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20/02/2025
Every city needs a good bank robbery story, right?
The old Otago Savings Bank building is empty now, sitting next to the new offices on Queens Gardens. Look through the large window at ground level and you can see its 1860s plaster ceiling. You can also see a stage and stripper pole.
In 1890 it was the scene of a daring robbery - of the technique called the "call out." After long observation from outside, a well-dressed gentleman went in during lunch hour to get some change for a banknote. While he was being served, there was a knock at the side door. This was answered, and the second man appeared and said "Look at the filthy state of your premises. It's disgraceful."
"What's it got to do with you?"
"Come here and look for yourself."
Angered, the bank man followed him to look at the bank's toilet, then got rid of him with a few well-chosen words. When he got back to the counter, the cash draws had been cleaned out.
The two men, plus a third who was lookout, were not unknown to the police. They were tracked down through their laundry. A detective did the rounds of hotels and boarding houses, where shirts and collars were cleaned for guests, then the laundries themselves. At one, the detective found it had received laundry from three men whose descriptions fitted those of witnesses to the crime. Two of the three had given names which they had previously used as aliases. And they gave addresses.
Two were arrested but the third got away. One of the arrested had brutally attacked a woman in Paris during a burglary. He was sent to France to be imprisoned for life.
The bank moved to new premises in 1927. At some time since the facade was "modernised" and these days isn't looking its best. Hopefully restoration to its original design is in the future.
