FAMOUS DETECTIVE CASES
By Cleveland Moffett
How Fit Masked Bandits Forced Cashier to Reveal Combination
to Vault ia the Northampton National Bank and Escaped
With Loot Valued at Over a Million Dollar.
BOUT midnight on Tuea-
A I day, January 28. 1876, five
I masked men entered the
bouee or John Whlttelsey
In Northampton. Massa
chusetts. Mr. Whlttelsey
waa the cashier of the
Northampton National
bank, and wna known to
have In hli possession the
key of the bank building
and Uie combination to
the bank vault. The five men entered
the bouse noiselessly, with the aid of
false keys, previously prepared. Pass
ing upstairs to the sleeping apart
ments, they overpowered seven In
mate of tli bouse, gagging and bind
ing them so that resistance or alarm
was Impossible. These were Mr. Whit
telsey and hi wife. Mr. and Mrs. T. B.
Cutler. Miss Mattie White, Miss Ben
ton, and a servant girl.
The bedroom of Mr. and Mrs. Whit
telsey wa entered by two men who
seemed to be leader of the band. One
wore a long linen duster buttoned
nearly to his knees, also gloves and
overshoe; th other wore a Jacket
and overall. Both men bad their
face concealed behind masks, and one
of thein carried a darklantern. On
entering th room the two men went
directly to th bed, one standing on
either side, and handcuffed Mr. Whit
telsey and his wife. Both carried re
volver. The proceedings were much
the same In th other room.
After some delay and whispered
consultation, th robber ordered th
flv women to get np and dress. When
they bsd done so, they were roped
together by ankle and wrists, and
taken Into small room, where they
were kept under guard by one of the
band. Mr. Cutler also waa Imprisoned
In the same way. Then the two lead
er devoted themselves to Mr. Whit
telsey. They told him plainly that they
bad come for the keys of the bsnk and
the combination of the vault, and that
they would "make It hot" for him un
less he gsve them what they wanted.
Mr. Whlttelsey was then taken
downstair, and commanded to sur
render the keys, but he refused.
Mr. Whlttelsey kept silent. Then
both men came at him, wringing his
art, abaklng lilm hy the throat, hurling
him to the floor and pounding their
knee Into hi chest. For three hours
this torture wss continued. More than
one the ruffians placed their revolvers
at Mr. Whlttelsey' head declaring
they would blow hi brains out unlesa
he yielded. Finally he did yield ; the
suffering waa 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,
he surrendered th keys, and revealed
the true combination of the vault.
Then the robber went away, leav
ing two of their associates to watch
over the prisoners. One of the band,
before his departure, did not disdain
to search Mr. Whlttelsey' clothes and
take bla watch and chain and fourteen
dollar In money. The last of the hand
remained In the house until six o'clock ;
and It was an hour later before Mr.
Whlttelsey succeeded In faeelng him
self from bis bonds.
He hurried at once to the bank, ar
riving there soon after seven o'clock.
He found the vault door locked, am)
It dials broken off. so that Is we Im
possible at the moment to determine
th extent of th robbery, or. Indeed,
whether there had been any robbery.
It was necessary to send to New York
for an expert before the vault could
be opened, which waa not accomplished
until late that nlKht, twenty hours
after the sttack had been made. Then
It waa found that the robber bad
been only too successful, having se
cured money and securities estimated
at a million and a quarter dollars.
Much of this sum wa safe-deposits,
snd th loss fell on the depositors;
and to some It was the loss of their
whole proerty.
At this time the authorities had no
clu to th Identity of the robbers,
though they hud left behind them nu
merous evidences of their presence,
ucb a dark-lantern, masks, sletlgo
bnmmers, overshoes, ani the like.
When several month had elapsed,
th rinkerton were called Into th
case. They began by carefully study
ing certain communications that had
been received by th bank directors
from persons claiming to have In their
possession the missing securities.
A fsct of much significance to th
Plnkertons wa th rather remarkable
Interest In the case, and apparent fa
miliarity with It, shown hy on J. 0.
Evans, an expert In safe and vault
nd tli representative of on of th
largeat safe manufactories In th
country.
