Los Angeles herald., 1892-06-04
UNDER THE POSTOFF|ct VAULT,
Skillful Burglars Make a Dar-
ing Attempt
TO Get at $4,000 Worth Of Stock
and Coin.
The Attempt Frustrated by vigiiant Post
onaco Employees, but the Burg
lars Escape It Might
Have Succeeded.

nAv0 6uCCVOSAO>As
Last evening an attempt was made to
burglarine the postoface. 1t was plan
which, in daring and nerve, exceeded
anything Of the kind ever attempted in
the city. and that the burglars were not
caught is great misfortune. At about
10 O'Clock Tim Driscoll. who is in charge
of,the postofice at night, and the other
mail clerks plainly heard slight tap
ping. which appeared to come from the
vicinity Of the vault. The noise alarmed
the boys and Officer Martin was sum-
moned. He came in, and not wishing
to alarm the burglars, If such they
were, truck was rolled over the floor,
while the officer and Mr.. Driscoll got
close to the walls Of the
vaults and listened. They heard
the noise even more plainly
than before, while the truck was rolling.
1t sounded as If some one was pecking
away at q brick wall with some sharp
instrument. All finally became satisfied
that an attempt to dig out the vault
was being made.
The vault at the postofice stands on
the south side Of the building about half
way back from Broadway. It is very
large brick structure, the foundation of
which runs clear down to the bottom OF
the cellar. The walls are about two
feet thick, and the steel floor rests upon
brick. Inside the vault is burglar
proof safe. In the vault there
Is always large amount of stock in
stamps and stamped envelopes, amount
ing yesterday, 60 the registry clerk
says, to nearly 5000 900. Inside the safe
yesterday there was shout $4,000 in
coin. s&
The basement under the posto6ace is
divided into number Of rooms by par
titions. all unoccupied and filed more
by layers Of dust than anything else.
The access to the brick-work Of the
vault is by three or four places, which
are practically open to anyone who
chooses to,take little trouble.
After listening to the noise awhile
Officer Martin started to 60 down in the
basement BY the front stairway. He
did not take the precaution to
have the various avenues Of es-
cape guarded, and Mr.. Driscoil
pounded away with base bali bat on
: wooden partition. One Of the boards
was hanging by . nail, and was evil
IDENTIFY the point of entrance for the
burglars. OF course when the men
reached the vault through various par
titions and cubby holes. the birds had
doWx1szs.< -4.s-s y = ;t ~, =
Upon crawling through little hole
by the outside of the vault, Officer Mar
tin found where the men had been at
work, and one of their tools. an iron
stake about Eve feet long, around the
head OF which q strip of g shirt had
been wound to protect the hand.
Just about ct the bottom of the
vault the work had been going on.
Several bricks had been picked out
and in front Of the hole the dirt had
been heaped up to furnish seat for the
worker. His impress was found in the
dirt.
II was evidently the preliminary work
for week Of drilling into the rich
treasure. Itwas q work which the men,
who must be skillful crackamen. had
deliberately planned. The work OF re-
moving the bricks would have occupied
last night. Then the drilling would prob.
ably have been done in the daytime,
when the many noises around the post.
Office would have rendered the burglar
practically without fear Of discovery.
II would have taken them about
q week to drill through into the
vault. Their failure arose from using a
pick in getting out the brick, which
made the noise by which the attempt
was frustrated.
There are always men at work around
the postofice, and Mr.. Driscoll's vigil
ance in detecting the unusual noise is
deserving of great praise, especially
when no auspicion Of such an attempt
would be thought possible. It shows,
however, that access to the foundations
of the postoffice should be more care
fully guarded. Tt was only by the
merest chance that the burglars were
discovered at work. They had no other
tools with them last night, and they left
no ciae to establish their identity.