[Sidenote: FRIGHT OF A PORTER.] Just outside the vault was placed a very heavy bag of gold, which had been lifted out; but owing, probably, to its great weight, it was abandoned. Tin boxes had been burst open and thrown in all directions, as well as the securities which they had contained, and everything betokened the utmost recklessness in ransacking the safes. When all this disorder and chaos met the porter’s gaze, he became half bewildered, and did not know how to act; he thought he might be arrested for what had been done by others, and for a few minutes he contemplated flight. He had been through the rooms at one o’clock A. M., on the same morning, and found everything secure, so that it was plain the robbery had been done in a very short time. He, at last, raised an alarm that the bank had been entered, and in a short time Captain Steers, of the twenty-seventh precinct, took possession of the bank until the officers arrived. When the robbery became known, the city was thrown into intense excitement, as it was rumored that over one million of money and securities had been stolen. The bank was quickly besieged by depositors and other interested parties, together with the usual assembly of curiosity-seekers. The depositors were perfectly uncontrollable; and at one time it seemed that they were going to lay hands on money, or securities, found outside the vault, and make themselves secure against loss. The police, however, kept them at bay, and kept them out of the building. At length the bank officials appeared on the scene, in company with the bank’s legal adviser; and after a short time they issued a statement that only about twenty thousand dollars had been stolen. This report kept down the excitement, but the depositors really did not know whether they were safe, or utterly ruined. The detectives took charge of the case, but, as stated at the outset, they were unable to cope with the matured plans of the thieves, and did not succeed in bringing any of them to the bar of justice. [Sidenote: BLOWING OPEN A SAFE.] The vault was in the president’s room, at the rear of the premises. It was defended by an iron door, having a combination lock. This door was blown open with the gunpowder which had attracted the porter’s attention. The door being opened, everything in the safe was accessible. The keys to the second door hung on the inside of the one that had been thrust open by the action of the powder, and it is hardly necessary to say that the thieves made good use of them. The third door was forced open with a powerful screw, the force used being sufficient to depress the floor under the door. Here were two safes; one contained the securities of the depositors, and the other the property of the bank.