A h studied th case, Mr. Pinker
ton recalled a circumstance that had
happened In the fall of the previous
year. On th night of November 4,
th First National bank of Plttston,
Pennsylvania, had been robbed of sixty
thoussnd dollars, and Mr. Plnkerton
bad 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 upply new
aafea for the one that have been
wrecked. Whll they were all exam
(Copytifht by W, O. Chapmaav)
ining th vault, still Uttered with
debris of th explosion, the representa
tive of on of the safe companies
picked up a (mall air pump used by th
robbers, and, looking at It critically,
remarked that he would have (worn It
belonged to lit company, did be not
know that waa Impossible. Th air
pump waa, he declared, of precisely
his company's model, one that had been
recently devised for a special purpose.
At th time Mr. Plnkerton regarded
this aa merely a coincidence, but now
the memory came to him aa a flush
of Inspiration that th man who had
remarked th similarity In the air
pump represented th sum company
that employed Evans.
In November, George H. Bangs, super
tendent of the Plnkerton Agency, a
man possessed of very remarkable skill
In eliciting confessions from susiected
persons had an Interview with Evans.
He professed to Evens that the detec
tives had secured evidence that prac
tically cleared op the whole mystery;
that they knew (whereas they still ouly
surmised) that the robbery had been
committed by the Dunlap and Scott
gang; that for week they had been
shadowing Scott and Duulap (which
wna true) and coald arrest them st
sny moment; that there waa no doubt
that the gang bad been trying to play
Evans false (a very shrewd guess),
snd 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 th
prosiect of twenty years In prison, or
save himself, and at th same time
earn a substantial money reward, by
making a clean confession of bis con
nection wltb the crime. All this, de
livered with an air of coihpletest cer
tainty, wa more than Evans could
stand up. agslnst. He broke down
completely, and told all he knew.
The story told by Evans Is one of
the most remsrkshle In the history of
crime. He admitted the correctness of
Robert Plnkerton s Inference that th
Northampton bank had been robbed by
Scott and Dunlap and their associates,
snd In order to explain hla own connec
tion wltb thla formidable gang he went
back to Its organisation four years
before. Th leader of the gang was
Jamea Dunlap, alias James Barton,
who, before he became a bank robber,
had been a brakeman on the Chicago,
Alton k St. Louis railroad. Hla in
born criminal Instincts led lilm to fre
quent the resorts of thieves In Chicago,
and thus be met "Johnny" Lamb and
man named Perry, who took a liking
to lilm and taught him all they knew
about breaking safes.
Dnnlsp' right-hand man was Robert
C Scott, alias "Hustling Bb," orig
inally 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 mem
bers of the gang were Thomas Doty,
Wllllsm Conroy, "Eddie" Goody. John
Perry. James Oreen, a professions!
burglar originally from Canada, and
the notorious John I-eary, alias "Red"
Leary, of whom more will be said
later on. In addition to these, the
gang contained eevernl members of
less Importance, men who acted merely
aa lookouts, or aa go between or mes
sengers. The first Isrge operation of Dun
lap's band was the plundering of th
Falls City bunk In Louisville. Ken
tucky, of about two hundred thousand
dollars, escaping with their booty. This
wns satisfactory aa a beginning, but
Dunlap und Scot dreamed of achieve
ments beside which this was Insig
nificant They begun a careful Investi
gation through many states, to learn
of banks of weak structure containing
large treasure. One of the gang finally
found precisely whht they were In
search of In the Second National bank
of Elmlra, New York, which Institu
tion, being a government depository,
contained, aa they learned on good au
thority, two hundred thousand dollars
In greenback and alx millions In
bonds.
A purvey of the premises satisfied
the gang that, massive though It ap
peared, with Its ponderous Iron walls
and complicated locks, th vault of
this bank wa by no mean Impos
sible of access. The floor above th
hank waa occupied hy th Young Men'
Christian association, one of the asso
ciation's room being directly over th
vault There wa the floor between,
nd under that four feet of solid ma
sonry, soma of the (tone In It weigh
ing a ton. And under th masonry
was a layer of railroad Iron, retting on
plate of hardened steel an Inch and
a half thick. All this, however, so far
from discouraging the conspirator,
gave them greater confidence In th
success of their plana, one under way,
since th very security of th vault, by
structure, from overhead attack less
ened the strictness of the surveillance.
