The herald. [microfilm reel], May 03, 1896, Page 20, Image 20

About The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900

Image provided by: University of California, Riverside; Riverside, CA

                
20
THEFT OF THREE MILLIONS
]One of the Great Steals of
History
THE"RETIRED BANK ROBBER
Dan Noble, Ex-Burglar, Now a Figure on
Broadway
The Story of the rianhattan Bank Robbery
Eighteen Years Ago—The Criminal*
Who Carried It Out
There is nothing so beautiful as a
beautiful crime, some one somewhere
sagely stated, and eighteen years ago,
when New York learned that a bank
•had been looted of $3,000,000. there were
:inany among us then who express* 1
admiration. In this particular case it
was merely a burglar's job. But a job,
parenthetically, in which there was a
I romance, one of which the mystery is
uneluclduted yet.
And today there walks on Broadway
■ a retired linnk robber. While he pa
'tlently worked out the long years of
his sentence in an Knglish prison his
fortune has grown. You may
'meet in one of the up-town cafes a well
groomed gentleman; you may find him
besid- you at the theater—you may have
iseen Dan Noble, perhaps the most skill
ful nnd successful of the great criminals
of this generation.
Twenty years ago there w ere plenty
Of faro banks on Broadway. Some were
square; the majority were not Among
the latter was one situated near lileeek
er street. It was a 1 cent joint, patron
ised l>y clerks, the underlings of big
.houses, aspirants to the rogues' gallery;
'criminals sometimes In embryo, some
times In fact.
Tbe dealer was a type that has disap
peared. He dressed in broadcloth that
was as black and brilliant c.s bis bat; his
necktie, too, was black; beneath it was
adlamond. Mad you seen him smoking
a fat cigar in front of the Fifth Avenue
hotel you. of course, woulc have known
•at once that he was a gambler, but to a
countryman he would have represented
the supreme expression of the apathetic
man about town.
Then' was nothing apathetic, how
ever, about Dan Noble, except in ap
pearance, and in appearance only for
appearance sake. The Continental po
lice knew him very well, yet in review
ing tbe documents In the < ase he seems
to have frequently had the advantage of
them. He talked very well on an Infinite
variety of subjects, and if you disagreed
with him he had a nice European habit
of agreeing with you. He was a great
hand. too. at making a stranger feel at
home, and then at taking that stranger's
home away. A gift such as that is apt
lo lead to curious experiences. More
than once it had led him to jail. At the
time at which this story begins he had
recently vacated an up-country prison
and while awaiting better things had
acquired an interest in the Broadway
joint, an occupation which did not pre
vent him now and again from sunning
himself in front of the Fifth Avenue ho
tel.
One afternoon a girl passed where he
Stood. He followed her. entered the car
Which she selected, seated himself at
her side, talked to iter, smiled at her. till
the train drew up nt Pelham. In a week
Patty ran away with him Her mother
died of a broken heart. Her lather be
came n drunkard.
Noble, meanwhile was not otherwise
idle. In the process of dealing cards he
made an acquaintance.a shambling crea
ture with tt shambling name—Shevelin,
watchman of the Manhattan Savings
Institution, who now and then would
stake a dime.
Acquaintance, fortune favoring, will
ripen into intimacy. Noble did the man
a few little set vices, flattered him in
humanly, and to show tha: he regarded
him quite as an equal, introduced him
to his friends —Johnny Hope, ror In
stance, tt plumber by trade, by practice
a thief; a man with a face like a brand
led cherry and an assortment nf fierce
and oleaginous manners. And there
was George Howard, a roan In whose
veins there ran some drops of blood of
all the Howards, for he was a gentle
man by birth, by education, with fea
tures that represented good stock, good
taste, gond looks, every form of good
ness save tin real one. The n, too, there
was a lively young chap named Banjo
Pete, a light that had fail .1 in the min
strel world and who had recently passed
initiate in the art or Illuminating with
dark lanterns,
Who would not be delighted to be re
ceived in such company, bo be slapped
on the back and urged to drink? Under
their sw ay promptly fell ilie .shambling
Shevelin,
It. was Indeed a delightful company,
and the v onder is slight the the sham
bling Shevelin fell under tlte spell. An
other was falling, too, bill under a
spell of a different order, George How
ard had begun to dream of Patty's eyes.
The process of falling bad its grada
tions. And Hope, who had the rest
less eyes of the ferret, which nothing
escape, watched Shevelin, and knew to
a minute when the proc ess was com
plete.
