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.. . . • v - -• •" * * - " X • >• ... _ . . - '.' '.!.. ' *^a!r" 1?' Jp^ T*B MoBXKST PLAWMALMT, WWlMUT, a»t. 2, W T* .•.*. ,,-»• -± FAMOUS DETEC11VE CASES ~ ' L±~ ' Jty Qereknd Moff^^';^ H«w Fht HuIemI Bamlxts Fwtd Cashief to Rtraal futeitw •§ Vault im the Nortfcaaptra NatiowJ Ink aad Eici|rf r ^* 'V With Loot VihMi at Over a MiOkw Dallar*. (OwiiiU fcy W. O. Gtaiauk) BOUT midnight on Tues A day, January 25, 1876, five masked men entered the house of John Whlttelsey ^ In, Northampton. Massa- ZX diusetta. Mr. Whlttelsey jjfc, was the cashier of the t t | mP N o r t h a m p t o n N a t i o n a l | | bank, and was known to jA have in his possession the keys of the bank building and the combination to toe back vault. The five men entered tte house noiselessly, with the aid of ftise kers, previously prepared. Passtag upstairs to the sleeping apartjaents, they overpowered seven lnyaates of the house, gagging and bindlag them so that resistance or alarm : toas Impossible. These were Mr. Whltttlsey and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. T. Cutler, Miss Mattie White, Miss Ben- ' Ion, and a servant gjirl. The bedroom of Mr. and Mrs. Whlt- Mlsey was entered by two men who itemed to be leaders of the band. One Wore a long linen duster buttoned •early to his knees, also gloves and overshoes; the other wore a Jacket •fed overalls. Both men had their fllces concealed behind masks, and one ef them carried a darklantern. On entering the room the two met) went directly to the bed, one standing on either side, and handcuffed Mr. Whlttftlsey and his wife. Both carried re- ' Ifolvers. The proceedings were pouch same in tlie other rooms. After some delay and whispered consultation, the robbers ordered the " -Ave women to get up and dress. When ey had done so, they were roped " together by ankles and wrists, and token Into a small room, where they Were kept under guard by one of the fcand. Mr. Cutler also was Imprisoned lb the same way. Then the two lead- /' (rs devoted themselves to Mr. Whlttelsey. They told him plainly that they had come for the keys of the bank and the combination of the vault, and that "Ciey would "make it hot" for him unless he gave them what they wanted. * Mr. Whlttelsey was then taken downstairs, and commanded to surrender the keys, but he refused. Mr. Whlttelsey kept silent. Then both men came at him, wringing his oars, shaking him by the throat, hurling Jilm to the floor and pounding their knees Into his chest. For three hours " this torture was continued. More than •nee the ruffians placed their revolvers at Mr. Whlttelsey's head declaring they would blow his brains out unless lie yielded. Finally he did yield; the Suffering was too great; the supreme Instinct of self-preservation asserted Itself. Toward four o'clock In the morning, bruised from head to foot, and worn beyond further resistance, lie surrendered the keys, and revealed the true combination of the vault. Then the robbers went away, leaving two of their associates to watch Over the prisoners. One of the band, frefore his departure, did not disdain to search Mr. Whlttelsey's clothes and lake his watch and chain and fourteen dollars in money. The last of the band femained in the house until six o'clock; and It was an hour later before Mr. Whlttelsey succeeded in freeing himself from his bonds. "" He hurried at once to the bank, ar- --living there soon after seven o'clock. Be found the vault door locked, and Its dials broken oft, so that Is was impossible at the moment to determine the extent of the robbery, or, Indeed, Whether there bad been any robbery. .It was necessary to send to New York for an expert before the vault could be opened, which was not accomplished until late that nigbt, twenty hour? . after the attack bad been made. Then It was found that the robbers had been only too successful, having secured money and securities estimated aV a million and a quarter dollars. Mth^i of this sum was safe-deposits, .and the loss fell on the depositors; and to some it was the loss of their whole property. At this time the authorities had no dM to the Identity of the robbers, though they had left behind them numerous evidences of their presence, such as dark-lanterns, masks, sledgehammers, overshoes, and the like. When several months had elapsed, the Plnkertons were called into the case. They began by carefully studying certain communications that had been received by the bank directors from persons claiming to have in their possession the missing securities. A fact of much significance to the Plnkertons was the rather remarkable Interest in the case, and apparent familiarity with It, shown by one J. O. Evans, an expert In safes and vaults and the representative of one of the largest safe manufactories in the country. As tas studied the case, Mr. Plnkerton recalled a circumstance that had happened In the fall of