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Mc Henry Count ies f i rst Dr ive- In windowopened In 1956 by McHenry State B ank. \ V '#5; > : V V V-}" . fCont inued from page 4) part ^and the impressions and vthought* of those under cover of the guns was much tho soma. ' Mr. Carey, the cashier, states that the whole thing happened so quickly -^,e<?rc*,y had ,,m* to th,nk until it •Was all over. Without a suspicion he saw the bandits enter the door, thinking they were workmen coming to cash pay checks, until he quickly learned otherwise when he looked into an automatic and received the com m and to I ie down on the floor. H e raised his head to look around and waj ordered by the guard to "get down" who also asked him if there Wfre arty guns around the place. He said he thought the work , of the bandits took not more than<tovo or three minutes. ^ F OSS T OU CHE S ALAR MB UZZE R The robber marked the third time thatF Icyd F oss has been com pelled to look Into the barr el of a bank robber's gun and he says much of the thrill of the first experience was gone at the third encounter and he is really beginning to get accustomed to it. He was at the cashier's window making put a deposit slip for Mr. Monear when he was Ordered to "stick 'em up" and as he backed towards the burglar alarm button he dropped to his hands and knees, where he was able to touch the buzzer and give the alarm. He was in the bank at the time of the holdup in October 1925, when C.W. Stenger was cashier and was assisting in the Spring Grove bank when it was held up in November, 1926. Harold Bacon was working near the first cashier's window and was unaware of anything unusual until he looked into a shotgun and received the order to "stick 'em up" and then to lie down on the floor. He said the gang was very noisy and seemed quitenervous when they first entered, but quieted down as they set to work. They shouted orders and commands and as Harold did notget farenough down onto the floor he was ordered "to get down" a second time, the silver could be heard as it hit the floor, being scooped into the bags by the bandits, and the motor of the car could be heard running outside. TWOCUSTOME RS IN THE BANK Earl Monear, who was making a deposit at the time, stood with his back somewhat towards the door and upon hearing the unusual sounds turned around tolood into two or three sa wad-off shotguns not ten feet away and was roughly commanded to lie down. He immediately did as he was told and as he lay there directly in front of the door he began to think that he was in a rather precarious position if rescuers should shoot into the bank from outside. He said h.e thought it was probably not more than five minutes form the time the bandits entered the door until they were back in their car again but that it seemed more like five hours to him. Mr. Monear sums his experience up with the remark"!'m glad to be alive with no bullet holes in me."Mat Laures, who had been in conversation with Gerald Carey, was about to leave the bank and was approaching the door, when the robbers rUshpd in and one of them held a"' gun in his face, commanding him to tie down oh the floor, which he did. He did^not get a good look at them as it all happened so quickly and the only thing left to do was to obey orders. It is believed that a solution of the sensational robbery will be reached before long as Sheriff Cyrus Sanford of Woodstock is working on several clues. PICK UP SUSPECT AT WAUCONDA A foreigner was apprehended near Wauconda Monday afternoon when the automobile in which he was riding, a Pontiac, went into a ditch while traveling at a high rate of speed. Authorities questioned him closely and his evasive answers and different stories led to the belief that he was one of the members of the gang. A man's cap was found in the car and when questioned he said it belonged to his wife. At one time he said he was employed in Chicago, but Investigation showed no such place of business as the address given and later he said he was going to meet his wife at a sum m er resort on one of the lakes. He was brought to the bank here but could not be identified positively and was taken to the county jail at Woodstock where he will be held until the affair clears up. It is thought by the officials that, the Pontiac may be the second car which was supposed to m eet the bandits east o f h e r e . SUSPECT BERNARD RON Chicago police were also working on thetheory that oneof the members of the bandit gang might be Bernard Ron, giant Mexican criminal, who escaped from Joliet while awaiting hanging for im plication in the m urder of Warden K lein. New developments are occurring continually and the wires are kept busy with reports of new clues being uncovered. About noon on Wednesday a telegram was received by the town marshal