CHAPTER XVIII.

_A Detective Reminiscence._--_An Operation in Bridgeport in 1866._--_The Adams Express Robbery._--_A Half Million of Dollars Stolen._--_Capture of the Thieves._--_One of the Princ.i.p.als Turns State's Evidence._--_Conviction and Punishment._

When a great crime has been committed the public mind experiences a sensation of horror. Imaginative persons are busy in the formation of all sorts of fancies with regard to the perpetrators. His probable appearance, gigantic proportions and horrible aspect are duly commented upon, and exaggeration invariably takes the place of fact in such estimations. In the majority of cases that have come under my notice the personal appearance of the criminal belied the possibility of his guilt.

The verdant spectator is frequently amazed to find the apparent gentleman, attired with the precision of the tailor's art, with immaculate linen, and of delicate, and sometimes refined appearance arraigned for the crime of robbery or murder.

Many times I have seen the eager spectator in a court-room, looking vainly among the group of lawyers before the bar, for the monster they have conjured up in their imaginations, and finally settling upon some sharp-featured, but unimpeachable attorney as the malefactor, indulge in wise reflections as to the impossibility of mistaking a rogue from his appearance.

I have seen their start of surprise as the real criminal, genteel, cool and gentlemanly, would rise from his seat and plead to the indictment that would be read to him, and their solemn shake of the head as their wise reflections were scattered to the winds.

My first experience with the town of Bridgeport was particularly suggestive of these reflections. I was engaged in a detective operation in which the Adams Express Company were the sufferers, having been robbed of a large amount of money, and, as the robbery took place in the vicinity of that city, the thieves, whom I succeeded in capturing, were confined in the jail there.

The affair occurred during the first week of January, 1866, and the facts were as follows:

On the night of the sixth of January, in the year just mentioned, the public mind was startled by the announcement that the Adams Express Company had been robbed of over a half million of dollars, by the thieves breaking into the car in which their valuables were placed, prying open the safes, and abstracting over six hundred thousand dollars, in notes, bonds and other valuable securities.

The train to which the car was attached had left New York for Boston at eight o' clock in the evening, and it was not until arriving at New Haven that the depredation was discovered.

The dismay of the company's officials may be imagined when, on entering the car at the latter place, the fractured safes met their astonished gaze. A marlin spike, three dark lanterns and a sledge hammer which lay beside them, told too plainly how the work had been accomplished, but it furnished no clue as to how, or when, or by whom.

The car was of the ordinary size of a box freight car, built with an iron frame, sheathed over with thick sheet iron plates, rivetted strongly together, and so closely made that a light placed inside could not be seen when the doors were closed. A messenger always accompanied this car, but he usually sat in the baggage car of the train, and as the train did not make any stoppages between New York and New Haven, it was only at this time that the theft was discovered by the entrance of the messenger.

It further appeared that the company's safes were taken from the depot in New York and placed in the iron car, which was waiting upon a side-track, and which was immediately afterwards attached to the train.

The safes having been placed in the car, the door was securely locked, and, as the train was then ready to start, the agent of the company gave the word "All right!" The train started and sped upon its journey, and nothing further was known until its arrival at New Haven and the discovery of the theft.

I was immediately notified of the matter, and after a careful observation of the safes and an investigation into the facts of the case, I thought I detected the handiwork of a party of young thieves whom I had accidentally encountered in another operation in which I had been engaged some months previously.

Operatives were immediately despatched in various directions, and the movements of the suspected parties were carefully but un.o.bservedly watched. Very soon after, I succeeded in running down two of the parties, named John Tristram and Thomas Clark, and upon arresting them each one had in his possession a gold watch, both of which were identified as stolen property. They were accordingly conveyed to Bridgeport and held to await their trial.

Mr. Wells, the genial and efficient keeper of the prison, whose acquaintance I had previously made, received the prisoners and securely fastened them up.

A few days following this, an old resident of Norwalk, who was also an uncle of one of the men arrested, was observed by one of my men, carrying a package of unusual weight from his residence to the house of a sister of Tristram in New York City, and an examination of the house resulted in finding nearly eighty seven thousand dollars of the stolen treasure. The old man was arrested, but developments proved too plainly that he was only acting as a mere blind messenger for the other parties, and he was accordingly discharged.