Indeed, th most serious difficulty, In
th estimation of th robber, wss to
gain essy and unsuspected admission to
th quarters of the Young Men's Chris
tian Association, on the second floor.
Th secretary, very prudent man, had
put on the outsld door of th associa
tion rooms an Improved Yale lock,
which was then new upon the market
and offered unusual obstaclea to th
lock-picker. Neither Duulap, Scott,
nor any of their associate had skill
enough to open this lock without break
ing It, which would, of course, hv
been fatal to their plan. For days,
therefore, after all th other details
of th robbery had been arranged, the
whole scheme seemed to be blocked by
a troublesome lock on an ordinary
wooden door.
Th Yale lock (till continuing an In
soluble difficulty, Perry Anally made a
Journey to New York, In the hop of
finding some device by which to open
It There, In th course of his search,
and in a curious way, he made th ac
quaintance of Evans, then a salesman
In th employ of prominent safe
company.
Before entering th employ of th
safe manufacturers, Evans had con
ducted an extensive mercantile busi
ness for himself In lurge Eastern
city, where he waa regarded aa a man
of wealth and Integrity. He had large
dealings through th South, with ex
tensive credits; but the outbreak of
the war had forced him Into bank'
ruptcy. It waa hinted that there war
some overshrewd practice connected
with hi failure, and hla subsequent
sudden departure for Canada gav
color to th Insinuation. At any- rate,
he compromised with hla credltora on
basis advantageous to himself.
On hi return from Canada, Evans
took up Ida residence In New York
city, and began to cultivate habit far
beyond his Income, notably th taate
for fast horses. Perry heard of Evans
through one Ryan, whom he hsd known
as a crook year before, but who waa
then running a livery stable la an up
town etreet
Before long Evana found himself
much cramped financially. Being un
able to pay Ryan th money be owed
him for stabling, be began to talk of
selling his horse; and on day, when
he waa complaining of b"lng short of
money, Ryan said. "If I had your posi
tion I'd never lack for money."
Evans asked him what he meant.
"Oh," said Ryan, "there are plenty
of people who would put op well to
know some of the things you know
about aafes and banks."
By degreea Ryan made hla meaning
more clear, and Evana grew property
Indignant. The subject wss dropped
for th moment but In subsequent
meetings, Kysn kept reverting to It
Meantime Evana found himself grow
ing more and more embarrassed, and
on day be said, "What I It these peo
ple want to knowT"
"Well," said Rysn. "they would like
to know, for one thing. If there I any
way of beating these new Yale locks?"
"You can't pick a Yale lock," an
swered Evans "that would take too
long; but there Is a wsy of getting on
open."
"HowT
"We'll talk thst over some dsy."
Having one nibbled, Evan waa not
long In biting at th bait thua adroitly
held before him. U consented to be
Introduced to Perry, who shrewdly
showed him what an easy matter It
would be for a man who knew th
secrets of safe-makers snd could locate
weak hanks, to tnske a great deal of
money, without danger to himself.
Th result was that Evans, In consid
eration of fifty thousand dollars, final
ly agreed to provide some meana of
opening' th Yale lock which barred
the robber from th coveted treasure
at Elmlra.
Perry, In great delight hurried back
to Elmlra. and reported bla auccess to
Dunlap and Scott. In order to bring
Evana to Elmlra In a way not to excite
suspicion, a letter was written to th
company he served, containing a tempt
ing proposition regarding the purchase
of aafea. Evans wss at one sent to
Elmlra to look after the matter. He
atopped at the Rathhone house, where
he wua waited upon by Bcott with
whom he concerted a plan of opera
tion. Scott was to slip a thin piece of
wood Into the lock at night so thst
the lock would not work. Then, as
Evana' presence In the city had been
made known, It was hoped that be
would be rolled upon, ss an expert In
difficult locks, to find out what waa the
matter. This would give hlin an op
portunity to secure an Impression of
the key. Th plsn worked only too
perfectly ; and within twenty-four hours
the conspirators were able to pass in
snd 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 fills Keys to
obtain admission; and they remained
there hours at a time, doing what
would ordinarily he the noisiest work;
but their movement were so cautious
and well-planned that their presence In
the building was never suspected.
