The evening light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1881-1883, 1882-12-22
4 SAFE BLOWN OPEN
BY Burglars at q. Ii. Franks Dry Goods
Establishment.
The Cracksmen Do Neat Job and Get
Away With Their Gopher.

in the store of G. b. Frank 4 Co. dealers in
dry goods, on Alamo plaza, opposite the
Mcnger hotel, shortly before daylight this
morning. All night long a policeman was in
the vicinity but the cracksnlcn escaped with
their Doodle. This policeman, Thomas Rife
was apprchcnsive of an attempt to commit
burglary but thought that it would be made at
Rischcs cigar store, which is situated opposite
the postotficc and three doors south of Frank 4
Co.'S establishment. Itischc'S store had been
undergoing alterations and repairs and the
rear of it was entirely open, the west wall hav
ing been removed. Before closing i'll the even
ing the most valuable articles were removed to
IL more safe place, but several hundred dollar ;
worth of goods were left exposed. TO guard
AGAINST their being stolen Mr.. RSche requested
Policeman Rife to watch the store and 1t was
while Mr. Rife was Watching 1t that the rob-
berry occurred in Franks.
Ref stated this morning that he examined
| the front of Rischc's store every fifteen min
utcs during the night and the rear every half
hour. But he went to breakfast about ten
minutes after q O'Clock and was gone some
time. 1t may have been during this interval
that RiSchr'S store was bllrgluriIcd for Il bnr-
ylury committed there, toO,-and i Nicer
challm pipe valued ut Sl2 and several pounds
of smoking tobacco stolen.
Rife thinks he saw two of the thieves, SO does
"A little sou of DrcSS the druggist. The
men suspected are young and wcil-,ircssed,
One is about ) feet . inches high, the other
about quarter of an inch shorter. The short
one is bow legged. Both wore dark Clothes
their coats tightly buttoncd, and no o>crcoats
They had Il ialInty, careless air. The boy
thought they were two gay young men who
had been out ON Il lark. Policeman Rife first
saw them near fruit stand al the south corner
Of Alamo plaza and Crockett street, the first
street north Of iiSchcs and Franks stores
w whey W Ric ap pH they d Se
their conversation. Rife suspected that
they intended to enter kischc's In or
der to watch them without giving
them an opportunity to watch him he stepped
into Lcricli saloon on the opposite corner ana
looked through Il side door. The men were
then sauntering along CrOc kctt street toward
I,,SOy;l the street back of the scene of the
burglary. Rife CHANGED to look ut the clock.
1t marked about ). Then he went to the front
of Risrhr's store and listened for some time
but he heard nothing. In gong to RlscheS he
passed Franks but in there all was quiet and It
light was dimly burning i'll the middle of the
room.
the two men mentioned, the shorter one
passed by. Rife was obscllrcd in the doorway
and as the moon was down there was little
light, yet the man, without bctrayng amy indi-
cation that he was following Rife, saw him.
carclcssly nodded to him and spoke. 'GOOd
morning, sir" said he. Good morning." re-
turned Rife. And then the man was gone
Rife waited till he had turned the corner OF
Alamo street and Commerce. then followed
him. When he arrived at the corner he saw
the man standing 1n few E yarhs east OF the the
licycs the man saw him, for soon
after he got i'll the corner the man started oven
the bridge toward the west. Rife returned to
itiScheS saw nothing suspicious, and then back
to the corner. He was walking from the cor
ncr to the bridge when he heart Il dull report
something similar to that mad" 10y the gun
fired every morning at the military post He
thOugM it was made by this gun, and so paid
no al tentiOn TO it. 1t vas really tie eAp.,.sion
in the safe at Frank n Co 5 store. \ fc"
minutes subsequently he learned Of the roD-
berry, but the thieves had He'd.
The report was heard by several hHckmen
who were ON the plaza i'll front OF the Mcngcr
was i'll the Office of the transfer conf
pany at Carter MuIlaly's stable just
north of the Mcnger, by Postmaster
Nnnn hng cS %"4 by He%t to s
sounded to them kca pstoi-shut and, think
ing that Il fight was occurring, they FASTENED
to Franks store. ON looking within they saw
"A lltIne i'll the middle of the room and smccd
burning cloth. Officer schwartz shouted
fire, and IL man on horseback heard him ana
rode 10 an engiuc-hol!sc where he began ring
ing the bell Bat ina few minutes he received
Il message 10y Telephone that the fire had been
cNtinguisrd and that the calling oi the depart
mcnt was unnecessary
Just after the man on horseback rode
away door of Franks establishment
was broken open. 1t WAS then seen that the
IiumcS proceeded from several bolts OF cloth
and some blankets lying ON the Sitfcand near it,
Ihe safe door had been blown OH and lay III
front of ii. Papers were scattered about, ana
signs of the explosion were on the high desk
ana the counter, which stood i'll front of the
safe and hid il from he view of persons at the
front door a lamp above still nIrkcred. n
| few feet away was Il sack of I-ccnt pieces,
amounting To some 81 OrS., which had been left
ny the burglars.
Distinguishing the lire was the work of but Il
few moments
Then an examination of the premises was
made but the cruckSmCm had left no cltw by
which their identity might he discovered. In
the lIOOr Oi Il StOrc-rOOm, back OF the store
| proprr was Il hole about Il foot ami half
SQUARE. This was evidently made lay boring
holes with an alIgIr. The boring was done 10y
some one acquainted with the architecture of
| The building for they were made close to Il
joint of the plankS.
The burglars, II Is Thought, cihcd over the
| fence on l.o~uyu street, back OF the store
| and then entered the cellar, the
door of wIiic!! was not kept closed. At the
place where they did the boring the
door OF the building Is within about
| { feet and II half of the ground, and therefore
the burg liars must nave stopped while III their
work. Near 10y is Il spot OF grease showing
that they had oiled the augIlr they USED. After
climbing through the hole II was an easy t;tSh
| 10 reach the safe unObSCrI cd. and WHEN there
| hey were hidden 10y Il counter ana Il large
desk. The hoe bored WAS small. 1t l. sup
posed that dynamite wa- Used as there not as
many stains Us EuupOwd rwOuld have lnduc.lp
d,gldcn the sound of the eN pOSIOn blankets and
bolts Of cloth were placed over the sale, anu
cloth W;tS laid on the OOr To receive the SAFE
door when II tell.
II Rirr'S. suspicion is wrli-fOund rUgarriin"
the two men. he r:Ild there must huNc been AT
it;l,t five men connected with the lob the two
Outsiders vino were piping the police, the NJ III
VINO used the au-pr, the director who held the
light hil,' the llU,r MaS being cut, ANA " the
luSt mall," whose duti it Is To stop barking,
examine the SIIrruIImding> To see that no one Is
ION To the lay and 10 he the last 70 leave
ina