from a James Landis at Tomah, Wise., saying that he had the party who robbed the West McHenry State Bank in custody at Tomah. After several telephone calls and investigation, the signer of the telegram could not be located and it was thought to be a false alarm. It has since been determined by Chicago detectives that the Stutz car driven by the bandits was stolen form Fred Bangs, 229 South Central Park Avenue, Chicago. It was traced by Lieutenant John J. Far roll and his stolen car squad; William Duke, who was apprehended in Wauconda shortly after the bank robbery and held as a possible suspect was released for custody of McHenry county authorities and taken to Chciago, where he is being held for further questioning. After further questioning of Duke at Woodstock it was thought that he was not directly implicated in the robbery. F I N D BODY OF ONE ROBBER* Gerald Carey, with several of the other employees of the bank, went to Mt. P rospect Wednesday afternoon to investigate and assist in identifying the slug-riddled body of the man found in the automobile north of that city, the report of which he had received earlier in the day. Mr. Carey says there is no doubt, but the m an i s one of the band of bank robbers that looted the bank on Monday. The body which was found in a car in a cornfield north of Mt. Prospect was taken to the morgue at DesPlaines, where it was viewed by the McHenry men. The car, which was in the custody of the Cook county police at M ilwaukee and B allard R d., was also badly riddled with bullets showing that every shot fired by £ d Nickels when he fired at the bandit car, had taken effect. Forty-six separateslugs and marks were found in the body of the car. The man must have been killed instantly by the shots fired by Mr. Nickels. When shot, he was sitting on the left side of the car in the rear seat and his body was filled with slugs. Although the dead man was dark he is not a Mexican. He was identified last night as being Angelo Francisco, 34 years old. The identification was made by his father, Anthony, 2450 W. Superior St., Chicago, and his brother, Michael. The man was quite well dressed with only a few cents in his pockets. The car with its dead occupant was found by three government employees as they were doing research work in the cornfield near Mt. Prospect. PAGt vJ - W % A , A V, A * ' Security Regulations The "roaring twenties" were the heyday of the bank robbery gangs. The Bonnie and Clydes,- the John Dillengers, the Baby Face Nelsons and the Three Finger Jack Whites were among the gangs hard at work plying their trade. TheMcHenry area was not immune to bank robberies as reported by earlier issues of the Plaindealer. Banks were not adequately protected and as a result, were rather inviting targets. In most cases, the town guards were not much of a match for the professional robbers. The town guards were local merchants who were authorized to keep loaded guns in their place of business. The burglar alarm was wired to ring in the stores of the town guard. The guard's only compensation for risking his life and those around him was possibly a small reward from the bankers association if a robber was caught. The rash of crimes against banks led to federal laws to deter the crimes and to protect not only the bank employees and customers, but their investment as well. Bank robbery bee ome a federal offense and the F.B.I, was given the responsibility of investigating and prosecuting crimes against banks. Regulation "P " known as the Bank Security Act was passed mandating that all insured banks must provide appropriate security devices to assure the safety of both customers and employees. Each bank is required to designate a security officer whose responsibilities include regular inspection and testing of all security devices and the training of bank personnel concerning their responsibilities under the security program. Fred Kupstis is the McHenry State Bank Security Officer and he reports that all three locations are protected with the most up-to-date security equipm ent. Vice president and cashier, Edwin J. B ecker, Jr., said the burglar alarm system in the Gerald J. Carey Building is them ost modern available and is manufactured by Diebold, Inc., one of the largest security equipment manufacturers. The alarm provides complete protection for the entire bank and includes an intricate system of alarm buttons synchronized with a system of cameras, to provide constant surveillance of the lobby. In addition, all entrances are protected against forced entry. - The vault, which is constructed of triple reinforced poured concrete, is also fully alarmed. T his reinforcing is included in the floor and ceiling as well as in the walls. The vault itself contains heat-sensitive devices that would be activated in the event