The Elbert County tribune., 1908-07-16


dee. Illinois. in 1s4s and educated at
Notre Dame university in Indiana. He
was the son of Allan Pinkerton. the
founder of the famous detective agency.
Bob" Pinkerton. as he was familarly
called. had a marvellous memory for
names and faces. and his gallery OF Grim
tnal photographs and biographies was
supposed 20 be the finest in America. I:e,
made n big reputation by his method of
handling great crowds at the race tracks.
He was a man of pleasing personality
and did much toward introducing purely
business systems into concern which
Is regarded as rather romantic He died
August IL, 1907, aboard the North German
Lloyd steamer Bremen" while bound
for Europe.)
One morning before daylight the
United States Express company was
robbed of $4,000. and, sad to say.
there was not a shred of evidence to
tell the story of how this small for
tune was permitted to slip from the
grasp of corporation that had the
reputation of being ore of the most
careful and conservative in America
The scene of the robbery was at Sus-
quehanna, Pa. and the local authori-
ties did everything in their power to
locate the cash, but all to no avail.
In this emergency the company en-
listed the services Of Robert A. Pink
erton. 1t is probable that no detec-
tive in the world was better equipped
to grapple with problem of this kind
than Bob Pinkerton.' He had the
experience of lifetime in following
crime OF this particular character, and
although his adventures were little
known to the public at large, he en-
1oyed the reputation of more sue
cesses than iny other man In the
agency.
On June 20. 1883, the Marine Ma
'tionai bank OF New York sent to the
First National bank of Susquehanna
a sealed package containing $4,000
in currency and national bank notes.
The money was to be used in the
payment Of wages Of more than 1000
employees of the Erie Railroad COM
pany in the local shops. The pack
age WAS carried to the United States
Express company's office In New
York by clerk Of the Marine bank
who received receipt for It, The
money clerk Of the express company
took charge of the cash and inclosed
It in the regular canvas pouch, sealed
with the company's stamp and at
tached tag on which was the name
OF the company's agent at Susquehan-
ma. The pouch was duly delivered to
Messenger Van Wagenen. who placed
It In the safe with other valuables.
1t was midnight when it reached Sus-
quehanna and he turned the expen-
sive package over to Dwight Cham
berlain, night clerk and watchman,
who was Jointly employed by the ex-
press company and the Erie Railroad
company. Chamberlain placed 1t in
the safe In the ticket office and locked
1t with key which he carried in his
pocket After that he was busily en-
ployed in his usual duties about the
station. frequently being away from
the ticket office until seven o'clock
on the morning of the 21st.
While casting up his accounts the
messenger from the Susquehanna
bank arrived and called for the sealed
package. The pouch was taken from
the safe, but instead OF the $4,000 in
cash. number of small packages of
brown MANILA paper. cut about the
size of bank bills. were found in the
receptacle.
This being the case. either
Chamberlain. the night clerk. one of
the employees. or some other person.
unknown. was guilty. Chamberlain
was subjected to a rigid cross-exam-
nation, and at its conclusion Mr..
Pinkerton expressed the belief that
he was entirely innocent of any COM
plicity in the theft. A careful watch
kept on all OF the employees of the
company brought no developments.
At this stage of the game the detec-
tive broadened the line of his inquiry
so as to include every man. woman
and child In the town of Susquehanna.
Some instructive feeling probably the
result OF his long years OF experience
made him believe that the crime
had originated in the little town in
Pennsylvania. After learning as
much as possible about the personal
history of the inhabitants. he began