Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1868-04-15

Rocco's Confectionery En-
tered and Safe Blown
Open Last Night.
Nine Hundred and Sixty
Dollars I'm Money Eek.
tracted Thcrefr0m. q
No Glue TO the Perpetrators
Of the Outrage.

During the heavy thunder storm which
prevailed last night. the well known con-
fectionery Of B. Rocco, on the northeast
corner of Adams and Main streets, was
entered by burglars and the safe broken
open and robbed Of nine hundred and
fifty dollars in gold, silver and paper
money. The robbery was evidently
planned by parties well acquainted with
the establishment and the private affairs
of its occupant and the inclemency Of
the night, which was such as to drive the
most vigilant wstchman under shelter,
conspired 10 its successful execution.
An entrance was effected to the cellar or
basement of the building by pricing up
grating in the sidewalk, and thence the
burglars worked their way into the sales
room above by boring and saving out
hole in the floor overhead sufficiently
large to admit of their passage through.
Once in the salesroom, they broke
open the till under one Of the counters,
and riAed it of its contents, some ten
dollars, principally in fractional cur
rency, the proceeds of sales the evening
before. They then proceeded to the
more difficult task of entering the safe,
which was set into the wall to the rear OF
the salesroom, and just under the stair
way leading to the ice-cream room in
the second story. How they managed
to accomplish this was very apparent
from the appearance the safe presented
on the discovery of the robbery this
morning. A hole about half an
inch in diameter and two or more inches
deep was bored into the door just above
the lock and charged with powder, but
evidently on being ignited the charge
had blown out instead Of having the de-
sired effect of blowing off the lock. This
plan failing, hole about four inches in
diameter was cut in the cutter panel OF
the door, the filing removed and the in
terror casing likewise cut so as to admit
of the entrance of hand. Either by
chance, or as we have already sur
missed, from a prior knowledge Of
the lay of things, this, entrance
was made Immediately opposite the
drawer, in the interior of the safe, in
which Mr.. Rocco was in the habit of de.
posting his money, and from which the
burglarious party succeeded in extract
ing seventy-6ve dollars in gold, eighty
dollars in silver, and seven hundred and
ninety-fve dollars in paper acurrency-
The cutting of the iron casing OF the
safe was done by means Of drill and
cold chisel both of which, together with
saw, an auger, and heavy iron bar,
were left by the party, in max
ing off with their booty, and found
near the safe this morning. The
exact time of the robbery is
not known, though it is supposed
to have been accomplished during the
earlier hours of the night, when the pelt-
ing rain and deep peals of thunder would
have drowned any noise made by the
party in their operations. Mr.. Rocco
was sleeping with his family in apart
ments just over the salesroom, but heard
nothing, as he represents, going on below,
and knew nothing of his misfortune until
heppened his place for business as Gus
tomarily this morning. His suspicion of
having been robbed was first aroused by
discovering the hole cut in the floor. Mr..
Rocco's loss, including the damage to his
safe, cannot fall under $1,000. and the
robbery was certainly one Of the boldest
and most successfully executed that has
occurred in this city for years. The only
possible personal evidence of their visit
left by the burglarious party was an old
hat, found VITA siheir tools this morning,
and on this the supposition is based that
they were negroes.