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Cosmopolitan explosion was tak- en up by men employed by the bank itself under the eyes of the police. Gold in bags and out of bags was sifted out and returned to such places of storage as could be arranged for. The doors of the bank were closed temporarily. Of course, this caused a panic of a mild sort. The smaller depositors were loud in their clamor, insistent in their fight to gain admission. But the Federal authorities prevented anything being done by the people until the extent of the damage could be as- certained. Expert accountants were immediately set to work upon the books and the second day there was a rumor that less money had been taken than might be supposed. The same news arrived from Balti- more and Washington. The Baltimore bank was the first to make a definite report of its condition, and it claimed to have lost not over six thousand dol- lars, a trifling amount to so strong an institution. The third day the Philadelphia bank was reported to have lost only about eight thousand. In the evening word came from Washington that the Monument National had accounted for every cent except four thousand. But reports from Boston came more slowly. The newspapers were urging their correspondents to get some de- tails of the situation at all costs. They urged without effect. The authorities refused to give out any statements for publication. The police were mostly in the dark. The few detectives who knew were men who could be trusted to keep secrets. But when the other banks opened their doors and began business in rooms half repaired, the Boston North Harvard was placed in control of the comptroller of the currency. A cold million dollars, apparently all in bills of large denomination, had been taken. The bank was not in position to make the loss. The police situation was amazing. With every extra evening paper some new theory was aired to account for the inability of the forces of the four cities to solve the riddle. General alarms had been sent in all directions. There was not a city in the country that had not been notified to watch for suspicious characters. There was not a railroad station through which a man could pass with- out enduring the scrutiny of a dozen plain clothes men. There was not a steamer on which you could engage passage without having a secret inquiry made about your history. But these precautions had been pretty much neglected for the first twelve hours after the explosions, so far as the four cities in which the robberies had taken place were concerned. In those towns there had been such excitement, such hurried and strenuous efforts to prevent the robbers from leav- ing had occupied so large a portion of the police forces, that any number of crooks could have entered and hidden themselves. Too late the authorities realized that they had made a mistake in this course. Well enough do the police know that a big criminal can almost always get away from the town where the crime is committed. His great difficulty lies in attempting to enter another town. The Philadelphia police afforded an ample Illustration. The only chance they had for holding their man was that of catching him on the spot. Once away from the immediate surroundings, he could have taken a train for any- where. And they were forced to admit that he had ample opportunity for getting away from the surroundings while the officers on the beat were recovering from their shock, and before the arrival of any of the reserves.