The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-03-24

i neither the messenger, Van Waganen,
/ nor the watchmans Chamberlain. could
+ swear that 1t was not the one that he
/ had handled
fully and cross ezamining Van Waea-
nen and Chamberlain, Superintendent
i Bangs concluded that the robbery had
not been committed on the train and
i that the genuine money package had
T reached Susquehanna and been locked
( IN the railroad cOmpany's safe by the
night clerk He was strengthened in
! this conclusion by the statement of
/ Chamberlain, who admitted that. after
+ locking up the money, he had only
/ been in the ticket Office at intervals
/ during the night. For this he was in
no way to blame, as he had other du-
I ties to perform about the station. nota-
j bly, those Of way bin clerk
Thus the robbers would have had
I full opportunity to approach the safe
unobserved and exercise their skill up
on II, could they have secured entrance
/ TO the ticket Office. Nor was this a
1 difficult matter, since the door leading
into 1t was known to have three KEYS
( in the hands of various employees Of
lne road from whom they might have
I been procured or stolen. More impor-
/ tant still was the fact, ascertained by
/ Mr.. Bangs, that the safe itself had
/ three keys, intrusted to as many men,
whose duties required them to have ac-
cess 70 the SAFE. 1t 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 super
= lOrS. me door leading into the ticket
! ONCE opened from the mems waiting
i room, where people had been coming
! and going during the entire night of
I the robbery. Such of these people as
could be found were questioned CLOSELY
as to what they had observed on this
night, but they could furnish no infor-
nation 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 5000 had been stol-
t en- from the express cOmpauy's safe.
+ The Pinkertons knew that for years a
/ band of professional thieves had been
1 travelling through the country, operat-
/ ing on safes that could be opened with
/ a key Among them were experts in
/ fitting locks especially. skilled in max
! ing keys from impressions, and known
/ as professional "fltters.' At first 1t
was considered possible that the rob
/ berry had been committed by these men;
+ but, after the most careful search and
inquiry Superintendent Bangs con-
J cluded that this was not the case and
( that the pouch had been stolen by
I some person or persons resident in SuS-
I quehanna, presumably by one or more
( OF the railway employees who had ac-
cess to the Office, or by persons init
mately acquainted with some Of the
men who had keys to the safe.
Shadows were put on all persons
t who might have had access to the tick
ct office and the safe; but although
/ this was continued for weeks, nothing
conclusive came to light.
About this time a reorganization OF
! the Pinkerton Agency became neces-
sary, through the death Of Allan Pink
/ ertOn, the founder, and George H.
I Bangs the general perintendent, and
I Robert Pinkertou assum ed charge of
( the investigation at Susquehanua. He
/ undertook the difficult task of picking
I out one guilty man Cor possibly two or
/ three) from body of 1900 workmen.
! For, despite Of lack Of evidence either
way, there was no doubt in the detec-
I tive's mind that the money had been
taken by some Of the employees Of
either the express or the railroad COM
pany. PinkertOn men were taken to
Susquehanna and given employment in
various positions for the railroad and
express companies, their duty being to
make friends and hear gossip, and, If
possible. in an unguarded moment, at
some saloon or boarding house, or
perhaps at the chatty noon hour in the
works, secure some important secret
y Other detectives came with money in
their pockets, and. under the guise of
/ sporting men, made themselves pOpu-
/ lar at resorts where a poor man come
/ dishonesty and suddenly into money
would be apt to spend it,
Day after day, month after month,
the watch was continued from many
points of view the conversations OF
hundreds Of WOrkmen were carefully
noted, the gambling houses and their
inmates were kept under constant
scrutiny, the lives of this man and
that man and scorse of men and
turned inside out, and all without any
one in Susquehanna suspecting it, the
general opinion being that the rob-
berry had been put aside along with
tmany other unsolved mysteries.
A whole year passed before any
promise OF success came to cheer the
express company and the patient de-
tectives. In the summer of 1884, Rob
ert PinkertOu, having received infOr-
nation that a professional burglar
who had been arrested some weeks
previous for a burglary at Milwaukee
had valuable information about an ex-
press robbery Immediately 5Ourneyeo
from New York to Milwaukee to inter
view the man. He learned from the
burglar that some years before he haC
operated with q man named ] Ohm DON
ahue, that about the time OF the SuS-
quehanna robbery Donahue had beer
away from home, and that shortly
after the robbery he had returned witt
plenty OF money and paid of several
old debts. Mr.. Pinkerton at once rec
ognized in DOnahue a notorious thief
who, to escape justice had taken Ut
his residence at Fort Eric, Canada
where he had opened hotel.
The burglar also gave Mr.. Pinker-
ton a description OF q man who haC
visited Donahue at his hotel on several
occasions. and who had the genera
appearance of a workman. He sus-
pected that this man had been in some
way concerned with Donabue in tht
Susquehanna robbery; he knew that ht
had resided at one time in Buffalo
n. Y, and worked IN the shops there
and he thought that he might be theT
! living in SusquehRnna, Pa.
From the description. Mr.. Pinker-
ton was able, on going to Susquehanna
to Identify the suspected man with
one George II. Proctor, who had for
merry been foreman in the railroad
company's shops, but had resigned hi
position some months before an6
moved to Buffalo. In the investiga-
ton that was at once begun it wa.