CHAPTER XVI

HARD WORK UNDER GREAT DIFFICULTIES

The day following our reconciliation, Shinburn and I went down to look over the Ocean Bank and its surroundings. It was most essential that we should know the habits of the policemen on the beats around and near the bank, and the comings and goings of the janitor and other occupants of the neighborhood, as well as of the general public, day and night. Therefore it was decided to obtain quarters from which all this could be watched, and a front room on the second floor of the building on Fulton Street, opposite the bank, was hired. From this room two men kept constant watch from January until the time for the trick to be pulled off. Through these men we learned the habits and manners of all who frequented that locality.

Here is one of the results of our watch-tower: About three months after we had been at work we became alarmed at the suspicious actions of a man who constantly hovered around the bank corner. Thinking that he might be a “plain clothes man,”--that is, a detective not in uniform,--I reported the circumstance to Detective Jack McCord, who had the matter investigated, and ascertained that the man was a “look-out” for a near-by gambling game.

Shinburn and I agreed, on the first inspection of the bank building, that, because of the exposed entrance to the bank, and the constant stream of passers-by, which, owing to the near-by ferries and markets, never ceased day or night, it would not do to try to get into the bank by way of the door, and that ingress must be made from above or below. We discussed the advisability of having a room directly over the vault, but decided that, by reason of the massive masonry which we would have to cut through, it would be much more practicable to go through the floor, provided that, in the basement under the president’s room, a room could be secured.

This was finally accomplished, though it took three months of planning, to bring it about.

At the time of our first visit to the bank the whole basement was occupied by one concern. Through Taylor we learned that the lease would shortly expire, and that the tenants, who hired from the bank, had given notice that they would not renew it. In this, Fortune seemed to favor us; but, as the space was very large, we deemed it advisable not to apply for a lease of the whole place, for we could make no show of a legitimate business that would warrant the occupancy of so extensive quarters, and that an attempt to do so would probably lead the bank people to suspect our real purpose. Therefore, even at the risk of losing the chance altogether, we determined not to apply for the place just then, trusting to the hope that some one might apply for the part fronting Greenwich Street, leaving the coveted room under the president’s office, with the entrance on Fulton Street, to us; and relying on Taylor’s ability to keep us posted regarding offers to lease that the bank might receive.

Thus matters remained at a standstill, so far as entering the vault was concerned, for some three months, or until about the middle of March. Then an applicant appeared in the person of one William O’Kell. Taylor at once informed us of the application. On investigation we learned that O’Kell was a money broker on upper Broadway, where he had an office less than one-half as large as the basement under the bank. We, therefore, deemed it safe to let him acquire the lease, trusting to be able to hire from him the part we desired. Scarcely had Mr. O’Kell moved into his new quarters than he was approached by a man calling himself Kohler, who represented himself as being an insurance broker, and stated that he wished to hire the rear part of the basement. Mr. O’Kell was only too willing to sub-let. As Kohler was Shinburn’s brother-in-law, we were soon in possession of the long-desired field of action. At this time we notified the Bank Ring--the police--of our enterprise, and arranged for the necessary protection.

And so we drew nearer and nearer to the coveted goal. But let it not be thought that all was plain sailing from then on. Far from it! for, though we were now directly under the president’s office, yet we were also right beside the steps that led to the offices and the janitor’s living apartments. Two police beats met at the bank corner, and here the policemen on those beats would meet and idly swing their clubs while they gossiped by the half-hour. Then the Fulton Street officer would wander to the janitor’s entrance, where nearly every evening the janitor and his wife would sit until after ten o’clock. Here another conversation would take place.

Of course at such times it would be impossible to do any pounding; and at no time would it do to allow the least amount of light to shine through the windows. To obviate this latter difficulty, we hung thick blankets over the windows, which so covered them that not the least particle of light could get through. At the same time these blankets served to deaden the noise.

Owing to the other burglaries which had been undertaken while waiting to hire the basement office,--and chiefly to the Westminster affair,--we did not get down to the Ocean Bank business until well along in May. From observations we had made we decided that it would be best to complete the job on a Saturday night, as this would, if necessary, give us two nights and one day, and May 23 was fixed upon.

We had had a special set of tools made by an expert, and on May 22 these, together with my explosives and a hydraulic jack, were stored in Kohler’s office. All the locks to this office had been changed by its new tenant, and everything was in readiness to begin the attack on the ceiling the next night.

Saturday I gave orders to have a coach ready, with the team in harness, at my stable, and to be kept so all night in case of any emergency call. And we warned our lieutenants in the room opposite the bank to be continually on the alert. At five o’clock in the afternoon Shinburn and I were in the office with the doors locked, shutters closed, and blankets up, waiting for the janitor to finish his work in the bank and retire to his quarters.