Every night the carpet and flooring
were taken up and, after they had fin
ished their excavations, were carefully
relald. Tons of masonry and heavy
stone were removed, shoveled Into
bsskets and carried op to th roof of
th opera house, adjoining the bank
building, where there was email chance
of the debris being discovered.
One day th president of th bsnk,
Mr. Pratt, was surprised, on entering
th vault to find th floor sprinkled
with a fin white dust An Investiga
tion was made, and th whole plot was
uncovered. Th members of th gang,
however, got word In time, and all
managed to escape except Perry, who
wa convicted of attempted burglary
and aent to th Auburn prison for Bv
years.
Undisturbed by th failure, Scott
and Dunlap proceeded to scour th
country again In search of another
bank stilted to their operations, and
the next February notified the gang,
which now contained some new mem
bers, that they had "found something
to work at" in Quincy, Illinois, Tit
attack on th Quincy bank whs made
In very much th same wuy as the
attack on th bank at Elmlra. A
Baltimore woman runted an old hous
which afforded shelter and concealment
to th men; access waa obtained to
room over th vault by false keys, aa
before ; th flooring waa taken up and
put down every night without exciting
suspicion, th masonry waa removed,
th Iron plate of th vault were pene
trated, and, finally, on night Scott and
Dunlap were able to lower themselves
through a Jagged hols tuto th money
room beneath.
It now remained to tore open th
safes Inside th vault; and to accom
plish thla tli robber used, for th
first time In th history of safe-wreck-Ing
In America, what I known aa th
sir-pump method, which had been de
vised by Evans, and carefully ex
plained by him to Scott and Dunlap.
Evana' employers were at thla time In
troducing a padding designed to mak
aafe more secure; and Evans had hit
upon tli Idea of Introducing powder
Into th seams of a safe door by an
air-pump. In th presence of a possible
customer, In order to Impress hlin with
his need of th new padding. Evana
himself waa not present at th break
ing open of the Quincy bank, and he
had nothing to da with th robbery be
yond furnishing Instruction and the
air-pump. Scott and Dunlap did tli
work.
At Drat atrp, all the seems of the
safes formed by th door were care
fully puttied up, save two small holes,
one at the top and one at the bottom.
Then, at the upper hole. Scott held a
funnel filled with fine powder, while
Dunlap applied th air-pump at the
hoi below. By the draft thua created,
the powder waa drawn Into all the
Interstice between the hesvy doors
snd th frames of th safe. Then a
little pistol, loaded simply with pow
der, wss attached near the upper hole,
and, by a string tied to th trigger, dls
rhsrged from a safe distance above.
There were several attempts made be
fore a complete exiloslon wss effect
ed; but Anally tli safe were Mown
open and their contents secured, the
robbers making good their escape with
on hundred and twenty thousand dol
lar In money end about seven hundred
thousand dollar In bond. No part of
thla money waa ever recovered by th
bank, nor were any of th gang cap
tured at this time. Th securities were,
however, afterward sold hack to the
bank. Indeed, so cleverly hsd the
whole slTalr been managed that no sus
picion fell upon either Scott, Dunlap
or any of their associates.
Her were fortunes made easily
enough, with plenty more to be made
In th same way, and th gang were
In high feather over their success. Dur
ing th following summer Scott and
Dunlap lived In princely etyl In New
York.
By fall their money begsn to run
short and they decided to look about
for another Job. In th Quincy robbery
they had broken their agreement with
Evana, paying hlin only a email aum
for th use of the air-pump which he
had furnished them. Now, however,
they called upon hlra again, and, part
ly by threats, partly by generous offers,
Induced him to assist them again. A
aerie of unsuccessful attempts at
robbery were made on banka In Sara
toga. Nantucket Covington, Kentucky,
and Rockvllle, Connecticut In several
Instancea failure came at the very
tlm when success seemed sure. In
the esse of the Covington bank, for In
stance, nitroglycerin was used In blow
ing open the safe, and th explosion
wsa so violent thst the men became
frightened and fled In a panic, leaving
behind untouched, although exposed to
view, two hundred thousand dollars In
greenback and on million five hun
dred thousand dollars In negotiable
bonds. In the case of the Kockvlll
bank their plan bad worked out per
fectly, and tliey had removed every
thing from the top of thevault but a
thin layer of brick, when Scott acci
dentally forced the Jimmy through the
roof of the vault and let It full Inside.
