The Washington herald., 1907-05-14

New York, May 13-The details Of the
robbery Of the Trust Company Of Amer
lea, which h. g been kept secret until now.
were learned to-day. as the coming trial
Of Oliver NJ. bennett, the broker. relieves
the necessity Of guarding them so closely.
II is story calculated TO make the bones
of the late lamented Dick Turpin, con-
sidered a fairly good man in his line,
rattle with envy.
Never was there a more daring attempt
at 'hold-up' for big stake than in the
stealing Of 100000 worth of bonds and
securities from the trust company. It
was planned that the clerk. William o.
Douglas. should steal sIOO0.00O worth OF
negotiable paper, and that $4,000 should
be demanded for its return. with the
guarantee that everything be kept secret
and no one punished.
The scheme. In all its details, was un-
folded by Douglas. the clerk. In a con-
fession made to Oakleigh Thorne, presi-
dent of the trust company. Two other
t~A-'D4aN sA-N AAAf'ANNA ~ At0AStHNf III IT'S
confesslon-Dennett and a lawyer. who
seems finally to have become the chief
.conspratOr. If the story told BY Douglas
is true. Douglas has sworn to his state
ment in the district attorneys office. and
will repeat the story on the witness stand
if bennett decides to go 10 trial.
Lawyers Share i'm Theft.
In his confession to Mr.. Thorne. Doug
las stated that the lawyer advised that
while they were at it Douglas might Just
as well make a good job of it and steal
so much that the trust company would
fear 70 have the matter become public.
Then. Douglas said. the lawyer proposed
to conduct the subsequent negotiations.
taking as his share a third Of the loo.
that remained to the C0nspiratOrs.
bennett is under Indictment on three
charges Of grand larceny as a result Of his
connection with the stealings Of Doug
las. He has already pleaded not guilty.
and has until Wednesday in which 10 de-
eide whether he shall continue that plea
or plead guilty and throw himself on the
mercy Of the court His trial is expected
10 begin Thursday Douglas will be the
principal witness against him.
Income Not Sufficient.
When making his confession to Mr.
ThOrne Douglas stated that he was led
into his initial error because his income
was not sufficient for his needs. and. more
than that, he was anxious % get into
business for himself. He had an idea
that he Luav- tho -.,-s- .----. -
enough to be successful as a broker. He
was acquainted with bennett considered
him a good business man. and thought
that altogether they could build up a
hourishing brokerage business.
So strongly was Douglas impressa5
with the idea that he spoke to bennett
about forming a business partnership
They reached an agreement. one feature
OF which was that Douglas should fur
nish S2,50. He did not have the money
but soon conceived a way Of raising It.
Douglas said he stole bonds from the
safes Of the trust company and turned
them over 10 bennett IN order that Den
nett might operate in the cotton market
to- the financial profit Of both of them.
To Hide First Theft.
The first venture was a failure. and
Douglas took more bonds in order 70
raise funds 20 hide the first theft Still
they were pursued by in luck. and Doug
las resorted to further stealings. Matters
soon became decidedly serious for both
Douglas and bennett. Then bennett
Douglas said. sought the advice of a
lawyer
As to the advice given by the lawyer.
all Douglas knows is what bennett told
him. As Douglas understands it. the
lawyer advised that the only way TO avoid
prosecution and make anything out Of the
matter as it stood was for Douglas 10
go at it good steal s1.O0OO0 worth OF
bonds and securities and turn them over
10 bennett, who in turn was to place them
in the hands Of the lawyer.
Would Cover Up Crime,
Then" Douglas understands. the law
yer said: I viii see President Thorne.
I viii tell him Of the loss he has SIs-
tanned. which will be news 10 him. I will
point out that he cannot afford any pub
licity in the matter. as Il comes at a bad
time for him. just when his company is
with the Colonial Trust Company.
| will insist that Douglas be allowed 10
resign, thereby creating no suspicion that
anything is wrong. For the further con
sideration Of S200O00-I will get S225, 600 If |
oan-I Will agree 10 return all the stolen
bonds and securities.
It was finally agreed, according to the
Of Douglas. that s2o0009
would be demanded. of which between
slso,004 and slS5,000 would have to be ex-
pended in order 10 recover the securities
that had been negotiated and had lost
value because Of changes in the stock
market.
scheme Falls Through.
The final understanding between the
related to the disposition OF
the money that would remain after the
bonds and securities were recovered.
Douglas said the lawyer insisted on sl2.-
500 as his share Of the results Of the hold
up.
Before Douglas could get the bonds and
securities of the value named by the law
yer his thefts were discovered and the
scheme fell through His connection with
bennett was discovered at the same time.
and many of the bonds and securities
turned over to bennett by Douglas were
found between the mattresses in Den
nett's bed in the Manhattan Club.
1t is said that when bennett discovered
that Douglas was arrested he telephoned
TO the lawyer, who ordered bennett 10 re-
main where he was to cover the law
yer.
Ia Carte Lunch Served Daily
A U-oiycfogr-r r-rr-