But the janitor did not retire until after ten o’clock; and, in the meantime, we sat in the office, not daring to make any noise lest we be detected by those sitting on the steps without. It was very tedious watching, and it tried our patience to the utmost; but at last we heard the welcome sound of the closing and locking of the door which led to the upper floors, and we immediately prepared for action.

It had been decided to cut up through the bank floor at a place between the dead wall at the Fulton Street end of the building and the front of the president’s desk. This plan was adopted because, in case we should get through the floor and yet not be able to complete the job the same night, the carpet could be replaced over the hole at that point with the least likelihood of its detection.

This spot was very near the Fulton Street side, and, therefore, great care had to be exercised lest the noise of our operations should be heard outside. Consequently, while one did the cutting the other kept his ear glued to a joint in the window shutter, with a string in hand, one end of which was tied to the other’s wrist.

When the plastering of the ceiling was removed, we expected to find an open space between the girders of the floor above. But, instead, we found the space filled with rubble set in cement--a solid mass fourteen inches thick. Here was a dilemma. We had come prepared with tools to cut wood and steel only, and had no implements with which to dig through this obstruction. There was nothing else to do but put off further operations for a week, and, in the meantime, get the necessary tools.

Then a new difficulty presented itself. There was the hole in the plastering, which, with a bank overhead, would appear a very suspicious circumstance to even the most casual observer. It must be hidden. We used up all the mucilage in the office in plastering paper over it, but still it was only too apparent. We could do no more that night, so we watched our opportunity and got away unobserved.

Early Monday morning we scoured the furniture stores to find some article that would be tall enough to cover the break. At last we found, in a second-hand shop in Canal Street, a solid mahogany wardrobe which would serve our purpose. With very little dickering with the Jew owner we bought it and had it hauled to Kohler’s office, where we placed it under the break.

With the aid of books and boxes the wardrobe served its purpose admirably,--and also formed a first-class receptacle for our tools.

On the Friday following our enforced stoppage, as previously related, we had obtained the necessary tools for digging through the cement, and they were safely deposited in Kohler’s office. We had also arranged for heavily padding the floor beneath the hole so as to catch any debris that might fall, and we were ready to continue the work on the following night. But at this point Taylor informed us that arrangements had been made to have the bank’s quarters painted and decorated, the work to be done on Sundays and after banking hours on week days, and that the start was to be made the next day. This, of course, knocked our plans on the head for the time being, and naturally was a sore disappointment to us, as well as a source of great danger.

Our work had now reached that stage where the utmost caution was necessary--the least slip might bring suspicion upon us. If some one were to spy the break in the ceiling or doubt the legitimacy of Kohler’s insurance business, all would be up with us. Then, too, we had before us the continual fear that the combination of the bank’s vault lock would be changed, necessitating more long, weary weeks of waiting until Taylor should be able to secure the new numbers.

However, these were the risks of the business, and we were perforce obliged to lie low until the coast was clear. At last, on Friday, June 5, Taylor informed us that the painters would not work the following night or Sunday. This was welcome news, and we decided to use the time of their idleness in putting in our work. Our preparations were already made, and, except to order the coach to be in readiness, and notifying the lookouts across the street to keep a sharp watch, there was nothing to do but await the appointed hour.

At five o’clock Saturday evening Shinburn and myself were again locked in Kohler’s office with everything in readiness to get to work just as soon as the coast was clear. But, as on other occasions, the janitor and his wife sat on the steps and the patrolman loitered around till nearly eleven o’clock.

At last, the coast being clear, we began work. We had removed quite a portion of the obstructing masonry, when clang! bang! whiz! a section of the fire department was upon us. A fire had broken out in the near neighborhood. One of the hydrants was near the bank corner. An engine was attached to it, and pumped away until three o’clock in the morning, while a crowd of people stood about, many leaning against the railing right in front of us.

This, of course, precluded our doing any work until too late to be able to complete the job that night. Therefore, when quiet again reigned outside, we slipped out and sought our beds. We did not deem it wise to try to get back into the office that Sunday evening, so we decided to wait until the next favorable Saturday.

Three weeks passed, and the painters held the premises; but on June 27 they again took a vacation. Taylor having duly apprised us of this beforehand, we once more prepared for work. So much of the tunnelling had already been done that, given half a chance, we had every hope of finishing the trick this time.

Experience had taught me that, notwithstanding our strong police protection, it was always best to have an anchor to windward in case of capture, in the shape of a good round sum to use as a basis for negotiations for liberty. This anchor, of course, had to be in the form of part of the loot, otherwise no dicker could be made. One cannot dicker with a bank for immunity from prosecution when that bank has lost nothing. Therefore, we devised a scheme to make sure of the anchor in case we were caught.

