Rocky Ford enterprise., 1908-07-17

tRobert A. Pinkerton was born In Dun
dee. Illinois. in ls4s. and educated at
Notrs Dame university In Indiana. He
was the son of Allan Pinkerton. the
founder of the famous detective agency.
Bob Pinkerton. rs he was familiarly
called. had a marvellous memory for
names and faces. and his gallery Of GRIM
fnnl photographs and biographies was
supposed to be the finest In America. He
made big reputation by his method OF
handling great crowds at the race tracks.
He was n 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 EuropeJ
One morning before daylight the
United States Express company was
robbed Of 100000. and. sad to say.
there was not a shred OF evidence to
toll the story OF how this small for.
tune was permitted to slip from the
grasp Of corporation that had tho
reputation Of being one 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 tho services Of Robert A. Pink.
erton. II IL 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 q lifetime in following
crime Of this particular character. and
although his adventures were little
known to the public at large. he en-
joyed tho reputation Of more sue
cesses than any other man In the
agency. -...
On June 20. 1888. the Marine Ma.
tional bank OF New York sent to the
First National bank OF Susquehanna
n 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 1t. 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 a tag on which was the name
of the company's agent at Susquehan-
na. The pouch was duly delivered to
Messenger Van Wagenen. who placed
II 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. a 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
It with q 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 2lst.
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. a 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.
ination. 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
him believe that the crime
had originated in the little town in
Pennsylvania After learning as
much as possible about the personal
Of the inhabitants. he began