that someone tried to burn through the walls or door. T here are also contacts placed in the door which would sound the alarm if the doors were opened while the system was on its night cycle. This night cycle is controlled by. a digital timer that provides continuous protection for any number of hours that might be predetermined by the secur ity officer. The entire system is tied to the McHenry Police Station via special high sensitive transmission equipment, which will sound the alarm if tampered with. All of the above equipment provides the bank with round-the-clock protection against armed robbery and bank vault burglary. Much has been done to deter crimes against banks and to protect bank personnel and customers since the days of the bank guards. Is Put To Work Through Mortgages, Commercial Loans Mortgages and Commercial L oans: f rom the lef t -E velyn president; and Ann Zldek; DonaldH. Meyer , ass' t . v ice president; R Ichard A. Moehl lng, and VI B Lane, ^vice president; Ormel J . Prust , execut ive v ice Skinner: seated-L Iz M uslal ; Betsy orta . i A Bank does not survive if it does not make money. Also the money with which a bank in entrusted does no one any good if it is not put to work. The team which put this money to work and brings in the major earnings for the McHenry State Bank and its depositors is the Mortgage and Commercial Loans Department headed by executive vice president Ormel Prust, and two other officers, Rick Lane, vice president and Don Meyer, assistant vice president. P rust advised that of the $63 million in assets represented by loan, $51 million is in mortgages or real estate loans and $12m i 11 ion in all other types of commercial loans. This includes varioi" short-term or one payment loans o firms or individuals for mosti, business related purposes such as working capital for inventory, to buy equipment to invest in some favorable looking enterprise, to developers for installing utilities or roads required by municipalities, and so forth. P rust notes that such loans are well secured, usually by collateVal (stocks or bonds or notes) and mortgages on property affected. Themoney usually results in creating or expanding job situations in new industry or by building or installing facilities in subdivisions, or in building new industrial plants. Prust explained a new business area recently entered by the bank which consists of buying bonds issued by municipalities for financing new plants, which in turn are paid off through leases to new businesses or industries. When the bonds are paid off the buildings are then sold to the users for a nominal amount. Everybody benefits, Prust said, the community with an expanded tax base, the industry with new facilities, the bank with* a profitable investment, and the community with a new source of employment. The industry also may gain some tax and product pricing advantages with the lease costs figured in, Prust added. The McHenry State Bank has offered a service to developers in the letters of credit which it furnishes to guarantee to municipalities that roads and utilities installed will be in compliance with requirements. A developer has to show financial strength to qualify, Prust said, and, in addition, land is put up as collateral. Brittany Park is one local development which the bank has supported in several ways, he noted. P rust has been in commercial loans and notes since he joined McHenry State early in 1969. Prior to that he had served in the U.S. Navy after graduating from Northern Illinois University. He then worked 5 years as a bank examiner with the Chicago region of the Federal Reserve system. He also served two years with Marshal llsley in Milwaukee as an officer in the controller department. In addition to his business major, Prust is a graduate of the Graduate School of Banking at Madison and attended the senior bank officers' school at Harvard University. He is second vice president and treasurer of the Banking Institute of Chicago and an instructor with the American Institute of Banking. L ane who also has served ten years with McHenry State, had ten years experience with the K enosha Nationol B ank after a three year college stint. While at Kenosha he was in operations and set up an audit (Cont inued on page 6) The McHenry State Bank has reason to be proud of their new building, THE GERALD J. CAREY BUILDING We are happy to have a part in sup­ plying material for this new facility and wish the McHenry State Bank and it's officers and depositors continued suc­ cess and prosperity. Automatic Elevator Company 1473 Irving Park Rd. - Chicago, Illinois Century Automatic Sprinkler 3401 Clover Lane - Zion, Illinois McHenry County Glass & Mirror Inc. 4002 W. Waukegan Rd. - McHenry, Illinois Rechel Stone Company 3215 W. Birchwood Ave. - Skokie, Illinois