Kohler had a key to the old lock on the door between his office and that of O’Kell. Thus, while after the change of locks O’Kell could not come into our quarters, we could still go into his. From the south side of O’Kell’s office was a toilet room that had a small window fronting on Greenwich Street. Our keys gave us access to this. We arranged that one of our lookouts should make periodical trips past this window, and, should he see a certain sign, he should continue a block or two, and then, returning, come close to the window and stoop as if picking up something. By this time we would have entered the vault and secured a box containing a sealed package, of which Taylor had informed us, supposed to contain one hundred thousand dollars in government bonds. This package I was to hand to the lookout as he stooped, and he was then to take it at once to my rooms and then follow the other instructions which I had given him.

It had been further arranged that, on his way to my rooms with the precious package, the lookout man was to stop at my stable and notify my coachman, who had orders to drive at once to Cortlandt Street ferry and there await further instructions.

The night was excessively warm, and the janitor, with a crowd of neighbors, sat on the steps until after eleven o’clock, while Shinburn and I, stripped to our underclothes, sweltered in the close air of the office. At last, the chatter above having ceased, the chatterers having sought their apartments, and the patrolman being away, we pulled out the wardrobe and went to work with a will.

Nothing happened to deter us except the momentary passage of some pedestrian, and by two o’clock we had cleared away all the masonry, leaving the wood floor bare. Through this we cut, taking care not to injure the carpet above. A hole being cut in the floor, we pushed up the carpet and in a twinkling we were in the president’s office. The iron shutters on the bank windows hid us from view from the outside and we had a clear road to the vault.

But what if the combination had been changed! I rushed to the door, twirled the dial plate, and--the door was open. To get the keys of the inner doors from their secret resting-place was but the work of a moment, and then we were inside of the vault. There, exposed to our view, were various boxes containing the securities of the bank and of many of its customers who used this as a place of deposit for their valuables.

Taylor had told me where in the vault to find the box containing the sealed package. This box I at once broke open, took the package, and went to the toilet room off O’Kell’s office. In order to save time, the signal that I had arranged for the lookout man was made to work by a cord. One end of this cord was attached to the signal, the other end I carried with me as we went to the vault.

As soon as the vault was opened, I pulled the cord. As luck would have it, the signal was displaced just before the lookout passed, so that when I reached the window I had but a few moments to wait before he was back, and that part of the scheme was completed. Meanwhile, Shinburn had so fixed the lock of the front doors to the bank that it could not be opened without a locksmith, and we were free from fear of intrusion from that direction; at least until we should have time to relock the vault and get below.

From the toilet room I returned to Kohler’s office and proceeded to pass the tools up through the hole to Shinburn. This was no small undertaking, for the shutters of the bank had holes near the top which precluded our having a light in the president’s room. I had had to work the combination by the light of a cigar, and some of the tools were pretty heavy, the hydraulic jack alone weighing one hundred and twenty-five pounds.

All of the tools were wrapped in cloth to prevent clashing; yet it was ticklish business, lest they should strike against something and so make noise enough to be heard outside. At last they were all up without mishap, and I followed. Our next act after getting the tools into the vault was to close the doors and strike a light.

We then went to the various boxes and sorted their contents, taking such securities as were negotiable and putting them in a satchel. We found much jewelry, but did not take any. That was not our graft, and, besides, we felt that we would have a full load with the money and bonds. As we inspected them, we placed the boxes at the far end of the vault and when through with the last one we turned our attention to the tellers’ safes.

We commenced with the receiving teller’s safe, cutting a small opening directly over the lock bolts to enable their being pushed back. But the cutting, or drilling, of steel by hand is very slow and hard work, and it was not until eleven o’clock in the morning that the bolts were sprung and the doors of the safe opened. The contents of this safe were gone over and all that were negotiable were put in the satchel containing the other valuables, and the satchel let down into Kohler’s office, so that we might be sure of that much were we disturbed in our further work.

We then began upon the paying teller’s safe, which was much stronger and more difficult than the other. We tried our wedges, endeavoring to force them in with the jack, for we had worked so long and so hard without any nourishment that we were too fagged out for hard drilling. But the quarters were too close to work the jack, and we were forced to resume drilling.

When about halfway through the door, we were obliged to desist through sheer exhaustion. We therefore closed and locked the vault’s outer doors, repaired the front door lock, and crawled down into our office. In going down I pulled the president’s chair over the hole, put down the carpet as best I could, and replaced the section of the floor we had cut out; this we braced from below so that it could not give way if trodden upon.

