and set at
work opening the safe. They obtained the
key TO the inner drawer from the cashiers
desk where they knew 1t was kept and
unlocked the inner drawer. After getting
the money they locked the safe up again
and left the store through the basement
door.
After Harris had made a clean breast Of
the whole affair the detectives when to the
home of Clark, at 412 Washington street
northwest, where the other man was taken
into custody They were locked up last
night, one in the sixth precinct station and
the other In the first precinct station. This
morning they were taken to police head
quarters, where they were measured and
photographed.
After the confession OF the men they
stated that they had given some of the
q ~
living at 4O2 o street northwest The de-
tectives went to that place last evening and
arrested jackson and he will be charged
with receiving stolen property The detec-
tives succeeded in recovering about 500
from the men who say they robbed the
safe and about $50 from Jackson
The case did not come up In the Police
Court this morning. In order to get more
witnesses 1t was held over until tomorrow
when all three of the prisoners will be in
court, charged with grand jury offenses.