Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-12-14
ROB BROOKLYN BANK;
KILL z IN DAYLIGHT
Hold-Up Men Get $4,000 and
Make Escape; Officials Give
Plucky Battle.

at FRANKLIN ana hyTt aFchue yoso .u"y
afternoon at 220 o'clock, shot and killed
De Witt c. Peal, the paying teller, and
Henry w. Coons, the assistant treasurer,
stole Sl3.ll2 in currency and checks,
mostly in banknotes, and escaped IN
taxicab after slightly woundIng Detective
Albert Doodv, who exchanged shots with
them in the street.
AZ the time of the robbery there were
eight bank officials and employees and
three depositors on the main tioor OF
the bank building, an old-fashioned
three-storv brick structure, which has
been occupied by the bank since shortly
after the civil war The bank was In
corporated in 1860. when it began busi-
ness in a smaller building on the oppo-
site side of the street. and its career as
a quiet savings institution was unbroken
during the fifty-eight years up TO yes
terday.
The two men walked up three steps
into the front entrance at b4o Myrtle
avenue and then quietly along the cor
ridor in front of the wooden and brass
grill partition which separated the bank
staff from its customers and the public
The brass grill runs to the high ceiling
with several openings where money and
paSs books are received and returned.
These wicketed openings are all very
small with the exception OF one aperture
over which is the legend new accounts.
The new accounts" wicket is IA inches
wide and so inches high. At each end
of the lobby or vestibule Is door entering
into the large room occupied by the bank
employees. where the money and accounts
are handled.
The two robbers either studied these
details for the first time or refreshed
their memories concerning them while
thcv wandered in the lobby for minute
or two after entering. Then the man
who is known in the public report as
No. ! walked to the wicket 10 front OF
the having tellers cage. No. | WAS
H'oung man. about ) feet S inches tall.
with 4 white silk handkerchief around
his neck almost TO his mouth. wearing
a hat said to resemble q soldiers cam
paign hat and raincoat, which was
later found to be very much worn and
prcase-stained No | held out pistol
and said in low voice to MIR. Peal, the
paying teller:
Hold up your hands.
Peal was counting money at the time
and. according to fellow-cmpioyes, did
not hear, or failed TO heed the command.
Albert G.. Freeman. the assistant teller,
who stood near him, seeing the revolver
and the determined look of the young
bold-,rp man. said to Peal:
For Gods sake. Hold UP your
hands"
No. repeated his command, and
without waiting for Peal to obey
shouted to Others in the bank TO open
ono Of the doors leading inside the
main cage of the bank. Without hold
ing up his hands. the paying teller, who
had been looking down at the money
he WAS counting, turned towards the
burglar, according TO those near INN,
and was instantly shot. The bullet,
perfectly aimed, went through bis heart
killing him instantly.
Henry ". Coons, the assistant treas
urer. who was at desk nearby, ran
towards Peal after the shot was fired
He was dropped with a bullet through
his body near the heart, which caused
his death little later
No. | then aimed his pistol 81 Albert
g. Freeman, the assistant teller, calling
Hands up.'' but Freeman jumped he
hind d steel letter esse The roDher
ried % shoot him through II, but the
s.rcl turned the bullet which was found
later on the floor Of tho bank
No. /. who was seeking all this time 10
force some one 10 open a door and Let
his PARTNER at the money, then picked
out David Morehouse, treasurer OF the
bank. who had risen from his sea- IN the
rear Of the large room, and ordered him
10 open the door Morehouse, who wss
cdging toward a rear door, Gid not obey,
but plunged through door into the Lib
ertv bond department and out OF an
other door into Franklin avenue
No. ] fired a shot after him, but
missed and then, from ms position at
The tellers window, where he had every
one covered except the man hiding be-
hind the steel case. swung MS revolver
barrel slowly 10 and fro, 10 prevent any
one from moving He fired two shots at
random bv way of warning when he saw
signs of restiveness.
In the meantime, No had drawn a
pistol and lined up three deposItors, one
woman. against a wall IN the cor
ridor. No was about FIVE feet FIVE
inches tall. about 50 years old, with a
dark complexion and wore a dark blue
bcIted coat and black derby hat
After No had wasted nearly a min
ute. fired six shots and killed two men
without getting either of the doors
opened. No threw a satchel through
the opening mari ed New Accounts" F"
squeezed his body through after il.
walked past the two dying men, opened
drawer In the paving tellers cabinet
and swept the contents into the satchel.
4 check of accounts later showed that
he had taken checks and money worth
si3.Il2 the bulk OF it being currency
in 81. s.. SO and $40 notes. The checks,
in all probability, Will prove valueless
TO the robbers.
In the meantime Treasurer Morehouse
was running along Franklin avenue
shouting for help. and No. :, IN his OPP
crations. had set of burglar alarm
gong, which was making tremendous
clarnor in the street outside the building
These two things hurried No. 2, so that
be neglected to open two other money
drawers under the one which he emp
tied There was approximately $40, 900
in the three drawers, and he left nearly
S27 900 behind.
No. 2 squeezed through the wicket by
which he had entered, joined No. ],
whose pistol was covering the depositors
lined against the wall and the bank
employees inside the cage. The two rob
bers backed out, keeping their pistols
pointed at those in the building until
they were upon the street
The bank s life had been so quiet hith-
erto, according TO the police, that few
precautions had been taken against the
undreamed-of chance Of q daylight hold
up, and il was said that there was no
pistol on the main floor Of the bank
The whole street was in excitement
when the burglars came out They ran
along Myrtle avenue past two saloons,