The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-12-03
'TlEVELAND
J MOFFFTT
THE SUSQUEHANNA
EXPRESS ROBBERY

fIVc years ago. for the company 10 have
a sum of money sufficient for this pur-
pose shipped from New York by eX-
press It day or two before the date
when the wages We're 10 be paid. Fol
lowing out this practice, Oh the night
Of June 20, 1883. the Marine national
bank, Of New York. shipped by the
United States Express company q
scaled package containing $4,000 for
the Erie Railroad company, in care Of
The First National bank of Susque-
hanna. The package contained United
States currency and bank notes, al
most entirely in small bills, none lar
ger than $40.
The usual precautions were observed
IN shipment, a trusted clerk of the
Marine hank carrying the package 20
The express cumpany's Office and taxi
1us a receipt for IL from, the money
clerk, who examined it first 10 make
sure that the seals of the bank were in
fact and that in all respects it present
Ned a correct appearance. Having sat
istied himself on these points, the
money clerk placed the package in one
OF the canvas pouches used by the
United States Express company, sealed
II carefully with the companys private
seal, and attached a tag bearing the
address OF the Company's agent at
SusQuehanna
After a brief delay the pouch was
delivered To Express Messenger Van
Waganen, who saw it placed IN one Of
the small iron safes used by express
companies In conveying money from
city 10 city The messenger rode with
the safe 60 the train, and then re-
manned on guard in the express ar,
hrpa k. M stf4f.aH fs .4.s
Susquehanna. at which point he de-
livered the pouch to Dwight Cham
berlain, a night clerk and Waterman
in the joint employ of the Erie rail-
road ana the United States Express
company The train left New York
at six p. m, and reached Susquehanua
about midnight.
Watchnan Chamberlain, having re-
ceiVed the pouch at the station, car
ried il into the ticket Office and locked
il inside a safe belonging TO the Erie
Railroad company. lie remained on
duty the rest of the night, and at
seven o'clock the next morning a mes
- niger from the First National bank,
of Susquehanua. came To get the
package. Chamberlain unlocked the
safe, took out the pouch, opened il,
and then emptied its contents on the
table. To his great surprise the pack
age containing the d00G0 was gone.
and in its place We're several bundles
of manila paper cut 10 the size of
bank bills and done up in small pack
ages as money is done up
The agent OF the company, Clark
Evans, was Immediately notified, and
ne at once telegraphed the news of
the robbery 10 the officials of the
United States Express company i'm
New York. who with very little delay
placed the matter in the hands of the
Pinkerton Detective agency. The di-
rect supervision OF the work was un-
dertaken by the late George II. Bangs
at that time general superintendent, y
Of the Pinkerton agency, and a force
IA ~ detectives at once started for Sus-
- quehanna
An important discovery was made
Arn closer examination of the pouch
n was found that this pouch was not
the one that had been sealed up in
the express office at New York. but a
bogus pouch, SO much like the other
that the change might easily have es-
capped notice. The chief points of diff
ference were the tag and the seal, the
former having been addressed in "a
different hand from that Of the New
ing an old seal not in use by the COM
pany at that time But the general
appearance Of the pouch was such
that neither the messenger, Van Wag-
amen nor the Waterman, Chamber
lain. could swear that it was not the
one that he had handled.
After going over the ground care
fully and cross-eXamining Van Wag-
amen and Chamberlain, SupeFinteud-
ent Bangs concluded that the robbery
had not been committed on the train
and that the genuine money package
had reached Susquehanua and been
locked in the railroad companys safe
by the night clerk. He was strength
ened in this conclusion BY the state
ment OF Chamberlain, who admitted
that, after locking up the money, ne
had only been IN the ticket office at
intervals during the night. For this
he was IN no way 10 blame, as he had
other duties to perform about the sta
tion, notably those OF way bin clerk.
Thus the robbers would have had
full opportunity 10 approach the safe
unobserved and exercise their skill
upon it. could they have secured en-
trance 20 the ticket office Nor was
his a difficult matter. since the door
leading into il was known To have
three keys. in the hands of various
employees Of the road. from whom
they might have been procured OF
stolen. More important still was the
fact asceTtained by Mr.. Bangs that
the safe itself had three keys iutrust-
ed 10 as many men, whose duties re-
quired them 10 have access TO the
safe. II subsequently transpired that
TWO of these keys had been made by
the men who carried them, for their
own convenience, and without the
knowledge OF their SUpcriOrs The
door leading into the ticket office
opened from the mems waiting rom.
Where people had been coming and
going during the entire night of the
robbery. such Of these people as
could be found were questioned close
" as TO what they had observed on
this night, but they could furnish no
Information that threw light upon the
case.
Some significance was found in the
coincidence that nine years before
there had been a robbery at Susque-
hanna, in which $4,000 had been
stolen from the express company's
safe . The Pinkertons knew that for
years a band of professional thieves
had been travelling through the cOun-
Try, operating on safes that could be
opened with d key. Among them
u ere experts in fitting locks, especial !
~ skilled in making keys from impress
sons. and known as professional mt
ters." AT first 1t was considered pos |
Eible that the robbery had been com
Initted by these men; but. after the
most careful search and inquiry.
Superintendent Bangs concluded that !