ENGINEERING FEATS OF BANK ROBBERS

Otago Witness, Issue 2310, 9 June 1898, Page 49

ENGINEERING FEATS OF BANK ROBBERS

If there is pee thing which puts the enterprising criminal on bis mettle more than any thin g,else f it is the chance of a bfg' haul from a bank's storeroom. When banks are worth robbing they are generally the most inaccessible places in the world, from a burglar's point of view ; and one might thick that this fact would palliate their eagernes3 to tackle such matters. But bank-breakers are not men of small courage.

When they " have a certain prize before them, nothiDg insurmountable is allowed to stand in their way. Labour is nothing to them ; patience is their most; salient characteristic, and there ia notbirg they will not attempt. And if crime could possibly be admirable, it would certainly be so in the case of great bank robberies where such wonderful patience, labour, and skill were nsed to meet the end.

For instance, we cannot but admire tbe conrege and patience of the men who set themselves some years ago to break into a bank at Kimberley, of diamond fame. One day the manager of the bank went into the vault where tbe safe was placed, with the object of obtaining a packet; of diamonds. When he opened the door of the safe he was Surprised to see thaf* only a small parb of the bank's treasures remained, and that, small part lavscattered carelessly on the floor of the safe^ It was evident that the door of thelatlerhad not been tampered with, nor the side* { an# who, .thought he, could have tackled the back; oi the cafe when it was built; in a 3ft wall 1 However, a further examination of the cafe proved the latter suggestion was the onlj correct one, and that treasures to the valua of £40,000 had been extracted. The thieves had gone about their task with a determination seldom equalled by criminals. They had found then: wat into the maini

. drain, and, having decided by observation where tbe bank stood in respect to tbe drain, they commenced, to cat a tunnel. which would .• carry them direct .to the vaulta o£ the . bank. How many weeks the tunnelling, opera- . .don occupied them is not; known, but it mast have been a long task r since thß tunnel ~Wb 20ft long, and ran through ground of almost unworkable nature. Having cut the tunnel frctn the drain to the bank, they encountered the foundation wall of the latter tfeuildsng.t feuildsng. Through this they cut, albeit it Iwas 4r£r. of the finest stone and cement. . further on they had -to cut. through other walls, 2ffc thick, and also the Bft thick wall in . -which the safe was built. Then there was the rolled steel back of the safe to be Negotiated. One can well Imagine the labour and patience expended by the thieves while Working through that 20ffc of ground and ' }Sit of salid wails. They could have been no " ordinary men' or mean engineers' to have - fcoccessf ully accomplished such a feat ! It is somewhat remarkable that in nearly nil ths bank robberies where tunnelling ■ btctics were adopted tne thieves were highly Successful. At the Central Bank of Western jindia, in Hongkong, thieves got off with =' £50,000 worth of treasures by runniug a tunnel from a house opposite to the cellar of the bank: . Tbey took the house as quiet citizens,- and *" Jn secret "noiselessl-j ) 'cut a downward shaft in * *fre ground 'under the house"; - cut a 60ft '" tunnei.andfcr the- road, which brought them *■ 'beneath- -the -bank cellar; cut an -upward "« jßhaft of lOrt or 12ft till they reached the % flags, of the bank'-sellar floor, and then, early ' oner Sunday -morning, tbfey crept in and ' ' {relieved thebknk treasury of £50;000 in gold bullion, contained in • two large boxes, a number of bag? of dollars, and a heap of ' jpaper money. And they did all this, and fcnore — made good their escape— before anyone had a suspicion of what was going on. The tunnelling operations must have occupied sight or nine weeks at thß very lowest estimate. In one case three thieves actually tunnelled underneath a house which stood between the bank to bs robbed and the only point " )chey cculd secure for the downward shaft of their tunnel. The men had done their best to secure the intervening house, but, failing, they decided to tunnel under it by commencing from the house on the other side. To do this they had, of course, to drop B much locger shaft than would otherwise bave been necessary, for the possibilities of bringing - ths house down upon them by . the ground subsiding or of being overheard by tha inmates of the hou?e did not command themselves to the arch- schemers. They therefore cut a 16£t downward shaft, then carefully tunnelled 80ft horizontally, And an adequate upward shaft. In this way they .gained admission into the t back cellars, where they secured , a quantify of valuables,, which, however, could]] Bcarcelj have been sufficient to recompense j them for theiclaborious task. , | -" The- robbery at the National- -Bank of tbe ] United States/ of America, in Mexico, which : .. took place spme few years ago, was .scarcely so successful as those robberies above. But it is interesting as well as illustrative still further of the care and skill with which such daring schemes are planned. The manager of this bank had occasion to go into the office late after hours one evening ; and be noticed that one oE the doors did not hang properly, although he knew it had done so earlier in the day. While he was examining it, and noticing that portions of the masonry showed signs o£ collapsing, he heard psculier sounds, which Beemed to rise from beneath tbe bank cellars. He promptly called a military guide,, stafcioned ie round tbe bank, and, revolver in hand, descended to the cellars. Going down he encountered a man, whom he immediately shot dead, at which a second man raa oat o£ hiding and disappeared from the cellar. Examination followed, and it showed that an, 80ft tunnel had been carefully constructed with much engineering skiil from a " neighbouring house to the bank cellars. In the tunnel were found every mining tool that could possibly, be required by the .thieves, and an ample supply of provisions for a con- . siderable length of time. The tunnelling was declared by an engineer to be of. excellent construction, despite the slight subsiding, of the bank's foundations, and mast have ' occuDied 12 or li weeks to mine.