It was in an entirely unclrcuitous
manner that Hope pointed out to him
the royal rode p, riches. That rode led
straight through the bank door, of
which this Idiot was the supplementary
Sunday watchman. If the scheme
which Hope then suggested proved suc
cessful, Shevelin was to receive a quar
ter of a million dollars—an amount
which greedily and In anticipation he
accepted at one.'.
The scheme was evangelical in sim
plicity. Howard, who, in addition to at
tributes already credited, was an ex
pert mechanician, needed only to pass
a few contemplative moments before-a
certain door. That door opened cm the
vault of the bank in which were the
safes, and which, being to the rear of
the room occupied by the clerks, was,
during those hours In which the bank
was open, unapproachable by an out
sider.
According to Hope, it was therefore
merely requisite tliat cm some stormy
Sunday morning when there was no one
about, Howard's access to ami egress
from the bank sho-ilcl lie facilitated, anel
the rest, including that quarter of a
million, would go on skates.
To this Shevelin presumably assented,
Htid presumably, ton, facilitated How
ard in his work. The word presumably
is used advisedly, for in this tenebrous
history there are many details which
are still obscure. Re that as it may.
Howard in some fashion learned the na
ture of the lock in the vault, purchased
another of the same structure from the
same maker and sat down to learn its
secret.
-After many experiments it occurred
to him to bore hole directly beneath
the combination plate and then with a
wire to push back the tumblers of the
lock. This he did. wben behold! open
sesame, the door was ajar, the problem
solved,
There was much conviviality that
night at the dove cote. Grand discov
eries are of a nature to excite even tho
indolent, and you may be sure that a
discovery such as that was not suffered
to dawn unfeasted. Pete twanped the
banjo to his utmost rollicking airs. Mr
Hope was simply serene in sweetness'
And Howard, the hero of the evening—
you might have mistaken for a cotillion
leader, had it not been for his good looks
and unassuming air. There were oth
ers of whom no particular mention is
needful, but to all Patty acted the at
tentive hostess.
Noble was called away during the
progress of the festivities and did not
return till all the guests, save Howard,
had gone. He was then just ln time to
hear Patty's call for help, to see How
ard, one arm about her waist, the other
across her neck.
Then he saw red: with a spring be
was almost upon him. Howard had
dropped the girt and caught a bottle
with which he struck at Noble's head.
When the latter recovered conscious
ness Patty had washed the blood away,
but not a scar. Twenty years have not
eliminated it.
In a week Noble was dealing cards as
apathetically as before. Meanwhile
Howard had received a letter begging
him, on a matter of great personal Im
portance, to come at once to a plate
near Flatbush. with which he was fa
miliar. From that moment he disap
peared. Subsequently, near the out
skirts of Yonkers. his body was found,
a pistol shot in his head, a bullet in his
heart. It was thought that he bad
killed himself, but examination dlscloa
ed another bullet which had been Bred
from a distance through the back of his
handosme head. There were surmises,
but even the amateur detectives were
unable to invent a clue.
But though the man had gone, the so
lution which he had reached remained.
On Sunday morning, when Shevelin
was on duty, two men were admitted 11
the bank, Howard's prescription was
tried and found to work like a charm.
The doors of the vault opened and be
tween those men booty to the amount of
sir million there was at most but a few
inches of steel.
The visitors, however, had merely
come to reconnoitre, to calculate a few
details; bow long, for instance, it would
lake to crack the safes: how long to
enter the bank, open tbe vault and. tho
safes cracked, to gather the securities
and be off. Being agile and precise In
mathematics, they estimated that it
would require fifty-five minutes to gut
the entire place and get away. 1
It was then arranged that the opera
tion should take place on the following
Sunday. But incidentally an accident
occurred. When returning tbe tumblers
of the lock to their proper position and
concealing the hole made beneath the
combination plate with putty, it was
found that through some mischance one
of the tumblers was turned the wrong
way. and. though the door, to all appear
ances, was then locked as before, they
did not need to be burglars to know that
the next morning the cashier would be
unable to work the combination, the
hole would be discovered, suspicion
aroused, the lock changed, no doubt,
new precautions taken and till their beau
tiful labor gone lot' naught.
And. as a matter of fact, on the mor
row, when the door was finally opened,
the putty was discovered—the hole
\ bleb it was Intended to conceal as well.
