THE YOKOHAMA BANK ROBBERS.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2038, 16 July 1875, Page 3

THE YOKOHAMA BANK ROBBERS.

FLIGHT OF THE THIEVES.

PUESUIt^SUiriDE OF THE DEFAULTERS.

Yokohama. i6th April, 1875. - Since yesterday (Monday) morning our cbffißiiiriityrtave/b^n. labouring imdej intenVe anH painf'urexcitcnient cau.e^ by a most startling Bobtojnr of the ■■" Comptoir d'Escomptc, wluch unhapmly ended "in two of the aceom■■SioeWho were both .members of that Lik,'^:, 4h» Cashier, a»d r^ub,Ao courilaWuiurderingHhemselve*; The following are some of the partieularsregarding tlmbornble .affair :— It appears that a man named Charles •Adds (who until recently managed a Billiard, Eoom t here) .bought a .threemasietf i Scfiobner |ca Ued : fh.e- jfltrp'for A-&er-"fla's.'fira%:clißiiged from the German to the English, and she cleared out from the Custom,, House and Consulate in the usual wayfor Manila, on Saturday morning the 17th instant, but owing -4o some, jinforeseen accident, ,she, AM nofe leave he* pncllorafee tmtit Monday; about 4a.m> About 10 o clock the^anio morning, from information received, the Manager of the •• Ccraiptoir went to Mr Contelli's (the Cashier of the Bank) house and enquire* for him, the servant said ContelH- had to' Yedo, the night previous. He "then went to mid Mr W S Swabey (the Sub-Accountant of the Bank), who was also absent. Finding in the interval .they had not put in an appearance at the office, the Manager proceeded to the "Oriental Bank*'; - where ftho.- duplicate - keys ot the "Comptoir's "Treasury were kept, and on counting the treasure therein it was discovered "that some &40.UU0 (Forty thousand dollars alone.in Kotes) had been stolen, ,but, how much. m%e.i]X dttier'com'it was'-impossible to estimate ■until theßooks were balanced—it being generally put clown.at $130,000 -although some think $500,000 'nearer the mark, however, I scarcely think it under §80,000. Immediately the §40,000 in Notes were missed, the Manager obtained warrants for the apprehension of Swabey and ContelH also of Adds and Captain Withers; the 'two"latter for aiding and abetting the escape of tl c two former. The" steamer Sea Gull was chartered to pursue the Iris, it having been pretty well ascertained that the runaways were en board'of her/and'whiclrvess&Kwas then (2 p.m. yesterday) about 25 or 30 miles down the-bay with little or no wind. At 2.15 p.m., the steamer Sea Gull left, having on board'a'Sub-Lieutenant and six blue jackets, armed with rifles and 12-p'ounder gun,' supplied from H.M.^. Tbaliaf (the steamer hoist* the, white ensign" with the St. George's Cross) the English constable also,went, asd Captain Pagden—the latter ■undertook to serve the.-.warrants on ■ Contelli, who was an Italian." All the afternoon and evening nothing else was talked about, except as to the probable result of the steamer catching the schooner. Wo all knew that Swabey; come what might, would never return to Yokohama ajire,'even> if the Sea Gull was successful, consequently the excitement was intense about. 11 p.m., when a steamer was reported as" coming in with some vessel in tow. Sure enough it turned out to be the Gea Gull with the 'Iris alongside. All were eager to hear the-result, and were shocked, beyond expression, on hearing the. horrible details. It seems that the Sea Gull lighted the Iris at about'five; in a dead calm, and those, on .board the, latter soon "'discovered* the"' steamer 'flying the British man-of-war ensign and having bine jackets on board. 'Swabey "'and Contelli were standing in the companion way leading to 1 the cabin, and directly the Sea Gull got alongside they suddenly went below and immediately two or three pistol shots were heard and a Chinese boy oam6 running up on'deck: and said "that two piecy gentlemen have makey die ! " The Captain told the second mate to go down and see what was the matter, and he found~'that J Swabey had shot himself through the heart, and Contelli throughthe brain, the ' former'- died in a few 1 seconds,. Contelli lingering until aearly midnight, when-he 'also died. A guard from the Thalia was placed on board during the night, and this morning the vessel was searched and §31,000, chiefly in gold, found in various places of the cabin, which, of course, has . been , taken charge of by the " Comptoir." Meantime a coroner's inquest was held on the body of Swnbey, (who was an Englishman) at the British Consulate, before Russell Eobertson, Esq., H.B.M. Consul. The Jury consisted of Mr Thompson (Oriental Bank,) Mr Glenme (Gilman &'Co.,) Mr Leckie.and Mr Hay. The Court-house was crammed vith foreigners and the Enquiry lasted from 2 30 to 6 p.m. when the verdict was given . of '* self-murder through the temptation ►, of the devil, in the face of God, and against the law of H.M. Queen Victoria." The manager of the Bank was the first to give evidence—and in reply he said Sw'abey never gave him the slightest cause to rouse any suspicion' as to his honesty ; the last time he saw Swabey was on Saturday afternoon'at about half-past two, when'the manager asked him if he would kindly close up the office—to which" he' replied " with pleasure." Adds came next and his evidence waa - very important, hot merely as to his knowledge about the death of the two unfortunate men, but as to how he became suddenly .possessed of §II,QOO to, buy "a schooner with. He had known Contelli a long time, and one day he, (Contelli) fold Adds 'that himself and Swabey had §40,000 or '??s^ooo between them —they had become tired of the monotonous life they were leading in', Yokohama, and wished to v buy a vessel to go about trading, &c.,'— would Adds buy a vessel and conduct the business generally on their behalf? iA few days after Adds ?aid t ", yes:" 'he wouTd 'do the needful for them. * Contelli told him" that $11,000 had been paid into'the Comptoir d'tfscompte to his Add's^credit.gaye him a cheque book and fold~ him he could draw for it in the usual way. "So matters g'raduallylprogressejl and your readers now know they ended" so far.' Then came Captains Wilhersr^and^l feel confident that hp had no more idea of the robbery having taken place" when he left the harbour on Monday morning, than readers of yours in Hong Koag had." He joined the vessel on Friday or Saturday morning-, and had never seen Swabey or Contelli, until -1 o'clock on Monday morning, when they came on deck and was introduced to them by Adds. They sailed-aloflg :quietly until s'or 6 p.m. wheA'the- ;§ea- Gul( ciime cjose 'td, and oil looking through his' glasses vfo' see who were onboard, he exclaimed, Halloa! There's something wrong here—she has

