and the stronger tribe was victorious. The slain were eaten, and the
prisoners were reserved to be killed whenever wanted. Among the latter
was Oklingee. The young chief had shown great courage in battle,
killing two of the fattest and tenderest warriors with his own hand,
and his people were consequently inclined to do the handsome thing by
him. Oklingee was old and lean, and the young chief easily persuaded
his people to let the patriarch live. The old fellow was gratified at
being saved from the hash-mill for the present, and asked the youth
what he could do for him.
“Give me the hand of your daughter” said the young man, respectfully.
“Certainly, my dear boy,” said Oklingee; “not only her hand, but her
entire self, provided you can find her. She has eloped, and I don’t
know where she is.”
“I will show you,” said the youth, as he led his prospective
father-in-law to his canoe, and seated him on a mat in the bottom.
Then he summoned his friends, and together they paddled their light
canoes in a gay procession over the water. Near the mouth of the
cavern they halted, and the chief jumped overboard.
[Sidenote: A CANNIBAL WEDDING.]
While all were wondering at his strange behavior, he reappeared with
his tawny princess at his side. Everybody was surprised, and the old
man gave the happy couple his blessing. The wedding was appointed
for the following Sunday; cards were issued to all the relatives,
the prisoners that had been held over were killed and roasted, and
everybody was happy.
XVII.
BURGLARS AND BURGLARIES.
REMARKABLE BURGLARIES.—UNDER GROUND FOR DISHONEST
PURPOSES.—WONDERFUL ADROITNESS OF BURGLARS.—A REMARKABLE
ROBBERY.—OCCUPATION OF A LAWYER’S OFFICE.—LABOR UNDER
DIFFICULTIES.—A TROUBLESOME POLICEMAN.—STRANGE SCENE IN COURT.—THE
CULPRIT’S REPLY.—ROBBERY BY COUNTERFEIT POLICEMEN.—THE OCEAN BANK
ROBBERY.—RAPID AND THOROUGH WORK.—AN ASTONISHED WATCHMAN.—BAFFLING
THE POLICE.
Labor underground may be performed for a bad, as well as for a good
purpose. It may be for dishonest gain, or it may be to secure a place
of concealment for stolen treasures, or for those who steal them. In
the performance of this kind of labor, men will frequently display
ability and enterprise sufficient to insure them a good living and
ultimate independence in an honest calling. They overcome obstacles
of great magnitude; constantly risk their lives and liberty, and
frequently fail to obtain any reward; their enterprises are hazardous;
and where they promise great returns, they very often fail to redeem
the promise. Men who plan great robberies frequently show the
qualities that would make them prominent in an honest pursuit; they
may spend half their lives in prison, when they might be honored
and respected if they chose to be so; but they deliberately decide
that honesty is not the best policy, and accept the career, which is
certain to cover them with dishonor.
Some years ago there was a skilful and successful robbery of a jewelry
store in Manchester, England. The store was entered between Saturday
afternoon and Monday morning; the safe was opened and goods to a great
value were taken; the occupants of the store had bought their safe
only a few months before; it had been warranted fire and burglar
proof, and they at once brought suit against the makers of the safe to
recover the value of the goods that were stolen.
When the trial came on, one of the counsel stated that a man, then in
prison for another offence, had acknowledged to a share in the robbery
of the jewellers. With the consent of both parties the man was brought
into court to testify to the robbery, and say how it was performed. As
he entered the room everybody became silent, and all eyes were turned
towards him.
[Sidenote: A BURGLAR ON THE WITNESS STAND.]
They had expected a low, mean-looking fellow, with the face of a
bull-dog, and the general appearance of a brute. Instead of such a
man, they saw one whose bearing was erect, and whose face denoted
intelligence. He took his place in the witness box, and when
everything was ready he began his story. He gave the history of the
robbery at length, and detailed each step of the proceedings. His
manner was captivating, and at times he displayed enthusiasm and
eloquence that would have fitted him for the position and honors of an
advocate.
“We watched the store for more than a month,” said he, “so as to learn
the habits of everybody around it. We found they shut up Saturday,
and no one went near the place till Monday morning, and so we fixed
on Saturday night and Sunday as the best time to work. There was a
lawyer’s office over the store, and the lawyer went away about three
o’clock in the afternoon, and didn’t come back till ten the next
morning. Sunday he didn’t come at all, and so we were sure of him.