The matter was promptly reported to
the board of directors, who paid no at
tention to it whatever.
The ears of those visitors, however,
were tolerably acute, and detecting no
rumor' of menace of danger, they prompt
ly got to business again and perfected
their plans.
Those plans were, after entering the
building, to bind and gag the janitor, a
little old man. w ho occupied a room on
the floor above the bank, and meanwhile
to provide a fake janitor, who. while
they were at work, could be dusting
about In full view of the street.
The fake janitor, dressed in a linen
roat and provided with side whiskers
BUCh as the real janitor wore, was a sub
ordinate with the villainous. Dickens
esque name of Abe Coakley, who. how
ever, seems to have played his little part
with pntire sang frold and effect. .V
roundsman passing the bank on the
morning of the robbery saw him dust
ing at tbe window, nodded to him and
was gratified with a nod in return.
But that little performance had per
haps been anticipated, aud with it. in
any event, the duty of informing the
gang when a barber, whose shop was
under the bank, anil whom any noise
WOUld alarm, should appear. It was
tbe c ustom of this barber to enter his
shop on Sunday morning at 7ocloek. It
was calculated that if the bank was en
tered after the night watchman had
none, at 6. there would be just the neces
aary time in which to do the job.
The job itself was to be performed by
Hope, with the aid of a subordinate
named Goodie. These two were to open
the safes, while Banjo Pete and a police
man named Nugent were to stand guard
revolver in hand.
This program was practically ad
hered to. On the morning of Sunday,
October 117, 187S, the bank was entered,
the janitor bound and gagged, two safes
v. ere opened, three million dollars at the
rate of (100,000 a minute was abstracted,
a third safe was about to be opened, in
which there were three million more,
when the fake janitor announced that the
barber, fully one-half hour before his
usual time, was entering the shop below.
Hope and Goodie put down their tools,
the fake janitor resumed his normal ap
pearance, the policeman and the ex
it Instrel star pocketed their revolvers
and in two minutes the band had disap
peared.
Three hours later the janitor had suc
ceeded in loosening his bonds and the
alarm was given. When the police came
there were two empty safes and a neat
kit of tools of Birmingham manufacture
to tell them they had come too late.
It was at this juncture that Inspector
Byrnes appeared and presently, with
that acumen which has made him the
foremost Inquisitor of the age, began
placing with Shevelin and continued to
play until that wretched oaf, who, in
stead of th- El Dorado of a quarter of a
million dollars, had received but $000,
split on bis pals.
It may !>•■. fortune favoring, that he
would have got more, for while, batting
$30,000 or $40.0110 in cash, the rest of the
booty was all in bonds, of which the sale
could be stopped, yet it was assumed
that the bank would prefer to ransom
those nt say fifty cents on the dollar
than to lose them entirely. The bank,
however, tlid nothing of tic- kind. It ap
pealed to the government, the duplicate
S' curitiea bill passed, and the loss to the
institution practically nullified.
But fancy the loss to Mr. Hope.
Fancy, too, the injury to his reelings.
Vet that, comparatively speaking, was
little lo the shock caused by the sham
bling Shevelin's defection, for that cost
.Mr. Hope a tlO-year sentence and his
confederates n ally as much.
Meanwhile Noble had vanished, the
dovecot was untenanted and of the se
curities there was not it trace.
Though Noble bad vanished and Pat
ty had disappeared and the rest of the
gang were in prison, there were peo
ple fanciful enough to maintain that
sooner or later those securities would be
forthcoming. From the evidence ad
duced at the trial it appeared that when
the band dispersed at the bank. Nugent
wiis in charge ot the booty ami that he
bad subsequently surrendered it to
Hope. What diil Hope do with it?
There were many surmises but not a
clue.
Presently from abroad came the an
nouncement that Noble had been ex
tradited from Italy for a forgery cont
inued In London and had there, in the
Old Bailey, l n Bent to Mtlbank for a
good round term.
Recently that term expired, and re
cently there appeared In New York an
elderly gentleman with a scar on his
face, an apathetic manner, a drawl in
his speech and the stamp of Piccadilly
from head to toe.
His earliest visit was to a woman.
When the elderly man with a scar on his
face stood again before that faded wo
man at once she understood why he
had come, and pri Bently, when he left
her, there was a package In his hand.
A few days ago newspaper readers
were informed that a bundle of the se
curities, stolen IS years ago from
the Manhattan Savings institution, had
been offered fore, loan,—Edgar Salters
in the New York Journal.
