The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-11-26

and sent to the Auburn prison for five
years. ....,
Undisturbed by the failure, Scott ana
Dunlap proceeded to scour the country
again in search OF another bank suited
To their operations. and in February
1884. notified the gang, which now con-
tanned some new members, that they
had found something to go to work
at" in Quincy, I'll. The attack on the
Quincy bank was made in very much
the same way as the attack on the
hank at Elmira. TIE Baltimore " man
again rented a house which afforded
shelter and concealmen 10 the men,
access was obtained to rooms over the
vault by false keys, as before. Inc
flooring was taken up and put down
every night without exciting suspiclon'
the masonry was removed, the iron
plates OF the vault We're penetrated,
and. finally. one night Scott ana Dun
Ian were able to lower themselves
through a Jagged hoe into the money
room beneath.
II now remained to force open the
safes inside the vault. and TO accom-
plish this the robbers used, for the nrst
time in the history of $ fe wrecking IN
America. what is known as the ar
pump method, which had been devise
bv Evans and carefully explained by
him to Scott and Dun ap. T ans en-
blowers were at this time introducing
a padding designed 10 make sates more
secure; and Evans had Ait uPon the
idea OF Introducing powder INTO 'he
seams Of d safe door by an air pump
in the presence of a possible Customer.
in order to impress him with his need
of the new padding. Evans hlmselI
was not present at the breaking open
of the Quincy hank, and he had noun
ing 10 do with the robbery beyond tur-
nishing instruction and the air pump
Scott and Dunlap d the Work.
As 2 first step. all the seams or the
safes formed by the doors were care
! fully puttied up. save two small noles'
| one at the top and one at the pottoih'
/ Then. at the upper hole. Scott heid
! funnel filed with fine powder, Whlie
| DuDIan applied the air-pump at the
hole below. BY the draft thus created
the Dovder was drawn into all the m
/ tarsticeS between the heavy doors ana
! thc frames of the safes. Then little
pistol simply loaded with powder was
/ attached near the upper hole, ana, by
/ a string tied 10 the trigger. discharged
! from a safe distance above. Ihefe
were several attempts made before
| complete explosion was effected; but
{
l their contents secured, the ROBBERS
making good their escape with size 600
/ In money and about 100000 In bonds.
/ No part OF this money was ever recoN-
cred by the bank nor were any OF the
! gang CAPTURED at this time. The Secu-
rifles were. however afterward soid
/ back to the bank. Indeed, so cleVerly
! had the whole affair been managed
! that no suspicion fell upon either Scott
! - e ,,sr- lot o.
Here were fortunes made easily
enough. with plenty more to be made
/ I'm the same way, and the gang were
I IN high feather over their success.
| During the summer Of 1874 Scott and
J Dunlap lived in princely style in New
/ York. They attracted much attention
/ az COney Island during the season.
! where they drove fast horses. No one
suspected that they were the leaders
Of the most desperate gang OF bank
robbers ever organized in this or any
] other country.
BY fall their money began to run
short, and they decided 70 look about
! for another lob. In the QuiNcy rob-
berry they had broken their agreement
with Evans, paying him only a small
sum for the use of the air pump when
! he had furnished them. Now. how
ever, they called upon him again, and,
partly by threats partly by generous
offers, induced him to assist them
again. A series OF unsuccessful at
tempta at robbery were made on banks
in Saratoga. Nantucket, CoYlngton,
Ky. and Rockville, Conn In several
! instances failure came at the very
time when success seemed sure. In
the case OF the Covington bank, for in
stance. nitrogIycerin WaJ used in
blowing open the safe. and the eXplo-
sion was so violent that the men be-
came frightened and fed in panic
leaving behind untouched, although
exposed to view, $200, 600 In greenbacks
and $500 900 IN negotiable bonds. In
the case Of the Rockville bank their
plans had worked out perfectly, and
they had removed everything from the
top of the vault but thin layer Of
brick, when Scott accidentally forced
the Jimmy with which he was working
through the roof Of the vault and let 1t
fall inside. As it was too late TO COM
plete the work that night, and as the
presence OF the Jimmy inside the vault
would inevitably start an alarm the
next day, they were obliged to abandon
the attempt entirely.
The gangs most desperate adventure
befeH them in connection with the at
tempt on the First National bank OF
Pittston, Pa. THIS was made late in
the fall of 1875 The bank occupied
a one-story building covered with
tin roof. and the robbers decided TO
make the attack from the roof. But
there was 2 serious difficulty in the
fact that I'm case OF rain coming any
time after they had begun operations.
water might soak through the open
ings they had made and betray them
Dunlap's ingenuity. however. was equal
to this emergency; and each night
after finishing their excavation. they
carefully relaid the sheets Of tin that
ihad been disturbed, protecting the
joints with red putty, which matched
the roof In color So well did they put
on this putty. that, although IL rained
heavily the very day after they began
nor drop leaked through.
On the night Of Nov. 4 only one layer
OF bricks separated them from the top
o. the vault and ii was decided to fin
ish the work and do the robbery that
night. Two hours hard labor with
"draE" and 'jacl.-screw" sufhced to
effec- an opening, and Scott and Dun
lap were lowered into the vault. They
found three Marvin spherical safes
protected by burglar-alarm. But
Dunlap was somewhat of an electrical
expert and was able to so surround
the burglar alarm with heavy boards
az e. render It OF little or no danger
They experienced much difficulty,
though in blowing open the safes. The
/ first one attempted yielded on the
/ second exploslogs and they secured $500
! IN currency and 81, 600 in bonds. The