The trial of the two men, which subsequently took place at Bridgeport, was attended by a large array of New York burglars, shoplifters and pick-pockets--all friends of the criminals. They were closely watched, as it was feared that they intended making some attempt to rescue the prisoners. This precaution proved not to have been in vain, for during the sitting of the court an attempt was made to purloin an iron box in which most of the testimony intended for use in the case, was kept. This was fortunately discovered in time, and many of the individuals concerned in it left town immediately.

On the trial Tristram pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of three years and six months.

From the evidence upon the part of the company, it appeared that the money in the safes was in four separate pouches, and consisted mainly of currency belonging to banking inst.i.tutions, and all of which lacked the signatures of the bank officers to give it full character as money.

The amounts taken were as follows:

From the Washington Pouch, $278,000.00 From the Baltimore Pouch, 150,000.00 From the Philadelphia Pouch, 100,000.00 From the New York Pouch, 150,000.00 ---------- $678,000.00

The two watches that were found upon the prisoners and identified as stolen from the safes, were designed as gifts, and were being carried by the company for delivery to the friends of the givers in Boston.

Clark stood trial alone and was found guilty of only one count of the information against him, and his counsel obtained a stay of proceedings.

I was now determined to capture the other members of the gang, and my arrangements were made accordingly. I suspected an individual named James Wells as being a partic.i.p.ant in the robbery, and therefore made him the princ.i.p.al object of attack.

Wells was living at home with his mother at that time, and I succeeded in introducing one of my operatives into the house as a boarder. This operative cultivated the acquaintance of James, and proved a very agreeable companion indeed, while by the female members of the family he was regarded as one of the most pleasant boarders imaginable. The work was admirably accomplished, and he obtained all the information that was necessary to enable me to act intelligently and actively in the matter.

Prompt arrests followed, and Martin Allen, James Wells, Gilly McGloyn, Eddy Watson and John Grady were pounced upon and conveyed to prison.

Thus far the evidence obtained had been of a character sufficient to warrant an arrest, but hardly of convincing force to justify a conviction upon a trial by jury.

Most of the stolen property had been recovered, and I finally decided to make an onslaught upon the weak points of Clark, the man previously arrested, and now awaiting the new trial which had been granted in his case.

Accordingly I visited the jail and had an interview with this individual, who did not, at first, appear at all delighted with the visit. In a short time, however, I had gained entire control of the man, and he became like wax in my hands. He made a full confession of the robbery, and declared his readiness to become a witness for the prosecution. Having accomplished my purpose, I announced to the officers of the State my readiness to proceed to trial, and my sanguine hopes of a full conviction of the parties implicated.

The trial took place shortly afterwards in Danbury, and I do not remember ever to have seen a more gentlemanly-looking array of prisoners before a bar of justice.

They were all dressed in the most exquisite style, and deported themselves in a manner far from what would ordinarily be expected from men engaged in professional criminal pursuits.

During the trial the Court House was thronged by the fair s.e.x of Danbury, whose sympathetic hearts were profoundly touched at the sight of these gentlemanly-appearing rascals. The attendance was further augmented by the appearance of many of their friends, both male and female, who came from New York to witness the proceedings and offer their loving consolations to the unfortunates.

The alarm of these sympathetic friends reached a culminating point when the prosecuting attorney arose in his place and announced that he would place upon the stand one of the princ.i.p.als in the robbery, who would unfold the plot and its successful execution. Each prisoner looked at the other, and angry, suspicious glances flashed from the eyes of them all. Threats were whispered audibly among their friends, but no demonstration took place, and the silence in the court-room became painfully oppressive as the State's attorney, after finishing his address to the jury, called the name of Thomas Clark.

The prisoner took the stand, and, unabashed by the angry glances that were directed towards him, he told the story of the robbery in a plain, straightforward manner, that carried conviction to the minds of both judge and jury.

The testimony which he gave was as follows:

"My connection with this robbery commenced on or about the 20th of December last (1865), at which time I met Martin Allen at a saloon in New York City. It was on that occasion that he told me that his brother-in-law, James Wells, who resided in Brooklyn, had an acquaintance named Gilly McGloyn, and that Gilly had a brother-in-law named Grady, who was a brakeman on the express train of the New York and New Haven Railroad, which left New York at 8 o'clock in the evening. He also said that Grady wanted McGloyn to get somebody to help throw the safes out of that train. McGloyn went to Wells on purpose to inform him, and Wells told him of it, and Allen told me.