As It wss too late to complete the work
that night, and a the presence of the
Jimmy Inside the vault would Inevita
bly start an alarm the next day, they
were obliged to abandon th attempt
entirely.
The gang' most desperate adventure
befell In connection with the attempt
on the First National bank of Plttston,
Pennsylvania. The bank occupied a
one-story building covered wllh a tin
roof, and the robber decided to make
the attack from tli roof. Hut there
wa a serious difficulty In th fuct that
In case of rain coming at any time
after they had begun operations, wa
ter might soak through the oxmlng
they had made and betray them.
Dunlnp'i Ingenuity, however, wa equal
to thl emergency; and each night
after finishing their excavation, they
carefully relald the sheets of tin that
bad been disturbed, protecting the
Joints with red putty, which matched
the roof in color. So well did they put
on this putty that although It rained
heavily the very day after they began,
not a drop leaked through.
On th night of November 4 only
on layer of bricks separated them
from th top of th vault, and It wa
decided to finish th work and do the
robbery that night. Two hour' hard
labor wltb drag and Jack-screw sufficed
to effect an opening, arid Scott and
Dunlap wer lowered Into the vault.
They folind three Marvin spherical
ssfes protected by a burglar alarm.
But Dunlap was somewhat of an elec
trical expert, and was ab,le to so sur
round the burglsr alarm with heavy
hoards so ss to render It of little or no
danger. They experienced much diffi
culty, though, In blowing open the
safe. Th first on attempted yielded
on th lernnd explosion, and they se
cured flv hundred dollar In currency
and dxty thouauml tloilars In bonds,
The next one was fur more trouble
some, not leas than ten explosion be
ing required to mak way Into It, And
Just a tli task was nt last accom
plished, and they wer un the point of
seising great sum of money, there
cam a warning call from Conruy, who
wa doing sentry duty un lb roof, aud
It waa nuceaaary to fly.
When Dunlap and Bcott bad been
dragged out of th vault hy their asso
elates, they wer found scarcely able
to run. During all the twelve explo.
alous of powder and dynamite they had
never left th vault, but, crouching be
hind tli board that guarded th
burglar 'alarm, had remained within
arm's length of explosion so violent
that they tor apart plates of welded
steel and shook th whole building.
Worse than the shock of thes explo
sions wer th noihms gsses generated
by them, which Scott snd Dunlap had
to breath. On coming out, their.
clolhes were wringing wet with per
spiral Ion, and they wer ao weak that
their lega tottered under them, and
their comrade had to almost carry
them for a time, But, nevertheless.
they managed to walk thirty utiles
that night, to Ihlgh, where they
boarded a train to New York.
It waa on thla occasion thst there
wa left behind In the vsult the air
pump which Robert Plnkerton after
ward recalled ao shrewdly to Evana'
disadvantage.
Coming, In hla confession, to th
Northampton bank robbery, Evana aald
that th gang considered making an
attempt there for aeveral month be
fore th robbery wa actually exe
cuted. On the night of th robbery Evan
waa In New York, but be had gone to
Northampton a day or two after, aa al
ready stated. The, for th first time,
he resided what lininenae wrong add
suffering would be inflicted upon Inno
cent people by the robbers, and he aald
It waa thla that had prompted hlin In
hla efforts to have the securities re
stored to th owner.
Returning to New York, h at once
communicated with Scott and Dunlap
by meana of Herald personals, and
had aeveral Interviews with them In
the city during the month of February.
Whll they wer anxious to dlMie of
th securities. It wss plain from the
first thst they distrusted Evana and
proHied to lessen his shsr of the
profits While pretending to approve
th steps he wss taking for a compro
mise with the bsnk, they were really,
without his knowledge, carrying on se
cret negotiations with the same object
The suspicion on either side grew until
finally It could no longer be concealed.
