Omaha daily bee., 1906-07-22
DECLINE IN BANK BURGLARY
Kodsrn Inventions Deprive the brakeman
Of Paying Business.
BIG HAUls NO LONGER POSSIBLE
Many and varied operations Of
Jimmy Hope, Master of the Graft,
and n Crafty Cuss He
was.

crushed the professional bank burglar. The
associations formed by the bankers for
their mutual protection and the watchful-
ness Of detective agencies have wiped out
a profession which used to reap lucra-
tive income from the repositories OF public
funds The absence Of the glowing reports
which used to MI columns Of the papers
concerning the exploits Of cracksmen has
given rise TO inquiries as to the cause Of
all this.
Time was when the most successful OF the
bank burglars were the men with the
broadest shoulders and the shortest arms.
In the past a Job OF this sort was only at
tempted by a burly gang OF thieves, half
dozen Of them at least, and armed with
implements so complicated and expensive
that they weighed hundreds of pounds.
Such has been the advance OF science that
lately these men have been able TO work
alone. with electricity as their assistant,
and IL they wish they may wear evening
clothes as there IL no CRIME, oil or dust
connected with the operation.
with every advance made by the burglar
10 work the destruction Of the bank there
have been added inventions for its protec-
ton. until now the profession. and so II was
regarded by the most proficient Of its men,
beers, has become hazardous that not
even the bravest care to risk their precious
liberty in robbing safes. True, the 'yegg-
man." as he has come TO be called, has
seemed 20 MI in the vacancy caused by the
retirement Of the professional burglar, but
his work is small compared with such mas
tiers Of the craft as Adam Worth and 'Old
Man" Jimmy Hope. These men looked
down upon such small fry, and would have
nothing to do with them.
out for Big HauIs.
The Clergyman" Is content with breaking
into postofices and taking what stamps and
small coin may be left in the safe, and
with robblpg isolated houses, but the true
artisan of this craft. when It was in its
prime. disdained anything short OF $4,000.
and sometimes he hitched his kite to a
higher star than that
An instance of this was the great Man
haitian bank robbery. which took place in
1873. in which almost 100000 worth OF
securities and cash was distracted from
the vaults "Old Man" Jimmy Hope was
suspected OF this crime, but nothing could
ever be proved against him, although his
son was convicted and sentenced to Sing
Sing for a term of years.
No such robbery had been attempted be-
fore that time. and none has since assumed
such magnitude in the amount of property
lost at one time. For years the robbery
had been planned, and the perpetrators
waited for favorable opportunity to put
their scheme into operation. From the
confession OF Patrick Shevelin the whole
story of this remarkable robbery was
brought to light.
According to Shevelin. who was night
Waterman at the bank, he was approached
three years before the robbery by two
men who had been schoomates of his In
his boyhood. and OF whose subsequent
areer he knew nothing. One of them was
we'll known cracksman, nlcknamed Lit
lie Tracy" and the other man was almost
equally famous. bearing the sobriquet of
Big kid" They called his attention to
the great chance that he had Of making
money easily. and also represented the
small risk that there was to such pro-
ceedngs eEging him on by pointing to the
beReariy salary he was receiving.
He at first rejected their proffers of as
sistance, but finally consented to meet
ing when he agreed to become a party TO
the crime. Little Tracy" and the big
Kid" started to organize the gang who were
to DO the work. They finally secured big
Tracy" and a man named Dollard, but after
three or four months Of meetings the gang
broke up on account OF some of the MEM
bers being sent TO Jail for other crimes.
After the abortive attempt the matter
lonEuished for some time, but finally,
through the mediation OF Little Tracy
Hope was brought into consultation with
Ghcvelin. and they had several interviews
in regard 90 the advisability Of making
tho attempt Hope finally appeared sat
isned and organized another gang TO do
the work
In this new gang there was not a bur-
glnr. and several times they were within
an ace of making the break, but somehow
they had always to give II up. Finally,
after many meetings. the members became
disheartened and decided that It was not
feasible.
So Near and Yet So Far.
Hope. however, did not lose faith in the
scheme. and some six months after the
forming OF the second gang again called
on Shevelin. This time he made arrange.
mcnts to associate the big Kid" and
Johnny Dobbs with himself. and the trio
went 20 work in dead earnest
On the FIRST available Sunday Hope Wis
tied the bank and examined the vaults
Then he gave sheveln some wax 20 take
an impression of the outer door key. Thi
being done he had key made which, wher
tried operated the lock quite easily.
The next Sunday he took Johnny Dobb
along. They drilled hole under the com
bination, threw the fore tumbler OF thi
combination lock back. opened the door ant
entered the vaults Here for time the!
were in doubt Just what TO do, as Their
happened 10 be two steel safes, both will
combination locks. Fifty minutes was al
the time that could be allowed in which q
do the lob, and they concluded that II coul,
not he done with safety In that time, s.
they gave up the attempt.
They came out and attempted 20 lock IN
vault. Somehow Dobbs dropped the screy
and WAS able to force only three OF tn
tumblers back as he had lost the wire O
the fourth. They at once realized that
tho bank officiais In the morning were no
able 20 unlock the safe suspicion might b
entertained that the lock had been tam
pered with. so they plugged up the hol
wit putty and smeared Il with dirt fror
the floor 30 as 10 make IL appear that IN
driii had not been used on IL for a Ion
time.
When the offic,als OF the bank appeare
in the morning and tried to work thte CON
hination they were unable to do so. A loes
loeksmith was called, but nothing he eoul
do would bulge the door an inch. Then a
expert was recuisitioned and he took IN
door on the hinges. discovering at the sam
time the hole that had been drilled by Hop
but was unable 20 determine whether
was an old or a new one