“We went into his office every day for a week before we went to work;
but of course we didn’t touch anything. We laid out all our plans in
his office, and smoked his cigars, and I will do him the credit to
say they were excellent. As soon as he was gone that Saturday, we
went into his office, took up the carpet, and then lifted the boards
in the floor. We made a hole three feet square down to the laths and
plaster of the ceiling of the jewelry store. Then we waited till the
store was shut; and it hadn’t been shut five minutes before we had a
little hole in the ceiling large enough to push down a tightly closed
umbrella.
[Sidenote: NEW USE FOR AN UMBRELLA.]
“We got the umbrella down, and then opened it, so that it would catch
all the rubbish, and thus prevent our making any noise. When we were
ready to go into the store, we had to arrange things so as to work
systematically. We had laid all our plans for this beforehand.
“A gas-light was kept burning in the store, and there was a hole in
the shutter, so that anybody could look in. A policeman passed the
store once in every fifteen minutes; it was his duty to look in every
time, and I can say for him that he did his duty. The man who was to
work at the safe had to lie on his side in full view of the peep-hole;
but by rolling over twice he could get under a counter and be out of
sight.
“There were five of us in all. One was to work at the safe, with a
string tied to his toe. This string was held by a man who sat on
the edge of the hole in the lawyer’s office. Then a man was at the
lawyer’s window, and another was walking up and down the opposite side
of the street. The fifth man took turns at the safe, so that we should
lose no time in resting.
“When the policeman was coming, the man in the street made a signal to
the man at the lawyer’s window. This one signalled the fellow at the
hole, and pulled the string gently. The man at the safe then rolled
under the counter; he staid there till the policeman had looked in and
gone along, when the signals were repeated, and he rolled out and went
to work again.
“We lost five minutes out of every fifteen in this way, and at one
time we thought we should have to give up. We got into the safe,
though a little after midnight; and then it didn’t take long to empty
it of all we could carry. We were out of the store by one o’clock
Monday morning, and took an early train to London.”
The burglar then went on to give a description of the process of
opening a safe. He said that it was a rule with skilful burglars that
any safe could be opened, provided there was a place anywhere for the
insertion of a wedge. “If we can get a wedge in anywhere,” said he,
“the safe is bound to open, even though the first wedge is no thicker
than the blade of a knife.
[Sidenote: “BURGLAR PROOF SAFES.”]
“All we want besides proper tools is plenty of time, and there never
was a safe manufactured that cannot be opened if you give us time.”
He then described the advantages and disadvantages of the safes made
by different manufacturers.
“A’s safe can be opened by a skilful man in twenty hours; B’s in
fifteen hours; C’s in eleven hours; D’s in nine hours; and as for
E’s,” mentioning one that had recently come into notice, “we consider
it no more than an ordinary trunk, as we can open it in half an hour.
“There is no safe made that cannot be opened inside of thirty hours,
and if we can be sure of not being disturbed for that time, we are
certain of our game. Any safe will answer its purpose, provided the
intervals of visiting the place where it is kept are never so great as
the time required to open it.”
As the man finished his story, and was taken from the court to go
to prison, the judge asked him why he did not abandon burglary and
live honestly. “Your story,” said the judge, “shows that you possess
sufficient intelligence and ability to make you a master mechanic in a
very short time, and if you would lead a respectable life you could be
sure of a good living.”
The burglar turned to the judge, and replied with great earnestness,
“I am as proud of my profession as you are of yours, and have no
desire to leave it. I stand high in it, and the praise and admiration
of my associates are just as dear to me as the praise and admiration
of a shopful of mechanics would be to their master. Besides, we run
risks that mechanics do not; we must have the skill to baffle the
police, and save ourselves from arrest, while the mechanic needs
nothing of the kind. The greater our danger, the greater is the
respect shown to us; and one reason why we love our profession is,
because there is so much danger in it. And any skilful and experienced
burglar will tell you so.”