s;ot a Lieutei'iant and some " Bhio Jackets on board"—two minutes after he said this Swabey and Contelli (who had been standing in the companirvji viv) went bolow and shot themselves After the verdict was given, jWi- Harks solicitor for the bank, askcil that Adds and Captain Withers mi^ht ho remanded for a week—say to the 28th- instant—for receiving this money knowing it to have been stolen. Captain Withers asked if : they would admit him to bail—as it was casting a great slur upon his character in sending him to prison while 'ho was perfectly innocent. On Mr Eobertson asking Mr Marks if he had anj objection ito Captain Withers being admitted to ■bail, he said' he would prefer the nutter to be settled to-morrow as in ■the meantime he could confer with his'client, but he said he felt sorry for .Captain Withers and would see what could be done to-morrow ;'bs for Adds he said ho objected to accept^ail forJiim on ;any account whatever, and particularly ircquesjed that while in prison no one ! should- be allowed to see or speak to him except in the presence of an official. I Swabey was buried at "half-past 9 lo'cloek this evening " and Contelli at 6 , 'p.m. A great number of residents followed them to the grave. I In the course of tho Enquiry now pendiiug, .1 expect to hear some startling "rejvelations made—regarding Swabcy's difficulties—it is said that "private gambling houses " arc the principal causo ! but of this, you shall hear more in my next. ; Beyond this sad affair there is nothing else to write about— everybody seems particularly cut up about'it—and I feel eon■fident there is not a soul in the place but feels great regret afc the horrible sad end these two poor fellows have come to. They were well known —especially ;Swabc3vwho was about 34 or 35 years of age, and generally liked.