Meeting Bcott In Prospect park some
time after the robbery, Even said.
"When sre you going to settle and glv
me my hreT"
"YouH never get a cent," answered
Scott; "you've given the whole gang
awny,"
It waa soon after thla Interview that
Evana decided, under the management
of Superintendent Bangs, to save him
self by making a full confession. He
hail fewer scruples about betraying hi
associates, because he had become
convinced that In th previous rob
beries, notably In the one at Quincy,
Illinois, be bad been treated most un
fairly hy Scott and Dunlap.
Evans said that for several weeks
preceding the Nortlismplon robbery
the gang hsd concealed themselvea In
the attic of a school hooe which stood
four of five rods from the highway and
apart from other houses, Hla state
ment waa substantiated hy the discov
ery In this attic, after the robbery, of
blankets, satchels, ropes, bits, pulleys,
and provisions.
After hearing Evans' story, th quee-
tlon foremost in Mr, Plnkerton's mind
was where the stolen securities had
been concealed. From what Evans
said, and from what he knew himself
about the methods of the gang, he was
satisfied that Dunlap possessed thl
secret, and would Intrust It to no one
unlesa absolutely compelled to do so.
Th likeliest way of compelling him
wss to put him under arrest, which
might very well he done now that
Evana had consented to turn state'
evidence. For weeks Plnkerton
"shadmve" dad never been off Scoft
and Dunlap. who spent most of their
time In New York, the former living
with hla wife at a fuahlonnhl hoard
ing house In Washington Rqunre.
Instructions were accordingly given
to the shadows to close In upon them,
and on February 14, both men were
arrested In Philadelphia, as they were
on the point of taking a train for the
South.
Iesplte tlio lurge sum of securities
In their powwsalon, the men had run
short of ready money, and, while await
ing compromise, were starting out to
commit another robbery. They were
taken to Northampton, and committed
to Jull to await trial.
It happened as Mr, Plnkerton fore
saw. Brought Into confinement Dun
lap and Scott wer compelled, In the
conduct of their affair, to reveal the
hiding plic of the booty to aom other
member of th gang. They chose for
their confidant "Red" Leary. The
securities, aa subsequently transpired,
wer at thl tlm burled In s cellar on
Sixth avenue, near Thirty-third street.
New York. Th precise spot was Indt
rated to Leary by Mrs, Scott, who, in
doing so, reminded Leary of an agree
ment entered Into by th member of
th gang before the robbery, that any
of their number who might get Into
trouble could. If be aw a necessity,
cell upon Ills confederate to dispose
of all th securities on whatever term
wer possible and us th proceeds In
getting him and others If others wer
In trouble also fre. At th time
Leary scoffed at this agreement, but
was perfectly willing, even eager, to
havs It enforced a little later, when,
by th orders of Inspector Byrnes, bt I
wss himself arrested on (he charge of
complicity in tli memorable Manhat
tan bank robbery, which had occurred
sum tlm before.
While much of Leary's life had been
spent in doeds of violence, lis had
shown on occasion such splendid
bravery, even heroism, a ultaoat
atoned for his crimes, Th sblest law
yers wer now secured In III defense,
and by every possible method of legal
obstruction they kept allv a con
troversy In th New York court for
nearly two years. Meanwhile I-eary
reposed In Ludlow etreet Jail, where he
enjoyed all th privilege vur as
corded to prisoner.
On th afternoon of May T Mrs.
Leary called at about flv o'clock wllh
"Hutch" McCarthy, and th thro wer
alone In Leary room until eight
o'clock. After that Leary strolled
about In th prison Inclosure, and at
about a quarter past ten keeper Wen
dell, who had cbarg of th III at tier,
In which Leary' room was located,
aaw hlin going upstairs from th second
to th third tier. Although In this
Lenry wa going directly wsy from
his own room, ther wa nothing to
exclt surprise, for Leery had been ac
customed to us th bathroom on Ui
third tier. A quarter of an hour later
Wendell alerted on hi round, accord
ing to th prison rule, to see that each
one of th men In hi tier waa se
curely locked up for th night When
he cam to Leary' room h waa a
little surprised to find hlin (till absent,
hut supposed he would b ther short
ly. But after waiting a few minute
and finding Leary (till absent, Ui
keeper became alarmed, and began a
search. II first went to th bath
room, and not finding Leary there,
searched In other placea, high and low.
