The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1905-10-17


kong Bank vanits- Extensive and
saccessfui Tunnelins operations- 4
In the whole catalogue OF daring
bank robberies there Is no story more
amazing thar that OF the robbery at
the Hongkong branch of tie Bank OF
Western India, for, not only, did the
case display the most astonishing dar.
ing, skill and patience on the part of
the robbers, but their success has
never been equaled by other bank
breakers. RI
1t was generally understood that the
safes and vaults of the Western bank
We're about the strongest ever built,
and the robbers Of course, knowing
this, decided to attack the bank in
way they believed the builders had
never anticipated, and therefore not
provided for. They rented a house on
the opposite side of the street and set
tied down to live like simple minded
gentlemen.
Some three months later the manager
Of the bank had occasion to visit the
vaults, and, to his utter amazement
and CONSERVATION, he discovered that
the principal safe, which n day or two
before had contained upward of
100000 In bullion and other valuables.
had been emptied Of everything. 1t
did not take long to throw the respon-
sibllity for this astonishing change on
the simple minded gentlemen over the
way, but when visit was paid to their
abode it was found that they, too, had
disappeared.
While living quietly and respectfully,
evincing no inclination to hide them
selves, but showing their faces FIRE.
quently at the windows and walking
in the streets like the most honest folk.
the robbers constructed tunnel con
Meeting the basement Of their domicile
with the vaults Of the bank. 10 ac-
complish this they dug u shaft down
to sufficient depth to enable them TO
tunnel under the road without being
heard by passengers or risking col.
lapse of the earth, and they cut an
upward shaft, giving them access TO
the vaults. where, one day whe:i the
bank was closed and they knew the
safes We're loaded with valuables, they
quietly broke in and cleared away
everything worth taking.
One can easily appreciate the cour-
age and patience of these men. They
had to cut tunnel between eighty
and ninety feet long, sufficiently E.gh
and wide to allow the passage of two
men carrying u heavy chest; they had
to dispose of the immense amount OF
earth displaced in cutting the tunnel
without any one knowing. and after
twelve weeks incessant labor III cut
ting the t;::;lui they had &c; Is L2....e q
way throrgH the concrete floor of the
bank and break into sake CT cXccp.
tional strength. Tie cutting of the
upward shaft under the bnnk partic-
ularly must have been an anxious task
for the robbers, since at any moment
they might have betrayed themselves
to some one above, and it speaks vol
umes for the care with which they
labored that no one suspected them or
what was happening until they had
made their escape with 100000 wort!.
Of valuablcs, the carrying away Of
which, apart from anything else, must
have been fur from simple matter.
An equally surprising feat was per-
formed by the thieves who stole f40,-
600 worth of diamonds from Kimber.
ley bank some years ago. While the
tunnel in this case was only about
twenty feet long, owing to the fact
that the thieves were able to avail
themselves of big main drain to ap.
proach the bank secretly, cthei difficult
ties that had to be overcome were much
more formidable than in the Hongkong
case.
The safe in which the diamonds were
deposited was one of such remarkable
strength that before entering ON their
enterprise the thieves evidently decid.
ed 1t would be hopeless to attempt to
break into it ut the sides or door, as
the work might occupy too much time.
and that it would be necessary for
them to attack 1t ut the back, which,
being built into wall, they could work
upon after bank hours. perhaps for
days together IL necessary. And this
decision was arrived at despite their
knowledge that the wall into which the
safe was built was three feet thick and
built Of solid granite.
They started operations from the
drain running down below the street on
which the bank fronted by digging
tunnel twenty feet long on level with
the banks vaults. This tunnel, cut
through exceedingly difficult ground,
opened on the foundations of the build.
Ing, which were, on the one hand, too
deep to be passed under. and, on the
other hand. so thick and solid = four
feet of the strongest masonry = TINT
ninety-nfne men out of hundred would
have abandoned the enterprise II only