The man went back to prison to serve out his sentence for the crime of
which he was convicted. Doubtless the notoriety he had obtained by his
appearance in court was of great assistance in consoling him for his
imprisonment. He was proud of his accomplishments as a burglar, and
seemed to take his incarceration more as an honor than a disgrace.
In this country there have been several robberies of the higher sort,
such as entitle the perpetrators to great praise for their skill,
although it was shown in a bad cause. Among these may be included the
famous Philadelphia Bank robbery, a few years ago, where the burglars
actually informed the bank officers that an attempt was to be made
against them. They proceeded in this wise:—
[Sidenote: A WELL-PLANNED ROBBERY.]
One afternoon, a little before the close of business hours, a man
in the uniform of a policeman entered the bank and asked for the
cashier. On meeting that official, he stated that he had been sent
by the police captain of the precinct, whom he named, to warn them
that there was reason to suspect that an attempt would be made that
evening to rob the bank. He said an extra policeman would be detailed
to watch the bank, and another extra man would be placed on the beat.
The cashier thanked the man for the information, and told him to
give his compliments to the captain. The man then departed, and the
bank officers, after notifying their private watchman, closed the
establishment and went home.
Of course the private watchman was on the alert, and kept a sharp
lookout. About ten o’clock a policeman appeared, and asked if there
had been any suspicious movements around there. The watchman said
there had been none; and while they were talking another policeman
appeared, and joined them in conversation. The first was the extra to
watch the bank, and the second was the extra on the beat. The watchman
opened the door of the bank, and allowed them to enter, so that they
could see the approaching thieves without being seen.
[Illustration: THE PHILADELPHIA BANK ROBBERY.]
[Sidenote: AN UNHAPPY WATCHMAN.]
When the three were fairly inside, there was a sudden change in the
state of affairs. The door was closed, the watchman was knocked down,
bound, gagged, and carried to the president’s room, where he was
seated in a comfortable arm-chair. One of the men drew a pistol and
sat in front of him; the other opened the outer door, blew a small
whistle, and in a minute half a dozen men, as nearly as the watchman
could judge, entered the building. The door was closed behind them,
and the party went at work to open the safe.
Swiftly, and as silently as possible, their work was performed. The
watchman, from the place where he was bound, could not see, but he
could hear, and he knew they were at work with drills, blow-pipes,
wedges, and the other implements of the burglar’s trade. Hour after
hour passed, the watchman, bound and gagged, being guarded by his
vigilant keeper. In telling the story subsequently, he said he was
civilly treated by the man who guarded him. At his request the cords
that held his arms were loosened, and the gag in his mouth was placed
where it would least inconvenience him. Whenever he complained of
thirst, his keeper gave him a glass of water from a pitcher in the
room.
An hour or so before daylight the robbers opened the safe, and secured
their plunder. Hastily packing it into the bags that had contained
their tools, they departed, leaving their tools behind, and leaving
the watchman securely fastened in his chair. He was ordered not to
stir for an hour: bound as he was, he could not stir until some one
came to his assistance, so that the parting injunction of the thieves
was entirely superfluous. The amount of their plunder was never
positively made known to the public, but was understood to be not less
than two hundred thousand dollars—a very fair compensation for the
work of a single night.
[Sidenote: THE OCEAN BANK ROBBERY.]
Of the many successful bank robberies that have taken place on this
continent, the Ocean Bank burglary ranks among the foremost for
its ingenuity and skill, and for being a complete puzzle to the
most experienced detectives of the city of New York. Although an
investigation by the police authorities was begun within a few hours
after the discovery of the robbery, no clew was ever obtained, or, at
any rate, given to the public, of the perpetrators; and to this day
the whole matter has been involved in mystery, and probably will ever
remain so.
The maxim of war, that the reduction of every place, however strong,
is possible, must be equally true in the art of thievery. It is
evident that no vault can be made impregnable; no lock can be
contrived by human ingenuity, with all its mechanical appliances, that
will prove superior to other human ingenuity; no system of watching
can make property entirely safe against the patience and acuteness of
men who give good faculties to the science of stealing.
The premises occupied by the Ocean Bank were at the corner of
Greenwich and Fulton Streets, New York, a locality much frequented by
day and night. One would imagine that an attempt at robbery in this
locality must be detected very quickly, provided the policemen and the
watchers employed around the neighboring stores performed their duty.
