Ohio Cipher – the original incident?

Yes, we’re back in Ohio again, for the third post in a row. Bear with me, though, because I think you’ll quite like the ride… 🙂

The 28th June 1916 evening edition of the Lima Times-Democrat has a dramatic story about a Western Ohio Railway ticket agent being robbed. My guess is that this is the incident that the Ohio Cipher was to do with, although quite how (or why) is another matter entirely. This is what it said:-

BOLD ROBBER MAKES GET-A-WAY WITH W. O. CASH BOX

Follows Ticket Agent Shaw to Safe and Secures $265.

Walks Calmly Out of Office and Disappears on Elisabeth Street.

Local police so far have been unable get any trace of the bold robber who held up Harvey Shaw, ticket agent of the Western Ohio railroad, last night, and made away with the contents of the cash drawer, which contained $265. Although a good description of the thief was given [to] the police department, a careful search of the city has failed to reveal the fugitive.

So carefully was the robbery perpetrated, that not even the numerous employes and persons waiting for the last train were aware of the trouble, until Shaw ran out the front door of the station shortly after the departure of the thief and gave the alarm.

Persons who saw the man walk out of the station state that he did not seem to hurry. He went west on Market until he reached Elizabeth street and turned south. Immediately after the alarm pedestrians and persons in the waiting room assisted in searching for the thief in the rear of the Wheeler block. Police who responded to the call searched all the alleys and lots in the neighbourhood, but their efforts were unsuccessful.

According to Shaw he checked up the receipts of the day about 11:20 p.m. and placing the money in a tin box started downstairs to the basement where the safe is located. He claims that he was unaware that he was being followed until he heard footsteps behind him. On looking around he was confronted by a well-dressed stranger, who had been sitting in the waiting room.

The stranger told him not to make any out-cry and ordered that he continue on his way to the basement, using a large revolver to convince him that he meant business.

Shaw complied with the request, the thief following with the revolver pressed against the agent’s back.

When they reached the safe, Shaw was ordered to set the cash box down. The robber held his revolver in his right hand and transferred the cash to his pockets with his left hand. While performing the operation he did not take his eyes off the agent.

As the eyes of the thief were trailed along the barrel of the gun he was unable to see the denomination of the coins and paper money. When his fingers touched a coin that, from the size, appeared to be a penny, he remarked, “What kind of small change is this?” Without taking his eyes off the agent, he brought his hand up within range of his vision and seeing that it was a $5 gold piece he placed the remainder of the money in his pocket. With a curt order to Shaw to remain quiet, he backed up the stairway and walked quietly out of the door.

From the quiet and systematic manner in which the holdup was perpetrated, police are of the opinion that it was the work of a professional. However, it is clear that the stranger in some manner was informed as the locality of the safe and condition that would confront him in pulling the job. A description of the fugitive was sent to police departments of surrounding cities and towns.

Well! They don’t write ’em like that any more, do they? 😉

Update: according to a newspaper search on ancestry.com, the same robbery story was covered in the Marion Daily Star (28th June 1916), the Sandusky Star Journal (28th June 1916) and the Lancaster Daily Gazette (29th June 1916), but so far I have found coverage of the mysterious cipher follow-up only in the Lima Times-Democrat. Still, lots to check just yet…