We then took the satchel, the contents of which, now, were worth about a million and a half, and, watching our opportunity, slipped out into the street and made our way with our precious burden to Cortlandt Street ferry, where we found my carriage. Getting in, we started up-town, trusting to our outlook in the room opposite the bank to notify us if anything happened.

On arriving at my rooms, Shinburn and I washed off the grime, donned clean clothing throughout, and, leaving the satchel in a safe place, went out to recruit our wasted strength with a square meal. After satisfying the inner man, we paid a visit to Detective Jack McCord at his house in Amity Street, and told him what we had accomplished.

About seven o’clock in the evening we were driven back to the Astor House; from there we walked to the room where the lookout was. He reported that no one had entered the bank since our departure, but we could see the janitor and his wife sitting on the steps opposite. Feeling that they would remain there several hours, Shinburn and I returned to the Astor House, secured two rooms, and, giving orders to be called promptly at one o’clock, proceeded to get a much-needed rest.

The clerk forgot to call us until nearly two o’clock, when we hastened into our clothes and made for the bank. Here we were again delayed, and it was not until nearly three o’clock that we were able to get an opportunity to slip into our office unobserved. Lighting a cigar, I crawled up through the tunnel, followed by Shinburn. By cigar light I worked the combination, while Shinburn again put the front door lock out of kilter, and we were soon in the vault.

An inspection of the work that had yet to be done on the paying teller’s safe convinced us that we could not succeed by drilling in the short time left at our disposal, and that we must employ other means. Consequently we decided to call the fire department to our assistance. So I slipped across the street to the lookout, and told him to go, in about twenty minutes, to the window in the toilet room, watch for the signal, and as soon as he saw it to turn in a fire alarm. Then I went back to the bank, fortunately not having to wait my chance. Shinburn and I at once set to work with wedges and copper hammers to make a seam between the jamb and the door of the safe so that we could insert explosive. Finally everything was ready, the charge was connected with a battery which Shinburn held outside the vault, and the vault doors closed. I pulled the signal string and then we waited. By and by we heard the rumble and gongs of the fire carts; and just as an engine swept by the bank, Shinburn turned the switch, the charge went off, and as we returned to the vault, we found the safe door lying on the floor. We made short work of gathering the contents of the safe, which we crammed into the teller’s trunk kept there.

As we left the vault, I dropped a package containing two hundred thousand dollars in gold notes among the debris, where it was found later by the bank officials. This seeming carelessness on my part, and of which the daily press made much, picturing the chagrin the looters would feel when they learned of what they had left, was the fulfilment of a promise I had made to Taylor. He did not wish the bank to be forced into insolvency, and had insisted that this amount should be left in order to enable the bank to meet its clearing house obligations on the morning succeeding the robbery.

So, while it went against the grain to leave so much good money, as well as to have the reputation for such carelessness, yet I kept my word, and the bank met all its obligations that day.

We lowered the trunk through the tunnel and went down ourselves, having relocked the vault and taken the other steps to obliterate all signs of our mode of ingress. Shinburn remained in Kohler’s office, on guard over the trunk, while I went to the ferry where my carriage was to be.

When I reached the ferry-house, no carriage was to be seen. Minutes passed and still I waited in the greatest apprehension. It was nearly time for the bank janitor to come down, and my fears were wrought up to the highest pitch. I had about concluded to go back and chance taking the loot away by hand when the team came up. It had been delayed by the jam caused by the alarm of fire we had sent in.

With a great load lifted from my mind I jumped into the carriage and away we started. We drove to opposite the office door. I then went in and found Shinburn about as much wrought up as I had been. He told me that the janitor had already come down, and was, even then, in O’Kells office. This shows the nerve of the man. He could sit quietly in that office, awaiting my return, while the janitor might at any moment detect the robbery and give the alarm. Shinburn was certainly a very nervy man.

The presence of the janitor in the next office necessitated careful management on our part if we would get away undetected. We could hear him moving round in cleaning up the room. We got everything in readiness, and, when from the sound we judged that the janitor was where he could not see us as we left, slipped out quickly. The driver started the team and away we went, undetected, with the cashier’s trunk full of plunder.

We went directly to my apartments, sending the team back to the stable. Once in my rooms, we opened the trunk and counted its contents. The total amount of the two hauls was two million seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars, made up as follows:--

Cash $125,000 Cash left as per agreement 200,000 U. S. government bonds 1,475,000 Miscellaneous bonds, salable 100,000 Miscellaneous bonds, unsalable 850,000 ---------- Total $2,750,000

Thus was accomplished the greatest bank robbery on record, so far as the amount stolen was concerned. To preserve its existence, the bank, contrary to the usual method in such cases, gave out its loss as much _less_ than the actual amount. I believe it stated the amount stolen to be about two million dollars. This would be about right--taking out the miscellaneous bonds not salable.