Bank Robberies.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXIII, Issue 7323, 26 September 1898, Page 4

Bank Robberies.

EXPERT THIEVES WHO LIVED IN. MANSIONS. : The recent audacious robbery at the Bank of England has given rise to much : conjecture, and many detectives and others acquainted with the thieves' methods of procedure have been drawing on their memories for parallel cases. One such has retailed bis experience to the Daily Telegraph. Referring to one robbery, the detective said that L 11,590 in notes was stolen fiom a bank clerk. De-1 tective Outram, who was then in the city ' police, took rharge of the case. He felt sore that sooner or later the notes would be passed. Several of them were for LIOOO, which rpade It somewhat easier for bim. For when stolen notes are of less than LIOO each in valine they often change hands npon the raceronrse, and nice crnmpled-up things they are when they reach the Bank of England. Of course they have to be paid, and when they trace tha<n they find that the " bookie " who bas received them in the ring, has not the faintest recollection of the person who handed bim the notes. So it invariably ends in a sudden finish to the promising clue. Bat ia the cise" of the LIOOO notes, the thief seems to have taken them to the Continent. Every moneychanger was warned periodically, and eventually Outram tracked a man through France, Spain, and Italy to Genoa, where <• he tried to negotiate one of the notes. But, becoming suspicions, the man disappeared. Two years later an arrest was made in Paris, for presenting at a moneychanger's one of the stolen notes. Inquiry showed that the prisoner had been living in a small room in the East End of London, and paid for board and lodging a few shillings only a week. It was his habit co take a tin of red pepper about with him when travelling, and it was suggested that he did so to throw it into the eyes of any pursear. Some years ago, continued the narrator, there was a robbery at the City Bank, which has, I believe, never been brought home to the culprits. In that instance a bag containing LBOO in gold was stolen. A cab was waiting at the door, and as the porter broqght out the gold a man said, "I'll take it." The bank porter, believing that he was handing it to a clerk, parted with the money, and went inside to fetch another bag. Meanwhile, the man bolted with his booty. Now, in that case, thsre must have been more than one man in it, but they were not disloyal to each other, as in the affair of the Russian rouble notes. Oae of the gang in that case tried to sell some of the notes that had been shared out to himt and, cariously enough, he took them to the firm from whom they had been stolen. One of the notorious examples of the bank thief was Dan, as I shall call him, who started as a pickpocket, and graduated as a banksneak of the highest grade. He once snatched in New York from an assurance company's office on Broadway securities worth 100,000 dollars, and he was also believed to have been conceradd in a bond robbery of L 200.000. Escaping from prison, where he had made the acquaintance of two other clever men, ne" came to England. Here he associated with sporting men. Then he went to France, but did not like the country, and coming back here, he was convicted of forgery, sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment, and had served half the time when he died. There was another man who spent his time equally on each side of the Atlantic. Max was regarded as an aristocratic bank burglar. He used to tell his confederates that when be got wealthy he was going back to the Fatherland and become a nobleman. He was a very economical criminal. Instead of dissipating his gains, he remitted them regularly to Prussia. He realised his desires and bought an estate, employed servants, dosed as an ex-bank manager, and finally purchased the title of Biron. But his means gave out, and he occupied his leisure with planning a bank robbery at Belgium. Unfortunately for him, it failed, and the Baron found himself in prison, much incensed because his old chief bad neglected to act as a good friend to bis wife during his incarceration. " Would that the 4 Boss '" — as he called him—" were here !" he cried, as be chafed in gaol. Curiously enough, his wish was gratified, for the " Boss" was captured at a Belgian railway station, on the failure of an attempt to rob the parcel van which was conveying bonds, and securities that had been mailed from England. According to Mr Littlechild, who has narrated his fall history in his "Experiences," this man was accustomed to live in London in great atyle, and was absent from his home only on those occasions when some great job was on hand. At intervals be netted vast sums—probably no criminal was more successful financially. During his leisure he lived as independent gentleman, the tenant of a suburban house, which stood in his own grounds, with stables and all conveniences. But no strange servant was ever allowed within its walls. His allies were perfectly mute as to the conferences which went on in the house where the big jobs—the robbery of diamonds, bonds, or bullion—were "set," i.e., planned. When he pleased be would absent himself for months in his yacht. This is no fancy picture, for the man was until recently still living in prison upon the Continent. You may, perhaps, recollect another man of evil repute—so clever in bank forgery that he was called "King of the Forgers," though he might have been termed the last of the gang, for he was certainly the last great expert to fall into the clutches of the law. He was known on both sides of the Atlantic, and when in prison here the States were much interested in what he had to tell an official specially despatched to interview him. This clever rogue would trust no accomplice. He had dupes but no confederates. When arrested some years ago in the city, he was living in fine style, and It was at the first hearing, I believe, a matter of some difficulty to persuade the Alderman before whom he was brought that he was not worthy of bail, for he exclaimed, "It is preposterous to arrest me—a gentleman of means, with L4OOO a year." And it was true that he was keeping up this position. However, the police knew too much about him. Take another case, that of Walters, the bead of a dangerous gang of chequeraisers. _ Walters surrounded himself with able assistants, and he directed the whole operations of his "mob." He had no hereditary criminal taint. His father kept an hotel in a racing county, which was largely patronised by racing and stable men, and gradually as he grew up he fell into the company of sharpers. Association with criminals is at the bottom of many a man's fall, and I could tell you of a baok clerk, who, having got into prison for robbing his employers, worked side by side with an old hand, and the two then and there concocted a plan for opening a bogus bank—not with the idea of swindling the public, but of arranging for a walk clerk to call upon them in the way of business. Then they proposed to gag him—as was done in a diamond robbery in Hatton Garden—hold a pistol to bis head, and relieve bim of his wallet. Leaving the victim bound, the ex-bank clerk purposed to pick out the drafts which were to be presented for payment over the counter, and complete the round of collection. Happily the police j got wind of the scheme, and one of the ] precious pair and another man was ■ arrested in connection with long-firm operations, in which they were engaged as a preliminary-to the starting of the bogus bank, for which a certain amount of capital was necessary. Of British birds the cuckoo lays the smallest e-;g in proportion to its size.