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 unobservedly 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 institutions, and all of which lacked the signatures of the bank officers to give it full character as money.
The amounts taken were as follows: