Burglars' Tricks Upon Burglars

by Allan Pinkerton

Criminals not only are very ingenious in their schemes against the general public, but they frequently show considerable skill and a certain grade of quiet humor in well-laid plans against each other. 

An instance of the kind happened in this wise: 

In 1875, Scott and Dunlap—the famous bank robbers who robbed the Northampton National Bank of nearly a million dollars, and who are now behind the bars of the penitentiary of that State, through the efforts of my Agencies—had laid their plans to rob a certain uptown New York city bank. 

George Miles, alias Bliss, alias White, the notorious Max Shinburne’s old partner, and his party were concocting a like operation for relieving a downtown bank of its capital. 

Now it was found by the Miles party that both banks were to be robbed in like manner, by that very popular method of “bank-bursting,” which consists of renting a room or rooms above those occupied by a bank, and then, if possible, tunneling through into its vaults or into the bank offices, and then breaking into the vaults in the regular manner. 

Miles saw that, if the Scott-Dunlap gang should happen to first complete their job, the publicity given the method employed would set every bank officer in New York investigating the possibility of a like misfortune, and thus defeat his own purpose. He accordingly took two of his men, who were wholly unknown to the other party, provided them with complete police uniforms and clubs, and, at a suitable time after nightfall, stationed them in hiding behind the uptown bank, and when the members of the Scott-Dunlap party approached the building “to pipe it off,” or take observations, they were of course recognized by Miles’ policemen, who drove them away. 

The Scott-Dunlap party were now in utter consternation. They felt certain that their scheme had been discovered, or at least that the officers of the bank had had their suspicions in some manner awakened, and certainly to that extent which would make their project impossible. 

To put the matter to further test, on the succeeding night other of their men were instructed to “pipe off” the place still more cautiously. But these too were discovered by Miles’ vigilant but bogus police, given chase to, and unmercifully clubbed. 

This delayed matters with Scott and Dunlap until Miles and his party, the chief members of which consisted of George Miles, “Pete” Curly, and “Sam” Perris, alias “Wooster Sam,” got everything ready for their attack on the downtown bank, which was located within one block of the First District police-station and within the same distance of my New York office, at No. 66 Exchange Place. 

In the meantime, it is thought, the Scott-Dunlap party had learned of the downtown scheme, and caused information to be given, and before the Miles party had got fairly at work they were pounced upon by the police. 

A lively fight ensued, and, although considerable shooting was done, the entire party of burglars escaped, so that two great bank burglaries, where very probably hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and bonds would have been secured, were prevented through nothing more or less than what was hoped to be a very excellent trick by one notorious set of rogues upon another.