"The next day Allen, Wells, McGloyn and Grady met me at Lafayette Hall, on Broadway, about the 21st of December. At that time Grady exhibited a piece of soap which contained an impression of a key-hole in the lock of the Adams Express car. In the course of the conversation which ensued at that time, Grady said that there were two messengers who looked after the Adams Express cars alternately, one on each alternate night. He said that the most careless of the two messengers was named Moore, and that his evenings from New York were Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sat.u.r.days. Grady said he thought any one of those evenings would be the best to select for the purpose of committing the robbery.

"Some time afterward, on a night when Moore had charge of the express car, I got on the train at Forty-second street, and went into the smoking car. There was a man there busy making a fire in the stove, and in a few moments Grady came into the car, and in order to signalize to me who Moore was, slapped the man on the back, saying, 'Billy Moore, you don't know how to make a fire.'

"The place which I selected as the proper point for throwing off the safes was between Coscob Bridge and Stamford. I hit upon that spot for the purpose, because at that point the distance between stoppages was short, being only three miles from Coscob Bridge to Stamford. I left the train at Bridgeport, where I stopped at the Atlantic Hotel, near the depot, all night. I returned to New York by the 10 o'clock train next morning. I think it was the same day that the parties I have named had another meeting at Lafayette Hall.

"It was at that time we arranged a plan for getting the safes out at Forty-second street, where we got the size of the lock of the express car. Next day Allen and myself visited nearly every hardware store in New York for the purpose of purchasing a lock similar to that on the car. The nearest to it in appearance was found in a store on Howard street, between Crosby street and Broadway. We wanted this lock to put on the door of the car after breaking the other off. That same day Allen and Wells went to the same store and bought a sledge hammer. On the evening of the same day Allen went to Crowe's livery stable and hired a horse and a heavy express wagon.

"Some time before this Allen and I went to a blacksmith shop and had a piece of steel made into shape for the purpose of prying the lock off the car. No less than five efforts were made to take the safes off the car at Forty-second street, on nights when Moore was messenger. Next day after our last attempt Allen, McGloyn, Grady and myself met at Lafayette Hall and arranged to abandon the Forty-second street plan. Tristram, Hudson and McGuire were never present at our conferences at Lafayette Hall. I used to meet McGuire and tell him what had transpired, and he used to convey the intelligence to Tristram and Hudson.

"The new plan was that three of us were to secrete ourselves in the express car during its brief stay at Forty-second street, and the other five were to go in the pa.s.senger cars. We three were to throw off the safes after the train got over the Harlem Bridge. The five were to get out at the bridge. After the three had thrown off the safes they were to ring the bell, stop the train, get off and walk back till they met the others. They were then to take the safes to some convenient place, break them open, and pack the money and valuables in two valises which they had with them, and leave the safes there.

"On the night of the 6th of January last, the eight of us, Allen, Tristram, McGuire, Hudson, Wells, McGloyn, Grady and myself met by previous agreement, about seven o'clock, near the depot and Forty-second street. McGuire brought with him two carpet-bags, a marlin spike and a common mortising chisel. The others of us had a piece of steel, a lock, a sledge hammer and a dark lantern. Hudson, Grady, McGuire and myself got in between the express car and the freight train, and managed to break the lock with the marlin spike.

We then drew back the door and three of us, Grady, McGuire and myself, got in. Hudson then placed the lock in the staple outside, but not in the hasp, and then closed the door. This was to save appearances.

"We sat quietly until the train got in the tunnel, between New York and Harlem. We found three safes in the car. We got one of them over and tried to break in the bottom with the sledge hammer, but we found this would not work. We then took the marlin spike, drove it into the door of the safe and pried it open. McGuire held the spike and Grady and I knocked it in. Having packed the contents of this in a carpet-bag, we broke open another safe, the contents of which we also packed away. The reason we did not get out after pa.s.sing Harlem Bridge was because we discovered, after getting into the car, that the rope was in an iron tube, and that prevented our stopping the car.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "_We pried the safe open._"]