On January 9, 1921, the Newton Gang drove into Hondo, Texas, a small city 30 miles west of San Antonio, to rob one of many two banks on the town. It was simply previous midnight and the temperature was close to freezing.
The Newtons knew the night time watchman in Hondo, and as was his behavior, they discovered him huddled round a pot-bellied range within the depot. They minimize all the phone wires after which went again to verify on the night time watchman. He had not budged from his spot by the range so Joe was positioned throughout the road as a lookout whereas the remainder went to the bank.
In his 1979 interview, Willis proudly informed his model of the story:
“Someday you simply get fortunate ‘trigger that they had left the vault door open. That they had left it unlocked so we did not want no nitro or nothing. We jimmied the window, walked over to the vault, tried the deal with and she or he opened! You’ll be stunned what number of instances them banks would simply shut the door so it appeared locked through the night time.
“We had the vault cleaned out very quickly and went to see if the night time watchman was nonetheless within the depot. Positive sufficient, he was studying {a magazine} and consuming espresso by the range. Nicely hell, we figured we had loads of time so we might go over to the opposite bank and provides it a attempt. I stored Joe and Doc watching the night time marshal whereas Jess and I went all the way down to the opposite bank.
“We received inside that bank and cleaned it out. Rattling, two banks in a single night time and the night time marshal, he by no means come out of the depot!”
The native newspaper, the Hondo Anvil Herald, carried the story with a splash headline:
Yeggs Rob Hondo Banks
One of many Most Daring Robberies Ever Staged in Texas Occurred Right here Sunday Morning
The folks of Hondo have been amazed and angered Sunday morning when it grew to become recognized that each banks had been entered by yeggs, between midnight and daylight, and robbed of each cash and valuables. Entrance to the First Nationwide Bank was effected by forcing the entrance doorways; whereas the doorway to the State Bank was effected by prizing down the bars over the past window within the alley between Parker’s and the bank.
The newspaper went on to present an elaborate description of the theft:
Owing to a lot of the cash in each banks being within the cash safes, with time locks set, the loss in money was not critical, the First Nationwide dropping a complete of $2,814 whereas within the matter of precise money loss the State Bank was a little bit extra lucky, its loss being $1,879; each banks dropping a complete of $4,694 almost all of which was silver coin.
The funds of each banks have been coated by housebreaking insurance coverage, consequently neither will undergo loss. [Just like Willis had assured his brothers.]
Homeowners of personal containers, who had put their valuables within the vaults of the banks, are the heaviest losers, and their precise loss won’t be positively recognized for some time-probably a month-as the house owners of the containers are the one ones who can clear up the loss, the officers of the banks not being suggested of the contents of the containers.
The safety deposit field house owners had money, authorities bonds, Conflict Financial savings Stamps, jewellery, and different valuables of their containers so it was inconceivable to find out the precise quantity taken within the theft. Estimates of as excessive as $30,000 have been by no means confirmed.
The article continued to explain the “protected consultants:’
… That the robbers have been consultants is borne out by the truth that they have been capable of work the mixture on the vault of the First Nationwide Bank. [Willis said it was left unlocked.] They have been additionally consultants in using explosive, the vault doorways of the State Bank being blown open by one of the highly effective explosives known-TNT [ Willis swore in his interview that he never used dynamite-only nitroglycerine.]
The vaults have been completely ransacked and the flooring have been strewn with papers about two toes thick.
From the thoroughness with which the robbers made their seek for securities it’s evident that they spent two hours or extra within the vaults of the banks and the non-public containers of the purchasers are in a tragic plight, most of them displaying that they have been beat open by some heavy instrument, in all probability with a sledgehammer that had been stolen from the blacksmith store of Mask & Co.
… That the robbers have been no tyros (archaic phrase that means newbies) within the enterprise of robbing is once more borne out by the truth that they took each precaution towards being apprehended by the possession of knickknack, gold cash, and so forth, which could result in their id. The flooring of the vaults have been actually strewn with such articles as would possibly result in their detection. Notes and different articles of worth that might not be changed into cash have been forged apart and left behind.
It’s usually believed that the band was composed of from six to eight men, and that each banks have been robbed concurrently, a gang being assigned to every bank.
One other circumstance that signifies that the robbers weren’t new to the sport of bank robbing is borne out by the truth that each phone line on the town was minimize, apparently, earlier than the banks have been robbed. And this a part of their plans was carried out most successfully and by an professional phone man.