the previous • year. On the night of November 4, the First National bank of Pittston, Pennsylvania, had been robbed of sixty thousand dollars, and Mr. Plnkerton had gone there to Investigate the case. He met a number of safe men, it being a business custom with safe men to flock to the scene of an important bank robbery in order to supply new safes for the ones that have been wrecked. While they were all examining the vault, still littered with debris of' the explosion, the representative of one of the safe companies picked up a small air pump used by the robbers, and, looking at it critically, remarked that he would have sworn it belonged to his company, did he not know that was impossible. The air pump was, he declared, of precisely his company's model, one that had been recently devised for a special purpose. At the time Mr. Pinkerton regarded tbia as merely a coincidence, but now the memory came to him as a flash of Inspiration that the man who had remarked the similarity In the air pump represented the same company that employed Evans. In November, George H. Bangs, superten dent of the Pinkerton Agency, a man possessed of very remarkable skill In eliciting confessions from suspected persons had an interview with Evans. He professed to Evans that the detectives had secured evidence that practically cleared up the whole mystery; that they knew (whereas they still only surmised) that the robbery had been committed by the Dunlap and Scott gang; that for weeks they had been shadowing Scott and Dunlap (which was true) and could arrest them at any moment; that there was no doubt that the gang had been trying to play Evans false (a very shrewd guess), and would sacrifice him without the slightest compunction; and, finally, that there was open to Evans one of two courses--either to suffer arrest on a charge of bank robbery, with the prospect of twenty years in prison, or save himself, and at the same time earn a substantial money reward, by making a clean confession of his connection with the crime. All this, delivered with an air of completest certainty, was more than Evans could stand up against. He broke down completely, and told all he knew. The story told by Evans Is one of the most remarkable In the history of crime. He admitted the correctness of Robert Plnkerton's Inference that the Northampton bank had been robbed by Scott and Dunlap and their associates, and In order to explain his own connection with this formidable gang he went back to Its organisation four years before. The leader of the gang was James Dunlap, alias James Barton, who, before he became a bank robber, had been a brakeman on the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis railroad. His Inborn crlmlnnl Instincts led him to frequent the resorts of thieves in Chicago, and thus be met "Johnny" Lamb and a man named Perry, who took a liking to him and taught blm all they knew about breaking safes. Dunlap's right-hand man was Robert C. Scott, alias "Hustling Bob," originally a deckhand on a Mississippi steamboat and afterward a hotel thief. Scott was a big powerful man, with a determination equal to anything. Their associates were what one might expect from these two. Other members of the gang were Thomas Doty, William Conroy, "Eddie" Goody, John Perry, James Green, a professional burglar originally from Canada, and the notorious John Leary, alias "Red" Leary, of whom more will be said later on. In addition to these, tlie gang contained several members of less importance, men who acted merely as lookouts, or as go-betweens or messengers. The first large operation of Duntap's band was the plundering of the Falls City, bank In Louisville, Ken tucky, of about two hundred thousand dollars, escaping with their booty. This was satisfactory as a beginning, but Dunlap and Scot dreamed of achievements beside which this was insignificant They began a careful Investigation through many states, to learn of banks of weak structure containing large treasure. One of the gang finally found precisely what they were In search of in the Second National bank of Elmlra, New York, which lnstltn^ tlon, being a government depository, contained, as they learned on good authority, two hundred thousand dollars in greenbacks and six millions in bonds. A survey of the premises satisfied the gang that, massive though It appeared, with Its ponderous Iron walls and complicated locks, the vault of this bank was by no means Impossible of access. The floor above the bank was occupied by tlie Young Men's Christian association, one of the association's rooms being directly over tbe vault There was the floor between, and under tbat four feet of solid masonry, some of the stones in It weighing a ton. And under the masonry was a layer of railroad Iron, resting on a plate of hardened steel an inch and a half thick. All this, however, so far from discouraging the conspirators, gave them greater confidence In the