Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-30
American Exchange
Bank Robbery

1885, TWO messengers teIt the AWeIiShi
| Exchange National Bank. at the northeast
corner of Cedar street and Broadway, Ne"
| York city. and started down the busy thor
| oughfare for the office of the Adams Elk
press Company. few blocks distant. They
carried between them, each holding one OF
| the handles valise made Of canvas and
/ leather, in which had just been placed, In
| the presence of the paying teller, pack
age containing s41 600 in greenbacks. to be
! transmitted to the United States treasury
| in Washington for redemption.
Although the Observation-Disclosures 8.
Crawford and old Dominic Earle-were
among the banks most trusted employees
their honesty being considered above sus-
picion, they were nevertheless followed at
a short distance by Bank Detective McDou-
gal, old-time police detective, whose
snow-white beard and ancient style of dress
have long made him a parsonage of note on
Broadway. Detective McDougal followed
the messengers not because he had any
fear that they were planning robbery.
but because it is an imperative rule Of all
great banking institutions that the trans
fer OF large sums of money, even for very
short distances, shall be watched over with
the most ScrupulouS care. Each messenger
is supposed to act as a check on his tel
low while the detective walking in the
rear is a check on both In such cases all
weapons without hesitation should an at
tack be made upon them.
The messengers walked on through the
hurrying crowd, keeping on the east side
walk as far as Wall street, where they
turned across and continued their way On
the west sidewalk as far as the Adams
Express Companys building. which STANDS
at No. 90 Broadway. Having seen them
safely inside the building the detective
turned back to the bank, where his serv-
ices were required in other matters.
Passing down the large room strewn with
boxes and packages ready for shipment,
the two messengers turned to the right, and
assembled the winding stairs that in those
days led to the money department, on the
second floor No one paid much attention
to them, as at this busy hour bank mes
sengers were arriving and departing every
few minutes. Still, some of the clerks re-
membered afterward, or thought they did,
that the old man, Earle, assembled the stairs
more slowly than his more active com
panion, who went ahead, carrying the valise
alone. Both messengers however, We're
present at the receiving window or the
money department when the package was
taken from the valise and handed TO the
clerk, who gave a receipt for it in the
usual form: Received from the American
Exchange Bank one package marked as
ington;" or at least. so far as has ever
been proved, both messengers were present
when the package was handed in.
The two messengers, having performed
their duty, went away, Earle hurrying TO
the ferry to catch a train out into New Jer-
sey, where he lived, and Crawford return
Ing to the bank with the empty valise. The
valuable package had meantime been ranged
behind the heavily wired grating along with
dozens of others, some Of them containing
much larger sums. The clerks in the money
department of the Adams Express Com
pany become so accustomed to handling
gold, silver and bank notes, fortunes done
up in bags, boxes or bundles, that they
think little more of this precious merchan-
- I<rbt Of Or
brick. A quick glance. a touch of the hand
satisfies them that the seals, the wrap
pings, the labels the general appearance of
the packages are correct, and having en-
tered them duly on the way-bills and turned
them over to the express messenger VINO
is to forward them to their destination, they
think no more about them.
In this instance the SAL 900 package, after
a brief delay, was locked up in one of the
small portable safes, a score of which are
always lying about in readiness, and was
lowered to the basement, where 1t was
loaded on one of the company's wagons.
The wagon was then driven to Jersey City,
guarded by the messenger in charge, his
assistant and the driver, all three men
being armed, and was safely placed aboard
the night express for washington IL is
the company's rule that the messenger who
starts with a through safe travels with II
to its destination, though he has to make q
Journey of thousand miles. sometimes the
destination of money under transfer is so
COMPANIES Is required; and in that case the
messenger of the Adams company accom-
panies the money only to the point where
1t Is delivered to the messenger OF the
next company, and so on.
The next morning, when the package from
the American Exchange Bank was deliv-
cred in Washington. the experienced treas
ury clerk who received it perceived at
once. from the condition of the pack
age that something was wrong. EN-
pioyers of the Treasury Department
seem to gain new sense, and TO
be able to distinguish bank notes from
ordinary paper merely by the feel" even
when done up in bundles. Looking at the
label mark of S41 900, the clerk shook his
head and called the United States treas
urer James W. Hyatt, who also saw some
thing suspicious in the package. Mr..
Blanchard, the Washington agent of the
Adams Express Company was summoned,
and in his presence the package was opened
It was found to contain nothing more val
liable than slips of brown straw paper, the
coarse variety used by butchers In wrap
ping up meat neatly cut to the size of bank
notes The s41 600 was missing.
1t was evident that at some point be-
tween the bank and the treasury bogus
package had been substituted for the gen
une one. The question was, Where ana py
whom had the substitution peen ulade!
The robbery was discovered at the treas
ury In Washington on Saturday morning.
The news was telegraphed to New YORK
Immediately and on Saturday afternoon
anxious
of the American Exchange Bank and the
Adams Express Company. Inspector Byrnes
was notified; the Pinkerton agency was
notified, and urgent dispatches were sent
to Mr.. John Hoey, president of the express
Company, and to Robert Pinkerton, who
were both out of town, that their presence
was required Immediately in New York
Meanwhile every enc who had had any
connection with the stolen package-the
paving teller of the bank other bank clerks,
the messengers, Detective McDougal, the
receiving clerks of the Adams Express Com
pany land the express messenger-Were
closely examined. Where and how the
Sal 90 had been stolen was important TO
learn. not only in ITSELF but also to FIX
possibility for the sum lost as between
the bank and the express company.
Three theories were at once suggested;
The bogus package might have been sub
stituted for the genuine one either at the
bank. between the bank and the express Of
foe or between the express oftce ana the
treasury The first assumption threw sus-
nicion on some of the bank employees, the
second upon the two bank messengers. the
third upon some one in the service of the
express company. Both the bank and the
express company stoutly maintained the
integrity of its own employees.
An examination of the bogus package
disclosed some points of Significance. Or
dinarily when bank notes are done UP for
ol.;,1,-,o,+ ~, on ayperfauced clark the hills