Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-02-17
CHEATED THE CROOK

"a few weeks ago. on a visit to New York,
l happened to visit jefferson Market court.
when seedy. emaeiated. pais.ed old man
was vagged by the magistrate for begging
on the Streets" said Patrick Galligan, the
house detective at local hotel. who used
to live In the big town. 81 hadn't seen this
| man for nearly thirty years. but l thought
recognized him as 1 saw him leaning on
the ran IN front of the magistrates desk.
and when he stepped back. after getting his
thirty-day dose, spoke 10 him and found
| that I wasn't mistaken to his identity.
| The sight OF him took me back to the days
when Boss Tweed was running things in
| New York, and here's the story that the
sight of that old man recalled to me:
.'One day in the fall of 1874 one of the
| most finished and successful bank burglars
| that ever used drill in this country
won't mention his name. for he's still alive
and reformed-was walking along 9th ave,
| nue.. In New York enjoying his parole and
| the mellow sunshine. There were a whole
| lot of indictments hanging over him. OF
| course, but they didn't worry him any, for
| he happened to be on pretty fair terms with
! some OF the men attached to the municipal
! administration at that time AS he swung
| along he was accosted by a prosperous
| looking whom he did not know, al
| though the prosperous looking citizen ad-
| dressed the burglar by his right name. The
| crook, finding after some stalling that the
| man VINO Knew MS name WASH d OS-
J tective, took him into a cafe and asked him
| some things.
| I'm the first place how did you know
me?' he inquired of the stranger.
| Well it appeared that the burglar had
| been pointed out to the stranger by de-
| tective who was so shady that he afterward
did time for surreptitiously extending aid
and comfort To the enemy-one OF the Old
| time bands of New York crooks.
"'Arl right said the craftsman then.
| Now 1 don't suppose you are seeking my
4 .. al-n 80 Iotp In
| PRODUCED into society or for the enjoyment
| of my winning ways. What's your lay?
| Then the stranger up and told the
| burglar what his graft was
% M the cashier of a bank bit up the
| state, said he to the burglar The directors
don't know anything about It, but I'm
| short in my accounts There only one
way out Of it. The bank will have to be
| robbed by professional cracksmen. That
| will let me out and. in addition. III! ex-
| pect to get my rake-off from the robbery.
| | want you to rob the bank. You ma
$50. 600 in cash in 1t on the night you ar.
| range the job-I'u attend to that Or
| course / want my bit out of that-$l0,Oo0 at
| least I've always heard that you re square
| In these divisions of plumber, and, therefore,
| I'll trust you to hand me my share AFTER
| you've done the job for putting you on 20 u.
This sounds good enough to eat. re-
| plied the craftsman, who was quite Some
more than seven years of age, and VINO
| could see a man-trap as far as lhlrleeh-
| l., oh gun will shoot. Fact is, it's 50 sweet
| that it's almost cloying. Now, I've heara
| your proposition. You give me Il coupe OF
| days to investigate you and then Wen talk
| business.
They arranged another meeting at the
| same place Il couple OF days later, anu
| In the meantime the craftsman. whose
facilities We're of the best, looked into the
| job. He found that his man really was
| the cashier of an upstate bank, in town
| not more than hours run from New
York So when the cashier called at tnA
| appointed time the burglar ready TO
| talk business
You'll have a hard nights work SAID
| the cashier, for, in order TO avert sus-
picion. I'll have TO leave the vaults and
| safes all locked tighter'n drum, as usual.
! You'll need several assistants
That's my end of it,, replied the cracks
| man You Just let me handle those little
| details Every man to his trade. They
! don't make EN- strong that can't get
| into en-.
| ..Then all of the details were arranged.
| and the robbery was fixed for a certain
| night In the following week. The cashier
| was especially solicitous that he should get
| his share OF the proceeds of the crib-crack-
| ing. The craftsman assured him that II
| there was $4,000 In the job $4,000 would
| be enough for himself and his associates,
| end the cashier would get the rest. ON
| the night fixed the craftsman and three
| of his best men went up to the town and
| pulled off the job. 1t was a matter OF
| four hours before the gang. after over
| powerlng and gagging the Waterman, got
INTO the main SAFE, ueS Iciilu II empty
| Then they tackled the smaller safes. These,
| too, were empty. The top-notch craftsman
was pretty mad, naturally.
| He had been played for a good thing,
| end he knew it. The cashier had simply
| looted the bank himself and the robbery
| which he had arranged was to cover up
| his own trail. There have been Napoleons
| of finance without number developed from
| among bank cashiers, but never heard Of
| a heater dodge than that.
"Of course, the craftsman and his pals
| lad nothing for it but TO pack their KRIS
and drill back to New York. They weren't,
| Of course, in a position to say anything
about how they'd been done. The top
| notch cracksman had to read in the after
! noon papers the lurid accounts Of how the
| bank had been robbed Of cash and Sc
| curities 'aPproXimating 100000 in amount,
| and grind his teeth and cusS The bank
| failure was announced few days later.
This professional craftsman got nabb I'd
| with the goods a couple of months later,
| and was sentenced to a three-specker. /
| happened to be with the detective who was
| taking the craftsman up to Sing Sing. AT
| one of the stations, a bit of a ride out OF
| New York, | noticed the cracksmans face
| suddenly darken with wrath, and l asked
| him what was up. He pointed out SLEEK
| locking man who was sitting In a dogcart
! alongside the station. and he cursed that
man in a blood-curdling way for two min
| utes before he was able to tell the story
| as I've told 1t. The man In the dogcart
was the cashier who'd been crafty enough
| 10 put il over one of the most accomplished
| all-around crooks In the western hem-
| sphere. The failure of the bank hadn't
| hurt the cashier at all in the estimation OF
| his townsmeu. The bank was robbed by
| cracksmen,' you see, so how could the
| cashier help the banks failure?
But these things all work out In time.
| The emaciated, palsied old vag l saw in
| jefferson Market court in New DIRK d
| few weeks ago was that bank cashier, now
| reaping what he sowed.'
HOW TO PREVENT FIRES.