success of their plans, once under way, since the very security of the vault, by structure, from overhead attack lessened the strictness of the surveillance. Indeed, the most serious difficulty, in tbe estimation of the robbers, was to gain easy and unsuspected admission to the quarters of the Young Men's Christian Association, on the second floor. The secretary, a very prudent man, had put on the outside door of the association rooms an improved Yale lock, which was then new upon the markat and offered anasual obstacles to the lock-picker. Neither Dunlap, Scott, nor any of their associates had skill enough to open this lock without breaking It, which would, of course, have been fatal to their plan. For days, therefore, after all the other details of the robbery had been arranged, the whole scheme seemed to be blocked by a troublesome leek on aa ordinary wooden door. The Yale lock still continuing an Insoluble difficulty, Perry finally made a Journey to New York, In the hope of finding some device by which to open It There, in tbe course of his search, and in a curious way, he made the acquaintance of Brans, then a salesman In the employ of a prominent safe company. Before entering the employ of the safe manufacturers, Evans bad conducted an extensive mercantile business for himself In s large Eastern city, where he was regarded as a man of wealth and Integrity. He had large dealings through tlie South, with extensive credits; but the outbreak of tbe war had forced him Into bankruptcy. It was hinted that there was soma ovarshrewd practice connected with his failure, and his subsequent sudden departure for Canada gave color to tbe insinuation. At any rate, he compromised with his creditors on a basis advantageous to himself. On his return from Canada, Evans took up bis residence in New York city, and began to cultivate habits far beyond his income, notably the taste for fast horses. Perry heard of Evans through one Ryan, whom he had known aa a crook years before, bat who wsa then running* livery atable in an uptown street Before long Evans found himself much cramped financially. Being unable to pay Ryan the money he owad him for stabling, he began to talk of selling his horse; and one day, whoa ha was complaining of being short of money, Ryan said, "If I had your position I'd never lack for ftjoney." Evans asked him what he meant "Oh," said Ryan, "there are plenty of people who would put up well to know some of the things yon know about safes and banks." By degrees Ryan made hla meaning more clear, and Evans grow properly Indignant. The subject was uroppod for the moment, but, In subsequent meetings, Ryan kopt reverting to It. Meantime Evans found himself growing more and more embarrassed, aad one day he said, "What la It these people want to know 7" "Well," said Ryan, "they would Ilka to know, for one thing, if there is any way of beating tbese new Yale locks?* "You can't pick a Yale lock," answered Evans--"that would take too long; bat Chant la a wajr of getting (Hat open." • - • "Howr t; "We'll talklfttf 6iw aoiaaf day." " paving once nibbled, Evans was not long In biting at the bait thus adroitly held before him. He consented to be introduced to Perry, who shrewdly showed him what an easy matter It would be for a man who knew the secrets of safe-makers and could locate weak banks, to make a great deal of money, without danger to himself. The result was that Evans, In consideration of fifty thousand dollars, finally agreed to provide some means of opening the Yale lock which barred the robbers from the coveted treasure at Elmlra. Perry, la great delight, hurried back to Elmlra, and reported his success to Dunlap and Scott. In order to bring Evans to Elmlra in a way not to excite suspicion, a letter was written to the company he served, containing a tempting proposition regarding the pnrchaae of safes. Evans was at once sent to Elmlra to look after the matter. He stopped at the Rathbone bouse, where he was waited upon by Scott, with whom he concerted a plan of operations. Scott was to slip s thin piece of wood Into the lock at night, so that the lock would not work. Then, as Evans' presence in the city had been made known, It was hoped that he would be called upon, as an expert In difficult locks, to find out what was the matter. This would give him an opportunity to secure an Impression of the key. The plan worked only too perfectly; and within twenty-four hoora the conspirators were able to pasa In and out of the Young Men's Christian Association rooms as they pleased, without-the knowledge of any one. Every night they gathered In the rooms of the Young Men's Christian Association after the young men had gone home, using their false keys to obtain admission; and they remained there hours at a time, doing what would ordinarily be the noisiest work; but their movement* were so cautions and well-planned that their presence In the building waa