The robbery occurred between one and three o’clock on the morning of
the 28th of June, 1869. It appears that there was no regular inside
watchman employed by the bank, but they had an out-door man employed
to watch the premises.
It is supposed that the robbery was planned many weeks before it took
place, and one or more persons familiar with the thorough workings
of the bank were suspected of being, to some extent at least,
participators in the enterprise.
The basement of the premises in question was occupied by a Mr.
William Okell, a gentleman well known in the city, and doing business
as a broker. Having more room than he required for carrying on his
business, he rented out several small offices for business purposes.
In the early part of June, a man giving the name of Charles K. Cole,
and representing himself as an agent for an insurance company in
Chicago, engaged one of these rooms; and to him is given the credit of
planning the robbery, in connection with others.
Immediately above the office rented to Cole was the president’s
private office, and through the ceiling of this office an entrance
was made sufficient to admit a man’s body. From the subsequent
examination by the detectives, it appears that holes were drilled
through this ceiling from above and below, as the Brussels carpet in
the president’s room contained no holes, which would not have been the
case had the drilling been done entirely from the basement.
It was urged by some that this drilling through the ceiling and large
beams must have occupied weeks, while other experienced officers
asserted that it could have been accomplished in a few hours. One of
the severed beams was four inches thick by fourteen in width. Some
believed that an entrance was effected through the side door, and that
the person or persons had a good knowledge of the employees, where the
safes were, the contents of the vault and safes, and the key to the
combination lock.
[Sidenote: A STARTLING DISCOVERY.]
The discovery of the robbery was made by the colored man up stairs, on
Monday morning, when he opened the bank, in his usual way, to clean
the offices. He detected a strong smell of powder, and went into the
rear office to find out the cause of it. There he was astonished at
the view which met his Ethiopian eyes.
On the floor of this office were the vaults and safes. Here he
observed several caps of different descriptions, six or eight in
number; overcoats, blouses, and overalls, such as are used by
machinists; oil-cloths, rubber shoes, saws, bits, awls, jack-screws,
drills, lanterns, and every other kind of implement used by expert
thieves. The instruments were gathered together and taken into the
possession of the police, and a cabinet of four hundred pieces was
made of them.
The vault and safes were found to have been broken open; United States
bonds were lying scattered about, as well as large quantities of coin
and currency, mixed with which were small wedges, railway bonds,
copper coin, augers, chisels, flasks of powder, any quantity of cigar
stumps, which showed that the burglars took the situation very coolly,
pieces of chilled iron, fuses, gold certificates, and other valuable
securities.
[Sidenote: FRIGHT OF A PORTER.]
Just outside the vault was placed a very heavy bag of gold, which
had been lifted out; but owing, probably, to its great weight, it
was abandoned. Tin boxes had been burst open and thrown in all
directions, as well as the securities which they had contained, and
everything betokened the utmost recklessness in ransacking the safes.
When all this disorder and chaos met the porter’s gaze, he became
half bewildered, and did not know how to act; he thought he might be
arrested for what had been done by others, and for a few minutes he
contemplated flight. He had been through the rooms at one o’clock A.
M., on the same morning, and found everything secure, so that it was
plain the robbery had been done in a very short time. He, at last,
raised an alarm that the bank had been entered, and in a short time
Captain Steers, of the twenty-seventh precinct, took possession of the
bank until the officers arrived.
When the robbery became known, the city was thrown into intense
excitement, as it was rumored that over one million of money and
securities had been stolen. The bank was quickly besieged by
depositors and other interested parties, together with the usual
assembly of curiosity-seekers. The depositors were perfectly
uncontrollable; and at one time it seemed that they were going to
lay hands on money, or securities, found outside the vault, and make
themselves secure against loss. The police, however, kept them at
bay, and kept them out of the building. At length the bank officials
appeared on the scene, in company with the bank’s legal adviser; and
after a short time they issued a statement that only about twenty
thousand dollars had been stolen.
This report kept down the excitement, but the depositors really did
not know whether they were safe, or utterly ruined. The detectives
took charge of the case, but, as stated at the outset, they were
unable to cope with the matured plans of the thieves, and did not
succeed in bringing any of them to the bar of justice.
