Milford chronicle., 1935-12-06
FORMER MILFORD BOY
FOMS BANK ROBBERS
LcOntinned from First PegeI
GfIfIiih Grahs Plsfnl


Stick 'em up it's a holdup." hi
growled,
Griffith Grabs Pistol
Grifith had often wondered whai
he would do If he should ever hear
those words, and as often he had
resolved to shoot it out" Instead
Of sticking them up" one hand
flashed down to an automatic be-
meath the counter and the other
slammed shut a money drawer as
he recoiled to the left away from
the window.
At the same instant he realized
he moved away from the tear gas
treadle, which was by his right foot
as he stood at the window. Then he
dropped to the floor with the gun
and put his hand on the treadle.
There was a sharp explosion and
the gas Kissed out from valves over
the windows. A woman screamed.
was Mrs. Nora NJ. Boyle, bookkeep-
er. She thought Griffith had been
shot.
Behind Griffith at the other win
dow across the angle of the rectan-
gle was another bandit with a sub
machine gun. Griffith made an. easy
target. But the bandit didn't fire.
Didn't See Him
''I didn't see him." was Grif1th's
comment.
AS the gas filled the banking
room, Griffith crawled on hands
and knees to a telephone.
"Claymont bank hold-up
police" he shouted into the trans
mitter.
Come on" called one of the ban
dts. The two at the tellers' win
dows lunged for the door. The
third, who was trying to get behind
the counter, had reached the Office
of Robert r. Wood, treasurer, just
as the gas went off. He wheeled and
dashed out after his confederates.
Mr.. Wood was talking to two insur-
ance men. One was Clarence Colli-
son, of Wilmington. The other was
w. Kempton Crosby, of Baltimore.
Mr.. Griffith was unable to de-
scribe the men, who wore scarfs
about their faces. State police, how
ever, said they learned from other
bank employees, that two are about |
six feet tall, one is about five feet; |
cne of the taller men wore dark |
clothes and the other two light /
clothes. These two had steel color |
ed coats and the other a black coat |
and black hat.
Auto Stolen Last Week
Mr.. Emory, whose home is in
Ridley Park, told police he saw a
blue auto through the bank window
as it was being parked nearby just
before the bandits entered. Police
said they would examine the car
found for fingerprints. It was stolen
last week when DR.. Romaine c.
Hoffman. of POI Forrest avenue,
Narberth, parked it in front of the
home of a patient.
1t was thought confederates must
have been waiting outside because
driving would have been difficult
with tear-filled eyes. The car roar
ed away a second or so after the
bandits left the building.
81 thought it was a joke at first"
was Mrs. Boyle's comment. Then 1
saw the weapons and the tear gas
popped off. knew it wasn't a joke
then"
The whole thing happened too
swiftly for the others to have much
reaction. There were eight per-
sons in the building. These were
Mr.. Griffith, Mr.. Wood, Mrs. Boyle,
Miss Esther N. White, who is a
Mr.. Emory, the two
insurance men and John r. Cross
land, janitor. {
Saw Men Approach 2
Mr.. Grassland, who was the only c
person besides Mr.. Emory on the '
public side of the counter, said he i
noticed the three men on the side P
walk before they entered the bank.
He was attracted by the fact they e
had scarfs around their faces. G
"I thought to myself" he said a
later, that those men are dressed
for cold weather" When they en- y
.ered he did not realize for a mo-
nent what was happening. Then
he saw the long" gun. By that
ime the gas had gone off and the
men were starting out.
"It was all over in a minute" he II
aid. r
Business Resumed
Business was interrupted only a d
ew minutes. The windows were p
brown open and the bank person n
el, except Mr.. Griffith, went out !;
ide until their tears dried up. h
lingering traces of the gas kept n
heir eyes streaming for the rest Of ;
ne day. however. Il
When the telephone operator "
ashed the word to State Police is
tation No. 2, four miles away to- u
ard Wilmington, Walter Ford and IL
humphrey vandegrfft, police me-
lanfcs, jumped into a patrol car r
ith sawed OF shotgun and a ser Il
ce revolver. They arrived at the NJ
INK a few minutes later. Captain b.
4. C. Ray, of the State Police, and pl
aptain George A. Black Of the o;
ilmington police, arrived shortly pI
Lerwards.
The door to the main vault was p
zen during the attempted holdup,
it a barred door inside the vault
as closed and locked Bank Of
,ials did not disclose how much
oney was in the vault, but Mr..
ffith said he did not believe the p;
ndits could have got to It. P'
NerYOHs AfterWard Pf
Mr.. Griffith admitted he was Gl
cky. He did not begin to feel ner- Pa
us until after 1t was all over. ia
On than he didn't know whether