South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1919-06-01
The Poppy Seed Puzzle
BY Robert Carlton Brown

In anarcLlc circles a bank sneak
is hero, but the unenlightened
public counts him cheap sort Of
a slippery criminal he isn't that:
he's seif-respecting pompous sort
Of person 40 a rule. re- embling for
ana the world your next door neigh
Dor who you think is enjoying royal
ties from q patent taken ont al an
early &c on "A transmitter for men
tai vibrations
But there are many different kinds
OF bank sneaks in the business. and
divers are their methods OF MAX
ing away with the money a very
common method, bit out OF style
OF late because Of the preparedness
OF bank cashiers. Is for the sneak
20 provide himself with a wire as
crooked as himself. which ne inserts
cautiously between the bars OF the
cashiers cage. and with which he
dcxtrously hooks and removes
through the rods a neat pile Of bills
while the money handlers attention
IS attracted elsewhere. being care
ful 90 choose no new crink.y oils.
ths ru.tl.-- removal o. which
might distract the cashier from his
duties and cause MIN 20 shoot point
blank at the theft making his geta-
way. In this common method many
q successful bank sneak has found
it expedient 10 carry "A cane. in the
head OF which has been concealed
telescope rod which. on pressure
Of "a button. lis released to harpoon
wad of bills and carry them back
automatically through the grating.
Both very pretty methods indeed,
and so usual that when a clever
Bank sneak thinks up "A slight de-
parture from the regular method the
bank cashier is at a loss 10 even i'm
agiue how the thing was done. the
police are puzzled and the public
at large speculates and guess about
IN "a futile circle
The big Traders National of New
Orleans transacts its business in
great brown-stOne edifice. 'as impen-
etrable as Gibralter The bank has
never even been threatened with a
break and only once has it suffered
any loss of actual cash That hap
pened one Saturday afternoon. just
ten minutes before the one o'clock
closing hour. when the building was
so TANNED with customers cashing
checks for the weekly pay-rolls. and
transaCting the usual weekend bust
ness that the man who secured
neat little raeSag, Of twenty-One
thousand dollar bills and shot at
paying teller Jackson, escaped in the
crowd undecided
10 happened like this: chief-pay-
ing teller Jackson had his desk piled
with money for the regular Saturday
distributions among the moneys he
mad taken from his safe that morn
ing TO last through the day was the
thin package of thousand dollar
bills. which he held in readiness for
the convenience Of prominent
Spanish ship-owner who wanted
gold certificates Of 4 large denom-
ination with which 10 transact a for
eign deal
Jackson in arranging his money
that morning had put the bundle
Of big bills at the extreme left of his
desk and i'm working during the
busy morning hours it had gradually
been pushed close up against the
narrow strong steel grating sur
rounding his cage and protecting
him perfectly from the usual at
temps OF sneak thieves As Jackson
picked mp the bunch several times,
installing il for a package of hun
dred dollar bills he finally clapped
the gold certificates down on top
of his ten safe box ont of the way
and Immediately forgot them until
ten minutes TO one. when his trained
eve was suddenly attracted 10 the
top of that box by "a quick move
ment The bills were there. safe
AT that moment he heard low
whisper which sounded like the
word general" The paying teller
was about ia reach for the bills. TO
put them i'm a safer place. when a
shot rang out. not two feet in front
Of him "a bullet nipped his hand and
ne drew IL back with a twinge of
pain leaped OF his stool and scan
ned To- surprised frightened faces
OF his customers outside the bars.
The line had been Aoken up by the
effect OF the shot and il was i'm