The De Soto County news. [volume] (Arcadia, Fla.) 1898-1924, 1905-11-03
DAKINu BUKgIlARIES
INGENIOUS DEVICES ResoRrEo TO
on BANK THIEVES.

Successful Tunneiing Operations
In the whole catalogue OF daring
bank robberies there Is no story more
pmazlng than that Of the robbery at
The Hongk ong branch Of the Bank OF
Western India, for not only did the
case display the most astonishing dar-
Ing skin and patience on the part OF
tie robbers, but their success has
never been equaled by other bank
breakers.
II 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 house on
the opposite sido of the street and set
tied down 10 live like simple minded
gentlemen.
Some nircc months later The manager
of the bank had occasion 20 visit the
vaults, and 90 bis utter nmuzement
and CONSERVATION, he discovered thht
the principal safe, which day or Two
before had contained upward of
100000 IN bullion and other yuluubles,
had been oiuptied Of every thing. II
did not take ljng to throw the respon'
eiblity for this astonishing change ON
the simple minded gentlemen over the
WY. but When visit was paid % tAclr
abode IL was found that they, too, had
disappeared
While living quietly and respectfully
evinelng no inclination 10 hide them
selves. but showing their faces fire.
auontly at the windows and walking
in the stBeets like tire most honest folk,
the robbers constructed a tunnel con
Meeting the basement OF their domicile
with the vaults Of the baSk. To ac-
complish this they dug shaft down
TO a sufficient depth TO enable them TO
tunel under the road without being
heard by passengers or risklns a col
lapse OF the earth. and they cut an
upward shaft. giving them access to
the vaults, where, one day when Ike
bank wOs closed and they knew the
safes were loaded with vuluables they
quietly broke in and cleared away
everything worth taking.
one can easily appreciate the cour-
gEe ana patience OF these men. They
had 10 cut tunnel between eighty
and ninety feet long, sufficiently nigh
and wide to allow the passage OF tive
men carrying heavy chest; they had
10 dispose of the immense amount Of
Il. -
without any one kRowinG and after
twelve weeks hcessant labor In cut
ting the tunnel they had yet to make
way through the cOncFete floer or the
bank and break into safe OF eXcep-
tlonal strength. The cutting OF the
inward shaft under the bank paruc-
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 antil they had
made their escape with 100000 worth
Of valuables, Me carrying away or
which, apart from anything else, must
have been for from a simple matter.
An equally surprising feat was per-
formed by the thieves who stole f4o'-
600 worth of diamonds from a Himber-
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 a big main drain to APP
proach the bank secretly, other difncul-
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 catering on their
enterprise the thieves evidently decid'
ed Il would be hopeless to attempt to
break into It at the sides or door, as
the work might occupy too much time,
and that Il would be necessary for
them to attack 1t at the back, which,
being built into a 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 a
tunnel twenty feet long on level with
the banks vaults. This tunnel, cut
through exceedingly difncult 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 = that
ninety-nine men cut of hundred would
have abandoned the enterprise II only
because OF the risk OF cutting passage
through such a wall beneath the feet
of an Office full Of clerks and ever pass
ing pedestrians in the street. But the
thieves had a fortune in diamonds in
view and were men not easily fright
a t.l.a .wI -. 1t,Iw