Try our port and sherry wines at 75
cents per gallon. T. Yache & Co., Com
mercial and Alameda street I Tele
phone aoy.
LOS ANGELES HERALD: SUNDAY MOHHTTN'Gr. MAT 8, 1896.
POLITICAL PARTIES
MAY ELMORE BENSEN
It has been aptly said: "Men fall out
with names without understanding
them." So it is with women, strange as
It may seem, with the tide fast ebbing
toward her political ocean of freedom,
Politics has been looked upon by woman
as a synonym for everything corrupt
and vile, in government; it is the com
paratively few who fully grasp the
simplicity yet grandeur of its slgniii
cance. and its true application, and,
what is stranger still, men are equally
ignorant.
The science of the politician, says
Draggonetti, "consists in fixing the tru
point of happiness and freedom. In the
progress of politics ns in the common
concerns of life, we are too apt to forget
the ground we have traveled over, but
frequently neglect to gather experience
as we go." as the experience of the pasi
thirty years fully proves the utter neg
lect of the voter to profit by the lessons
he has learned; now he stands culpabl>
negligent and Indifferent to the corrupt
legislation of today. 'When Information
is withheld from the masses, ignorance
becomes a reasonable excuse for all the
corruption, intrigues and spoliation of
the would-be politician; for this word
must be restored to Its pristine signifi
cance and true employment.
To bisect these two functions of gov
ernment, politics ond parties, it would
be well to explain their functions. James
Russell Lowell tells us "that politics is
nn art that concerns itself about the
national house-keeping, about tbe Im
mediate interest and work-aday wants,
the income and outgo of the people."
Nothing difficult in that. The women
have had to learn domestic economy,
bring that to a science, that the outgo
might not exceed the income, that It
seems as if tho national house-keeping
could be as well and wisely managed
by the "immediate interests" woman,
might have in all the affairs of the gov
ernment.
Some tell us lt"lS a lack of confidence
—in what. government. Officials, or pol
iticians? —that brings on financial
panics; they tell us the government; the
politics are all right; the present state
of corruption is In no wise due to either
of these, oh. no; but as the French
would say. "de trop," too much politics
has created an era of plunder and the
political sharks are draining the life
blood of the nation, while the manipu
lators of congresses and legislatures ar*
fast robbing the people of every vestige
of freedom: bringing ruin nnd destruc
tion to a great republic. We have seen
how simple is the science of politics,
just to fix the true point of happiness
In the national housekeeping, that will
be productive of the greatest good to
every member In the great national fam
ily.
The second function in our govern
mental affairs we have to deal with is
party. Webster defines it. and he does
not refer in any way as to such a body
being represented by the male portion
of the population solely, but of "a num
ber of persons united in opinion as op
posed to the rest of a community or
association, and aiming to influence or
control the general action, especially
one of the parts into which a people is
divided on questions of public policy."
The first act in the long series of
causes which led to the formation of
political parties in our country was the
navigation act passed in lfird. The act
declared "that no goods should be car
ried to the colonies or brought from,
except in Knglish ships." This aroused
the latent spirit of independence in the
colonies and resulted in the formation
of the party of remonstrance in America
and the one of oppression in England.
(Our opini'in of the present state of
dominant power and oppression in
America is that our ship of state is car
rying a one-sided cargo of manipula
tors, corrupt politicians and legislators,
that demands another strong remon
strance party.) The stamp act passed
in 176.1 divided the party of remon
strance into a party of action and in
action. Twenty-two years following,
the party of action, called Whigs, or
strong government men, and the Feder
alists laid in law and blood the founda
tions of this government.
The ratification of the constitution
gave the party of Anti-Federalists, and
the opposers of the American Magna
Charta were called Particularists. So
we come down the years, as time and
the needs made urgent, the birth of the
Democratic. Republican, Greenback
and Prohibition parties: each with their
different opinion, each aiming to in
fluence and control the general action,
each party divided on the questions of
public policy, each opposed to some
ether portion of the community, each
firm in the conviction that the cause
they espoused was the right one, each
faction violently opposed to the other.
