The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1911-03-07
bunny Package Exchanged for Ono
He Was Carrying Which Con-
taIned $4,000 in
Value.
WAS SLICK TRICK
Polite Stranger Palmed Envelopes
When coIIision Occurred in
Corridor Of Bank
Building.

NEW YORK, March 7.Securities.
mostly in negotiable form and worth
about $4,000 at today's prices, were
stolen Thursday afternoon. The fact
+ was not learned until today, when an
envelope supposed to contain them
| was taken from the vaults Of the
Produce Exchange Safe Deposit com
/ pany and opened at the office OF
George Bancroft & Co., brokers, at 16
Beaver street, where it was discover
ed the envelope contained only copies
OF an evening newspaper,
/ From the story told by Aaron Ban
croft. senior member of the firm, now
in his S6th year, it appears the theft
was committed in corridor leading
to the safe deposit vaults, which
| the elder Bancroft took the securities
at 4 o'clock last Thursday Mr.. Ban
croft says that he remembers meeting
two men in the corridor one of whom
bumped into him, causing him to
drop the package and his hat. The
men pretended to assist him, he says,
and one of them picked up the pack
age. In that brief space of time he
believes dummy package was sub
stituted.
While the Central office men were
unwilling to accept this theory as the
only possible one to account for The
theft they were unable to advance any
other.
The firm Of George Bancroft & Go.
is one Of the Oldest in business on the
Consolidated Exchange The firm di-
rectly after the robbery became
known satisfied President Jarvis OF
the exchange that the loss in no way
threatened its solvency
According to the story told by the
members of the firm and by their
lawyer, it has been for twenty-five
years the custom of Aaron Bancroft to
carry the securities of the firm TO and
from the vaults. The octogenerian
broker made these trips on Mondays
and Thursdays, these being the days
when settlements are made on the
Consolidated. When the aged broker
went to the Produce Exchange vaults
ne had the securities, which were
done up in separate packages and
placed in a heavy Manila envelope
under his arm. The envelope was in
scribed George Bancroft & Co. The
securities included 500 shares of Dis
tillers' stock, 300 Shelters, 500 Bee
sugar, 220 Brooklyn Rapid Transit
loo Missouri Pacific, 100 Lehigh Valley
and other stocks in smaller amounts
After the incident in the deposi,
veult corridors Mr.. Bancroft placed
the envelope in the vault and thought
no more of the incident until the
dummy envelope was found. 1t hat
no name upon it.
The distance from the Bancroft Of
nee to the vaults is about 200 feet anc
any one making the trip is in constan
sight Of the office windows.
So bold e. robbery in daylight, in the
very heart of the financial district
shocked the police like an exploded
oombshell. Years ago Inspecto
byines had drawn dead line across
the city at Fulton street, below which
ne ordered that no crook or pick
pocket should go on even an innocen
errand, under pain of instant trouble
With the police.
The order was tested and found tt
De seriously intended Having tried 1t
lne criminals obeyed. and for years
the financial district was the safes
place in the world for a man will
large sums OF money or valuable sc
curities on his person.
VIM. H. Sullivan, attorney for th'
Banerofts, said that the numbers o
all the missing certificates were II
the firms possession. Part Of tn
securities had been transferred to tn
name OF the Bancrofts, he said, an
less apprehension was felt about th
robbers realizing promptly on tn
securities SO transferred than on tn
others, which had not undergone tn
Transferring process.
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