Underground Criminals.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXVIII, Issue I, 4 January 1902, Page 19

Underground Criminals.

Several daring thefts that have been attempted, sometimes successfully, of late by means of underground tunnels remind us that this method of procedure is by no means new among criminals. In New York, a few years ago, a magnificent tunnelling crime, which had for its object the theft of half a million dollars, was successfully brought off by a gang of European thieves, captained by the notorious prince of swindlers, Harry Raymond, the man whose name is associated with the theft of the Gainsborough picture. Haymond arranged with one of his gang to purchase a small tobacconist’s business next door but one to the bank premises. The purchase was part of the scheme to rob the stroug room of the bank, and the man whose wife served behind the counter was a notorious “crook” named Steve Dayman. When the premises closed at night the thieves with the aid of miners’ drills opened the cemented floor of the shop and dug a pit twelve feet square. Circular holes were drilled through the brick and stone work of the foundations of the buildings and for two months the gang were busy removing the debris in hand bags. Every morning before the shop was opened the floor was made good and covered over with matting and a square of heavy carpet for the customers to walk on. When the time came for the removal of the bricks of the party wall, and nothing else remained between the thieves and the bullion in the strong room of the bank but a thick steel plate wall, Haymond took charge of the operations. He was a skilled safe opener. The bank closed on Saturday as usual, and the clerks had gone, leav« ing a caretaker in charge. Raymond and his gang lowered themselves into the pit and commenced drilling through the massive steel plates. At mid-day on Sunday, after twenty hours’ incessant labour the hole was large enough for the slim figure of Haymond to squeeze through and he quickly brought to the hole notes, bonds, bullion and jewels valued at half a million. In one of the American States a dangerous and expert thief was under a heavy sentence. The prison was a new one, and his friends organised a plan of rescue. Some quarter of a mile from the prison was a cottage situated near the river bank. It was taken by a supposed widow, with a family of grown up sons of the

labouring class. Silently and without arousing suspicion a small shaft was sunk and tunnelling was commenced towards the prison. In six months they had removed the distance between themselves and the prisoner, having tunnelled right under the prison wall and to the cell where the prisoner was confined. The tunnel was finished, and nothing remained to be done but to strike away the uprights which supported the floor of the cell. One night, as arranged with the man to be rescued, this was done,

while the inmates of the prison slept, but the rescue party found to their horror 'that the occupant was a stranger. The man they had tried to liberate had died two days previously. Another ease of the burrowing burglar is related in connection with the robbery that took place a short time ago in a London suburb. The owner of the property was a retired doctor. He had gone to the seaside for a month, and the police were, to use their phrase, “minding the house.”

Four doors away there was a vacant house, which the local estate agent let to a gentleman, who paid the rent in advance and engaged workmen to put the drains in order. While these supposed repairs were going on the men tunnelled under four cellars and cleared the house of every article of value, including some priceless bric-a-brac and pictures. The property was removed in daylight. under the nose of the police, in the furniture van that had brought a few things from a hire furnishing establishment. The Ludgate Hill robbery, for which an insurance company paid £3OOO. is an example of the work of the skilled tunnel thief. The plan of operations was to commence work in a small office on the second floor of an adjoining building. enter through a party wall, and then cut a way through joints, flooring, plaster and lath, and finally cut a hole in the iron-protected ceiling. The booty was taken up by means of a pulley and sack, and on' this occasion the thieves succeeded in taking the bulk of the valuables found on the premises. In Holywell-street there was a verycurious crime committed recently. A block of buildings, part of which was occupied by a jeweller, obtained its light from a well sunk in the centre of the block. It was open to the sky. and the walls were lined with white glazed bricks. A burglar of the “Spider” order, in dress suit, had designs on the premises. and after examining them found that his only way of entering would be by letting himself down this well with a rope. On reaching the ground he cut away the iron barsand entered the shop office at the rear of the premises. Cutting an electric wire Informed a circuit, and the proprietor of the shop, who lived some distance away, was alarmed. He dressed, jumped into a cab, and opening his shop door with his key. saw the “Spider" in a dress suit disappearing up the rope ladder. Everything of value was packed ready for removal, and although the police were alarmed the man got a wav.