Then be returned to the bathroom, and
ther mad a discovery which filled
bhu wltb consternation. II saw In
th brick wall, what at first bsd es
caped hi attention, a gaping bole,
large enough to allow th paasag of
a man'e body, Th hoi oiiened Into a
tunnel that aeemed tu lead downward,
The alarm waa at one given, and It
soon appeared that the keeper' fear
were only too well founded. "Bed"
Leary had escaped.
It was found thst th tunnel from
lb bsthrooin led Into a loom on th
fifth floor of tenement house nt No,
7 Ludlow street adjoining th Jail.
Leary, after hla aecap, fled to Eu
rope, but waa afterward arretted la
Brooklyn by Robert Plnkerton and
three of hla men, who held hlin up In
a alelgb at the corner of Twenty
seventh street and Fourth avenue,
Brooklyn; and before Leary could
make use of a large revolver which h
had on hla person, the horse wa
grabbed by th head and pulled to a
standstill, and Leary waa dragged out
of the alelgh and handcuffed. He wa
taken Immediately to Northampton,
and put in Jail there,
Koms time previous to thl th Pin
kertuns bsd located Conroy, who had
also escaped from Ludlow street Jail,
In Philadelphia; and Immediately on
the arrest of leary, Robert Plnkerton
sent one of hi detective from New
York to Philadelphia, who waa for
lunat enough to arrest Conroy at oaa
of hi resorts on IhS same night and
he wsa also delivered In Jail At North
ampton. home month previous to thl th
Plnkertons had also arrested Thome
Doty, another member of th band,
and lodged bltn la tb Northampton
Jail.
' In th meantime, Scott and Dunlap,
now In state prison, had made a con
fession aa against l-eary, the bolder of
the eecurlllra; and when Leary was
brought to Northampton, they wrot
him a letter, notifying hlin that unlee
the securities wer banded over to
their proper owners, they would tak
th wltnea (land agalust him and
convict hlin, but that If h did turn
over the necessary securities tliey
would refuso to take the stand. Thl
resulted In the recovery by th North
ampton linuk of nearly all th securi
ties stolen from th bank and It da
posltors, this not Including, however,
th government bonds and currency
atolen at the time.
The trial of Scott and Dunlap took
place at Northampton a year and a
half after the robbery. Evana took th
stand against them, hla evidence mak
ing the rase of th prosecution over
wlielmlngty atrong. After three hours'
deliberation the Jury brought In a ver
dict of guilty, and the prisoner wer
sentenced to twenty years each In th
atate prison, Scott died In prison, snd
I mi n hip, having been pardoned aev
eral years Inter, went to live In a West
ern city, a reformed man earning an
honest living. A far aa la known,
sine leaving the penitentiary he neveg
returned to hla evil wsys. Conroy also
took to new ways, and became honest
"Tied" Leary came to his death In
a curious way. On night be had been
drinking wllh some friends at a well
known sporting resort In New York, on
Sixth avenue, between Twenty-seventh
and Twenty-eighth streets. In th
psrty was "Billy" Train, an old bunko
man. They wer all Somewhat Intoxi
cated snd Inclined to be uproarious,
As they ram out on th street, "Billy"
Train picked up a brick and thrw It
op In th air, yelling: "Look out for
your heads, boy." To thl warning
Leary paid no attention, and th brick
ram down on his head with full force,
fracturing hi skull. 11 was taken to
the New York hospital, and died there,
after much suffering,
As for th safe-expert, Evans, he I
engaged In legitimate business, and Is
prospering. In compiling thl chapter
from th record, th writer has, by
request, changed some of the name of
th parties, who line that tlm hav
reformed, and are now respected mem
bers In th communities where they re
side, and the author bas no deslr to
Injur them.