… Cables have been severed, apparently with saws, and single wires have been minimize with wire clippers. Solely three telephones related with the native change have been working Sunday morning.
The theft was found by the night time watchman about 5 o’clock Sunday morning and instantly reported to Deputy Sheriff C.J. Bless.
… Harry Crouch, our native telegraph operator, was summonsed and messages have been despatched east and west in an effort to intercept the robbers, however so far as most people is suggested, nothing was discovered as to the path through which the robbers went.
Detectives from San Antonio and the encompassing space converged on the Hondo banks looking for clues to the duel-heist theft.
… One of the vital exceptional coincidences of this complete enterprise is that these robberies may have occurred proper within the coronary heart of the city and less than 200 toes aside, and never one amongst our folks being any the wiser till daylight it was revealed what had transpired, and that too, it was since developed that the night time watchman and the 2 different men have been within the ready room of the depot, no more than sixty yards from the entrance doorways of the First Nationwide Bank, whereas the theft was being completed. The robbers should have carried out their work very silently to keep away from detection. [It is hard to image a “silent” explosion of nitroglycerine.]
The phrase the newspaper used for the night time burglars was “yeggs,” a well-liked vernacular expression of the period. It’s fascinating to check the newspaper reporting to Willis’ account through which the vault of the First Nationwide Bank had been left unlocked and so they used nitroglycerine (quite than TNT) to blow the vault door on the State Bank. Much more fascinating was the very fact that there have been no observe up articles on the theft. There was not a single point out of the multi-bank housebreaking over the following months-although it contained giant ads from each banks. It was as if each banks had by no means been robbed.
The Galveston Day by day Information on January 10 reported the theft describing a “clew” that proved to be a pink herring:
Robber Heel Might Result in Arrest
Phone Connections Reduce When Banks at Hondo Are Looted
San Antonio, Texas-January 10-A rubber heel, misplaced from a shoe, might result in the identification of the bank robbers who made a profitable haul of $20,000 from the First Nationwide Bank of Hondo and the Hondo State Bank early Sunday morning.
The bank robbers gained entrance to the 2 banks by prying the iron bars free from rear home windows of the buildings and manipulating the mixtures of the vault within the First Nationwide Bank, however blew off the door of the vault within the state bank.
The haul was constituted of the safety deposit containers in each banks, the robbers acquiring solely $1,500 in money from the First Nationwide and $29,350 of the state bank’s cash. The smaller vault safes in each establishments have been untouched.
The steadiness of the loot, it’s estimated by officers on the two banks, was secured from house owners of safety deposit containers within the banks. Hondo was not conscious of the go to of the bank robbers till nearly midday Sunday, when the open home windows on the rear of the 2 bank buildings have been found cms자동이체.
Heel misplaced in bank.
Sheriff J.S. Baden, throughout his investigation was given the misplaced rubber heel, which had been present in entrance of the vault of the First Nationwide Bank. Additional investigation disclosed a set of burglar instruments consisting of a pipe wrench, noticed, and chisel, which had been left by the robbers. These nevertheless aren’t thought of as essential for they’re of a normal make, simply bought at any ironmongery store.
Simply exterior of the window by way of which the robbers entered the state bank, Sheriff Baden discovered the numerals 13,555 scratched on the brick work. This, bank officers imagine, signifies the quantity the robbers secured from the deposit containers within the bank. [This curious piece of information appears to have been just another “red herring.”]
Sheriff Baden believes the robberies have been dedicated by a band of six men, who despatched an advance guard of two into Hondo final week.
… Hondo residents, who have been up at an early hour Sunday morning, reported to the Sheriff that they noticed a high-powered car leaving the outskirts of city occupied by six men. These, the Sheriff believes, have been the Hondo robbers.
[Ironically] Sheriff Baden suffered a loss by the early morning go to of the robbers, as his safety deposit field within the First Nationwide Bank was damaged open and $300 in stamps and $150 in bonds have been taken. A $100 Liberty bond, the property of his son O.J. Baden, of Donna, was left within the field.
In light of the misguided “clews’, the Newtons have been by no means tried for the Hondo bank robberies.
Willis Newton was born in 1889 and died in 1979, making him the longest residing Texas outlaw. He and the Newton Gang hit trains and banks within the early Nineteen Twenties however their largest haul occurred in 1924 once they robbed a practice exterior of Rondout, Illinois-getting away with $3,000,000. They nonetheless maintain the report for the largest practice theft in U.S. historical past.