Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1881-03-08
DARING BURGLARY.


DARING BURGLARY.
LANES STORE AGAIN VISITED.
Unsuccessful Attempt to Force tho Vault
burglars are Discovered.
and Escape.
Many of our readers will remember the
unsuccessful attempt to break into and
rob Lanes store, ON East King street,
two or three months ago. Last night an
other and more successful attempt was
made, but tho burglars failed to get all
they were after, securing only about go
from the till and leaving behind them their
tools.
The burglary was 4 deeply planned one.
and appears to have been committed by
men we'll acquainted with the outside sur
rOundings OF the establishment, but
ignorant of the inside arrangements. An
entrance was effected through tho trap
door of the roof, and to get there the bur-
glers had to break into another building
several doors cast, and ascend to the roof,
and pass over several other roofs before
arriving at Lane's. They appear
to have first made an attempt to
break open the front stairway door Of
COyle's building, as there are marks of
their tools on the outside Of the door.
Failing in this they appear to have passed
to the rear Of the building, climbed q
fence, entered the yard in the rear,
and climbed up the Lightning rod
to small window opening upon
the stairway, through which they en-
tered. Descending to the foot of the
stairs, they unscrewed the hasp whil b
held the bolt of the inside lock and took
off the nuts from the staple that passed
through the door and to which ON the out
side was placed 4 heavy paddock. These
nuts being removed enabled the burglars
to pull the door open from the inside.
They then put a slight fastening to tho
Inside Of the door, which could be readily
removed. All this work was dOno at
COyle . t. afford them means of exit in
case they were discovered while working
at Lanes. Placing guard inside OF
Coyle's front stairway door, the burglars
proper assembled three or four flights Of
stairs, to the attic, opened the trap
door in the roof. passed over
the roofs of Coy;e's, Cables and HOff-
meier's buildings-all the roofs being flat
and nearly on \ level-and attacked the
trap door OH tho roof of Lanes building.
1t was secured OH the inside with staples
and hooks. and on tho outside was covered
with tin. Tearing off part of the tin,
several holes were bored through the door.
and a piece of it removed, large enough to
admit a mans arm. The fastenings on tho
inside were then easily removed. But
here the thieves encountered another
difficulty; 1T tho head Of the stairway
below the trap door is another door that
sides horizontally just under the ceiling
Of the upper floor. Not knowing that
this was a sliding door tho burglars bored
several holes through it in hopes Of find
ing the fastening. Evidently by accident
they discovered that it would slide, and
they pushed it back. They were now in
the attic Of the building and had no
trouble to pass down the four flights of
stairs to the principal store room. In
drawer in the cashiers desk was a little
over $50. The drawcfeWas locked and the
key placed under box in an adjoining
drawer. One Of the thieves found the key,
unlocked the drawer, appropriated tho
money, relocked the drawer and replaced
the key under the box! Several other
drawers were opened, but nothing of value
is missed. Meantime the boss burglar was
working vigorously ut the vault, within
which is the safe, wherein he supposed
was piles OF plumber. The vault is of solid
brick masonry, AMI has wrou yht iron door
secured by strong and heavy lock. This
door and the brick masonry alongside tOf
it is hacked and cut and battered, but the
burglars were alarmed before they got it
opened. Even if they had opened it they
would have found still stronger door in.
side, and in the vault a burglar proof safe
that would have troubled them to open
Near o'clock this morning Private
Waterman II. NJ. Erisman heard sounds
of hammering in the vicinity of Lanes, but
could see nothing amiss. At COyle's he
thought he heard whispering and shuffling
of feet, followed by the words "Stand
still" Going up to the door he found it
fastened, but, thinking that perhaps some
Of the family wero up, he knocked and
called out. "Is that You, John?" Imme-
dia.ely he heard a scamDering Of feet on
the stairway, tho bur glars guard evident'y
running up stairs and over the roof to give
the alarm to their pals at Lanes. Mr..
Erisman, satisfied that the burglars were
in Coyle's, walked up George H. Miller,
whose restaurant is near by, and they to-
gether ran to Coyle's, walked up John A.
COyle, esq.,, and made an examination of the.
premises. No thieves were discovered.
Meantime the thieves at Lanes store had
taken alarm, ran up four fights of stairs,
got upon the roof, and as their retreat by
way of COyle's was cut off, they forced
open atrap on the roof Of HOffm Q O. = bu IL
ing, descended through it to the base
ment, and made their exit undiscovered
through an alley in rear of Miller's res
taurant,
AS the examination made at COyle's
showed nothing amiss, those who made it
thought they had been mistaken and it
was not until Mr.. Bricker, of Lanes store,
opened the establishment at a later hour
that the nature or the burglary was dis
covered. When first alarmed the burglars
evidently attempted to make their exit
through the rear of Lanes store. They
unlocked the inside back door, but did not
know how to open the combination bolts
of the outside door, hence the necessity for
their roundabout means of escape.
At later hour this morning a heavy
steel jimmy fashioned with . hook at one
end and flattened and sharpened as cold
chisel at the other, was found secreted in
a drawer under one of the counters Of
and brace and bit for boring through
One of tho drawers ransacked by tho
thieves and in which nothing of valr.e
was found had 5000 in gold lying in it for
several days but yesterday Mr.. Marks do
posted in the bank.
Several Of the East King street mer.
chants suspect that the burglars may have
become acquainted with the roofs from
having secured employment in assisting