The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1915-01-08
the time l held the position"

Mccarthy In answer to a question
said that he was the mechanic" the
man who did the actual blowing of
the safes, when he operated with
Irish johnny" and O'Day; thar OF
the Gordonsville job he broke the
door ot the postoffice and O'Day was
watcher" During his recital of
the details of the Gordonsville cob"
Mccarthy said that he blew the safe.
You told the court moment ago
that there was no safe in the Office"
Interrupted counsel for O'Day.
oh, | thought you meant on the
Louisa job" replied Mccarthy, ex-
floating himself from the position in
which the slip of memory had placed
prSm.
II. L. Gregory, postofficc inspector,
was the second and last witness the
United States put up at the prelim-
mary hearing. Mr.. Gregory said that
he saw O'Day first in Wadesboro, N.
c., after he had been arrested for
the Heath Springs bank robbery. The
defendant was known as Charles
ODay, alias Charles Blackburn, alias
Charlie Cross, alias missouri Char
lie."
Then Mr. Gregory went into details
ahout the career of John +. Nc
Carthy, alias "West Philadelphia
Johnnie" explaining his presence as
witness against O'Day in the pro-
ceedings under way. Mr.. Gregory
told of his part in securing a pardon
for Mccarthy after the latter had
pleaded guilty to his escapades in
rl1
ory said that Mccarthy was in no
sense "stool pigeon"
The defense offered no witnesses at
the preliminary.
Commissioner Sloan announced that
he would hold O'Day for trial on the
charge of robbing the postoffice at
( Edonsville, Va. His bond was fixed
aF SIS 900.
I Lacking the delicate touch and
epick ears that would have enabled
MIN to detect the fall of the "tum-
blterS"in the locks of safes and want
Ing the mechanical skill necessary to
blow" safes, O'Day did not attain the
highest rank in the yegg profession.
In most instances, he acted as a
watcher" while partners with more
technical knowledge did the actual
safe cracking. He stood outside of
the buildings ready to shoot any one
who interferred with the "job" going
on inside.
Notwithstanding his lack of skill
or his failure to use it, O'Day is
known to have been implicated in
many robberies as accomplce or in
more active capacity. OF course
nj ~ Of Ii
With John Fischer, who escaped
last winter from the South Carolina
penitentiary, O'Day was arrested at
lilesville, n. c., in the spring OF 1905
Both men were wounded, O'Day deS-
perately so, in a battle with officers
who undertook the dangerous task of
capturing them. They were tried at
Lancaster on the charge of having
robbed the bank at Heath Springs in
Lancaster county. Fischer and O'Day
we're sentenced to 10 years. O'Day
was paroled just after Christmas OF
condition that he be turned over to
! the United States authorities.
In 1900 O'Day was sentenced t..
: four years Imprisonment In the
| Moundsville, (W. Va.) prison for rob
bing postoflice at Cape Charles, Va.
| He operated then under the name o.
Charlie Blackburn. On the Cape
Charles job Irish Jimmy" and
"Swede Whitey"operated with ODay
Some time after their release from
Moundsville prison, O'Day and Irish
Jimmy" joined Mccarthy, who ap
peared as witness against the form
er at the preliminary yesterday. The
trio robbed the postoffice at Gordons-
vile and Louisa, Va, in March, 1904
I'm April of the same year, Mccarthy
O'Day and Irish jimmy broke into
a saloon at Alexandria, Va, and blew
open the safe in a store at FrederickS-
burg, Va. At Laural, Md, the three
cracksman with "Faces"broke into
the depot of the Baltimore d Ohio
railroad and into the office of a flour
mill.
While the three were at Alexandria,
they had been joined by Faces" a
yeggman whose "monaker" referred
to some popularity of his facial ex-
preston. At Ellicott City, Md,
Faces" O'Day, Mccarthy and Irish
Jimmy" blew open a safe in cotton
mill, obtaining $3.50.
aces leII Ine party, Whlcn was
Joined by portland Ned" a master
yeggman who has been paroled from
the South Carolina penitentiary, es-
capped from the governors office and
is now in Jail in North Carolina, and
pennsylvania Mickey" The yegg-
men went to Dover, Del, the capital
of the State and a larger town than
they usually operated in. There, in
May, 1904, they broke into the post
Office and attempted to blow open the
safe. The three explosions necessary
to force the door aroused citizens,