[Sidenote: BLOWING OPEN A SAFE.]
The vault was in the president’s room, at the rear of the premises.
It was defended by an iron door, having a combination lock. This
door was blown open with the gunpowder which had attracted the
porter’s attention. The door being opened, everything in the safe was
accessible. The keys to the second door hung on the inside of the
one that had been thrust open by the action of the powder, and it is
hardly necessary to say that the thieves made good use of them.
The third door was forced open with a powerful screw, the force used
being sufficient to depress the floor under the door. Here were two
safes; one contained the securities of the depositors, and the other
the property of the bank.
The boxes of the depositors appeared to be the principal attraction
for the thieves, and paper securities were preferred to the gold which
stared them in the face. These boxes were completely overhauled,
and securities to the amount of about five hundred thousand dollars
were abstracted; one depositor having lost as much as fifty thousand
dollars, for which the bank was in no way responsible.
About thirty thousand dollars belonging to the bank, in checks and
currency, were stolen. The thieves overhauled some thirty thousand
dollars in Clearing House currency, which could have been negotiated,
as well as thirty thousand dollars in gold coin; but which they did
not touch.
The detectives went to work, and it was said that one or more of the
bank’s officials were suspected, and closely watched for some time
subsequent to the robbery. Two men, who were said to be the most
daring and accomplished bank thieves in the city, were suspected;
but no trace could be obtained of their having been seen near the
Ocean Bank. These men were supposed to have committed a robbery, just
previously, at the National Bank of New Windsor, of something like one
hundred thousand dollars. A number of expert English burglars had also
arrived a short time before the robbery, but nothing could be brought
against them.
On the third day after the burglary, a patrolman, in Elizabeth Street,
about three o’clock A. M., met two young lads whom he knew. Suspecting
they were up for no good at that hour of the morning, he spoke to
them. They informed him that there was a large trunk standing on
the sidewalk, opposite No. 8 Elizabeth Street. He went to the number
indicated, and there found the trunk, as they had described. On it was
a card directed to Captain Jourdan (late superintendent of police),
of the sixth ward. The trunk and the two boys were taken to the
station-house.
[Sidenote: SECURITIES RETURNED.]
When Captain Jourdan was summoned, and the trunk was opened, it was
found to contain unnegotiable securities, to the amount of three
hundred thousand dollars, which had been stolen from the Ocean Bank.
The property consisted of bonds, checks, securities, and currency,
together with legal documents, such as conveyances and mortgages; but
no clew could possibly be obtained as to the sender of the trunk.
The total loss sustained by the bank proved to be about twenty-five
thousand dollars, out of the bulk of the valuables and money stolen;
but as the property returned to Captain Jourdan principally belonged
to the depositors, their loss was estimated to be something near half
a million of dollars.
The various implements found at the bank were valued at two thousand
dollars, and were of the very finest finish; some of the pieces were
worth as much as two hundred dollars, and three hundred dollars each.
Altogether, it was one of the most skilful, ingenious, and
well-planned robberies ever committed in this country. The most
singular part of the robbery is that, although an outside watchman was
employed to guard the premises, no one was seen to enter the bank, or
the basement of the building; neither was any one seen to leave the
premises at any time of the night or morning when the robbery took
place.
XVIII.
THE EARLIEST EXCAVATIONS.
GRAVES AND THEIR CONSTRUCTION.—DIFFERENT MODES OF
BURIAL.—TOMBS.—THE MOST EXTENSIVE TOMBS.—OBJECT OF THE
PYRAMIDS OF EGYPT.—A VISIT TO THE GREAT PYRAMID AND ITS
DESCRIPTION.—DIFFICULTIES OF CLIMBING.—THE TOMBS OF THEBES.—A FAT
AMERICAN’S ADVENTURE.—ENTERING THE TOMB OF ASSASSEEF.—RECITING
POETRY UNDER DISADVANTAGES.—SWALLOWING A BAT.—JACK’S DISGUST.—FATE
OF A FAT MAN.—STUCK IN A PASSAGE-WAY.—HOW THE ARABS REMOVED HIM.