never suspected. Every night the carpet and flooring were taken up and, after they had finished tbelr excavations, were carefully relaid. Tons of masonry and heavy stone were removed, shoveled into baskets and carried up to the roof of tlie opera house, adjoining the bank building, where there was small chance of the debris being discovered. One day the president of the bank, Mr. Pratt, was surprised, on entering the vault, to find the floor sprinkled with a fine white dust An investigation was made, and the whole plot was uncovered. The members of the gang, however, got word in time, and all managed to escape except Perry, who was convicted of attempted burglary and sent to the Auburn prison for five years. Undisturbed by the failure, Scott and Dunlap proceeded to acour the country again in search of anether bank suited to their operations, snd the next February notified tlie gang, which now contained some new members, that they had "fooad aonethlag ETHEL THOMAS WEDS CLARENCE JOHNSON Saturday evening, Aug.'SB, at tha church In Greenwood thi WAaUfttl uaptial ceremony of Xlaa Bttoal Thomas and Clarence JohnHon Ufa solomnized. Preceding the ce and as the guests wert arriving Alice Johnson, sister of the gTStSS, played overtures on the piano- Messers Clinton Johnson, brother of the groom and La Veru Thomas, brother of the bride acted aa ushers. Mrs. B^SBie Cowdrey. slater of the bride sang beautifully, "I Love You Truly" and "At Dawning," accompanied at the plnno by Mtss Alice Johnson. The church waa beautifully decorated with gladioli, dahlias and asparagus, the color scheme being pink and yellow. From each chandelier were suspended bouquets In white containers. In the choir loft was suspended a white oblong boat shaped container filled with beautiful pink and yellow gladioli and green asparagus, on the choir rail were bouquets of dahlias with asparagus and ferns. The piano and altar rail were banked with asparagus and dahlias, while in front of the pulpit were large bouqneta arranged in the form of a pyramid. In other parts of the auditorium were bouquets of beautiful flowers. As eight o'clock, the time of the ceremony approached, the bride's mother, Mrs. Celia Thomas, beautifully gowned in periwinkle blue silk came down the aisle escorted by her son-in-law, Harvey Cowdrey, to the seat of honor. As the pianist glided ' H j)i into the familiar strains of Mendelssohn's Wedding March the ushers marched down the middle aisle. At the same time Rev. Hoover followed by the groom came from the south entrance down the side alele to the altar. Following the ushers came the two bridesmaids. First, Miss Irene Thotuae, who wore a gown of pale yells?,' tstffata and carried « bouquet of yellow gladioli, then Miss Flora Freeman whose gown was pink flat crepe. She carried pink gladioli. Preceding the bride was the little flower girl, Marjorie Cowdrey, niece of the bride who wore pink flat crepe and carried a basket of pink and lavenedr larkspur and sweet peas. The bride followed daintily attired in white crepe Romalne, with beading and pastel trimming. Her long veil which reached the floor was of bridal illusion. It was fastened in place at each side by white gardenias. She came leaning on* the arm of her uncle. Prank Barber, who gave her in marriage. Rev. Hoover, the officiating clergyman, read the service using the ring ceremony. At the completion of the beautiful ceremony the newly made husband and wife marched down the center aisle, preceded by the little flower girl, and" followed by Clinton Johnson and Miss Flora Freeman, and LaVern Thomas and Miss Irene Thomas. The bride and groom stood in the entry of the church and received the congratulations of the many assembled friends. A reception was held at the home of the bride's mother, Mrs. Cella Thomas. wfipr<* refreshments were Barber. Ed Wesson, B. L. and Mary Freeman families, and and Mrs. Qoy Dygert and Rot. Mrs. Hoover "#f Greenwood served to the Invited guests. (Link, Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Cowdretf The bride was born and reared Is *nd two children, Mrs. Arlene Donlaf Greenwood. She graduated from the aad Mies Irene Thomas of Chicago^* Woodstock Community High School *r. and Mrs. Hurry Cone and llttlfc-- and later attended the University of iaagkter Beth of DeKalb, Mr. an( Illinois for a year- She has since Mia. A. J. Gafke, Mr. and Mrs. Pa«tf , been working in Chicago. 8he is a McNOtt and daughters, of WoodatOcife , young lady of sweet and lovable dis-|Hr. and Mrs. L. E. Pellett and position and has many accomplish*-jaetk JPellett of Hebron and the F. ments. The groom is the eldest child of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Johnson of Riverside and Is a prosperous young man. i He Is connected with the Western Electric company. The .many friends wish for this young couple a bright aad happy wedded life. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are on a wedding trip to Denver and Colorado Springs and vicinity. Their liOiuO will be at Riverside. They received many beautiful and valuable gifts. The groom's gift to '.he bride was a diamond set wrist watch. The following were among the guests who attended the ceremony and the reception at the home--Mr. and Mrs- Andrew Jobnson, Clinton Johnson, Alice Johnson, and Violet Johnson, Mr. and Mrs. Nelson, and their children, George, Alice and Esther and Miss Caroline Wiegel of Riverside,. Mrs. Alfred Anderson and two children, Mrs. Ruth Anderson, Mr. Showers and Miss Ellen Anderson of La Mont, Mr. and Mrs. Ray Cowdrey and baby and sister-in-law, MISB Dorothy Cassidy, Mr. and Mrs. M. Andrierux, Oscar Pellett, Mr. and Mrs. George Clark and daughter, Ruth, Miss Florence Johnson, Mr. and Mrs. Willis Roe, baby, and friend, Fr^nk riawson, Mr. and (Mrs. Harold Farm Building Bon Two barns, a tool shed, corn erflkand alio on the James V. Wright farm in Aid en burned to the ground ok Monday evening. ^ The farm is tenanted by Herma|| " Haff. The ute which was first notice^ at about 7:30 o'clock, first broke out some where between the barns and it Is not known what was the cause The cow barn and the horse barn aiijf-' both gone. Tbe tool shed with all of the machinery owned by Mr. Haff, fe a total wreck. The silo is wrecked as is the corn crib. No livestock wstf lost but in the barns were 600 bushe)g of grain, mostly oats and about 0;'f tons of hay, all destroyed. The flames were high and lightfjjl up the sky «Q that people miles AWATJ^ . saw the bright sky and many dropout only to see a raging furnace thai soon burned itself oat and left btj$ a smolder in ruins. The loss la partially oovered by aurance. Tha Plaindealer now Carries addiiilt machine rolls for sale. 1Important Announcement - LONG DISTANCE CHANGES ('Applying only to messages to points oatside the State ef Illinois.) Dairy Cows (or Sala Choice Wisconsin and Minnesota Milch Cows on hand at all times. We invite your inspection, appreciate your patronage and guarantee satisfaction. All cows sold by ug are retested in (50 days by accredited and approved veterinarians. Tf interested, call or writo. " t. J. GREEN, Phone 63, Woodstocjjk •' *•; IS. A. CRAWFORD, Phone 396-J, Woodstock BI. CLARK, Phone 244-M, Woodstock Effective October 1, Reductions in Long Distance To points 150 miles or more distant the rates will be substantially reduced. The greater the distance, the greater the reduction. For example, from McHenry to Detroit the basic station-to-station rate will be $1.50 instead of $1.80; to Pittsburgh, $2.25 instead of $2.95; to New York, $3.55 instead of $4.90; to San Francisco, $8.10 instead of 11-70. A few rates for dis- * tanees between 24 and 110 miles will be adjusted to : make the schedule consistent throughout, but in • these cases the increase of the basic station-to-station rate will be only five cents. ' k^a.'v Reversed Charges on Station-to-Station CalU ft Heretofore the reversal of charges has been available only on person-to-person calls. As a further convenience to the public this privilege will be extended to station-to-station calls where the rate is 25^ts^jp>re. „ "> A (Continued on Page Five) trmi Mad* Morm Malleable Iron la cast iron been rendered tough and long-continued high heating whtle imbedded in powdered hematite, ferric oxld, or some other decarbonising material, and allowed to cool slowly^ Old Adagm Rwrmd -, One can't expect a young man |a torn out well who doesn't turn li 'i* ^ Longeron Station-to-Station Calls* * ^ x Reduced rate hours for station-to-station calls will - begin at 7 P. M. instead of 8:30 P. M-, as formerly. Between 7 and 8:30 P. M. the discount will be ap- ^ A pr o x i m a t e l y 2 5 p e r c e n t , o f t h e d a y s t a t i o n - t o - s t a t i o n A 1 / rates; from 8:30 P. M. to 4:30 A. M- the discount will be about 50 per cent of the day rates. These dis-li l l v counts will apply where the day station-to-station V ^ irate is 40 cents or more, with a minimum reduced , " rate of 35 cents. Because of the unsatisfactory serv-.. r ice conditions which it brought about, the existing : midnight discount will be dscontinued. le net result of these rate changes will be a saving to the telephone users of le United States of approximately $3,000,000 a year. The service changes are made in the interests of public convenience, to relieve the burden now imposed by the congestion of business at midnight and to furnish still better long distance service^ : ^ : • -to •' •' '• * _--*'• • . . " s ^ ^Application has been filed by the Company witfi the llK- _ - nois Commerce Commission to make the same changes ; ? in rates between Illinois points. Notice will be given to " the Company's subscribers when and if audi ram be- come effective. _ * # , * ILLINOIS BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY ® 8* M * * * : .'*• - A*?*: ' - >r.rv .?•*' i : tV?-* ?'•