Refore the formation of any or all these
parties it had been invariably the rule
that a few by a common bond were
drawn together to effect some reform
that the evolution of thought and the
urgency of the hour demanded. As
pioneers in the cause of humanity's
needs, that was borne in upon their
hearts, they received the stigma, re
proach and abuse of their opponents,
who, flushed with wealth or power,
drew up their forces against the handful
of earnest men and women, who each
in their age stand guard over the
world's weal. As public opinion reaches
out on thought waves almost spontane
ously comes into action a new party:
amidst prejudice, revllings and ridicule
it was born; as we have seen in our
own day, the contumely and abuse
borne by the few fearless abolitionists
gave birth to the once grand old party.
Then the Woman's Christian Temper
ance union, with its earlier Crusade,
brought into being the Prohibition
party. Who will not remember the vials
j of wrath poured upon these brave and
dauntless women, defenders of the
! home, hut their names are now immor
tal. The spirit of socialism or Ameri
can nationalism was abroad in the land:
stigmatized as visionary. Utopian,
anarchistic, the ball rolled on, gathering
strength and numbers; neither ridicule
or prejudice could stay, the,tide and the
People's pat ty wheeled into line.
Who cannot tell the floodgates of ap
probium, malice intent, the anathemas
and maledictions heaped upon our noble
pioneers, the honored women who had
paved the way for woman's enfran-
I chlsement? Another tidal wave has set
I in: we are upon the verge of great move
ment in out suffrage ranks; we are wait
ing to join hands with out three sister
states from whom have fallen the fet
ters of their political bondage. We must
act, men and women who are ready, for
the incoming century, in untslon, to
make public sentiment, to control th"
general action "especially one of the
i party Into which a people Is divided on
questions of public policy." And surely
we are divided, for we find man, some on
the grounds of expediency alone, in the
last hours of the century, opposing the
cause of woman: others forreasons of no
weight, but a spirit of opposition; and
woman! It is almost criminal to find
woman opposed to their own enfran
chisement, willing to enter the new
cycle with fettered hands and manacled
feet, holding back by her own art the
progress of the new era. While in out
state our cause has not demanded an
organized party for woman's enfran
chisement, let us act concertedly, de
terminedly aud hopefully to win the free
dom the men of our state have so gra
ciously acknowledged its justice, and
! fit ourselves to stand co-equal—citizens
of the Golden West.
The fashionable ladies corrective tonle
is Angostura Bitters, the world rcnowm-j
South American lnvlgorator.
almost countless eV er brought to Los duvQyS? i n ey . $ iv
, t hey ate ) U5 »H o me we Ik
thltw Furniture Co. |1
Which One Do You Want to Be?
—f . IrTn I ;
ALL RENTS ]1j m* i ! ! !
• —7"^ —s •
"I have paid rent for twenty years and have nothing to show
,«„ -i „ HUSBAND--What a good commencement we made when we
bought our lot on the installment plan, and then paid for
our house the same way.
WirE---Yes, indeed ; we never had any rent to pay.
(Now you have an cr/poitunity of buying a lot for a home close in, and on easy installments in
C. A. Smith's Third Addition, fnthec,t '* Los Al^es > 'E c iQHTH n AND hateo streets,
Near Seventh street school, just a half block from car line, which will soon be improved and extended through this tract. These beautiful lots are level,
and part are covered with orange trees 20 years old. The soil is a rich sandy loam, free from adobe or alkali. All the lots have an alley of 15 feet.
My terms are easy, 510 cash, SlO per month. My prices are low, SI 50, $175, $200 a lot. Immediate possession given.
Call for a map and make your selection soon, for they are selling fast.
C. A. SMITH, 213 West First Street.
CARPETS 326-328-330 South Main SC
Rugs, Curtains, Furniture, Etc
Immense Line, New Goods, Low Prices.
Sold for Cash or on Easy Payments
DR. LIEBIQ & CO.'S WORLD'S DISPENSARY
NO. 123 SOUTH MAIN STREET,
Thp Oldest riisppniarv on the coa*t. Kitabliihed twitnty-flVi
year?. to nil PRIVATE DISEASES OF MEN
Not a Dollar
C'ATATMiII ft specialty. We cure the worst casn in tun or a a
special fr.tm snn Francisco Dispensary in constant OitKll
attendance. Examination! With microscope. Including analysis, HMjH
'J 1m- noor trented fro" from 10 to 12 Frlda\ s pVtifliftSofl
M> mailer trouble is. come and talk with us; you Hm /Tw^
w ill not regret it. By W.'m fl^
i urc Kiiarantcod for Wasting Drains. Undeveloped Organs and I ™*WBWsT , W«ir
Lost VTUIItJ.
123 SOUTH MAIN STREET.
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