The weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1891-1894, 1893-10-20
CRACKSMEN IN TOWN
They Come Near to Forcing an En-
trance t, the safe in the
Freight House.
Scared OH-COntents of the Safe Catch
Fire From the Explosive Pay
Checks Burned.

The safe blowers have reached town.
They made their presence known Mon
day night or early yesterday morning by
attempting to force open the safe in the
Great Northern freight depot. They
succeeded in badly shattering the door
by the use of an explosive but we're owl.
IDENTITY scared away before completing
their nefarious work, as they did not
succeed in getting at the contents Of the
safe. The explosive, however, ignited
the combustible material inside totally
destroying the same. The pay checks
for this point which had not been called
for. amounting to about $4,000, and
many valuable papers were reduced to
ashes.
The deed was discovered by Ole Os-
borne, the warehouse man, when he
opened the Office about seven o'clock
yesterday morning. He saw smoke issu-
ing from a hole in the safe and noticing
the tools ON the floor ne realized that
safe blowers had been at work. lie ran
up to the Ulm house and notified Joe
Cnenevert, car accountant. and then
turned in a fire alarm. The safe was
flooded with water and then the work of
prying off the door was commenced in
the presence Of Agent Kelly, Superin-
tendent jerks, Auditor Pheeny. Acting
Cashier Coulton and others. The com
bination had been entirely ruined by the
force of the blast which the burg
lars had inserted in a hole they had
bored close TO the safe handle. The
hinges were found to be weakened and
in fact the whole door looked as though
it had bcen cannonaded. When it was
pryed Off the spectators fell back aghast
at the sight before them. The books,
papers and valuable p~ay-checks were
completely inCinerated. Everything OF
a combustiblo nature was found reduced
to the merest ashes. The safes contents
could not have been more completely
ruined had they been thrown in a blazing
furnace.
\ reliable estimate places the amount
of the burned checks at $4,000, these
can of course be duplicated, bat it will
Ibuullt Il ilOllIl VI IlUIt " lO So, WHICH
will work a great hardship on many Of
the men affected. There is no record of
the number Of checks issued as the pay
roll vas also destroyed, The cashier
had cashed about s2,l00 of the checks
that had issued, and they too went up
in smoke. Agent Kelly and Cashier IT.
win had private boxes in the safe con
tanning valuable personal papers. They
lost everything. About so in specie
was all that passed through the fiery or
deal uninjured. 1t could not be learned
whether any bank bills were lost.
The burglars entered the office by
forcing one of the windows. They left
by passing through the warehouse. The
tools they left behind consisted Of Il
Coupling-pin. a chisel, marked AZ. Reed
a metal augoT. and d tCn-poI nd sledge
hammer. \ red handkerchief, which
one Of the burglars had EVIDENTLY tied
around his head while at work on the
safe, was also found on the floor. The
general appearance of the "k't' Of tools
left would indicate that the burglars
were not professionals. though it is bare
~ possibly they used better implements
which they took with them. The name
on the chisel and the handkerchief found
may assist the authorities in ferreting
out the criminals. Detective Germ 1t
working hard on the case. Severa
Great Northern detectives are expected
from the east in "a day or SO.
j. J. OMahony, a night carchcckcr, is
some times in the freight house for al
hour or So during the evening but Mon.
day night he was busy on the West side
all night. Cashier Irwin who is on the
eve of leaving for a vacation and acting
Cashier Coulton were working in the
Office until ll:hO p. IN, So the burglars
must have been at work between mid
night and the time in the morning whcI
they were frightened OH, which coul
not have been long before Osborne's ar
rival. The explosive used was probabl.
dynamite as the hole drilled in the dool
could not have held powder enough TO t
so much damage, In tho warehouse 1
partly drained keg of beer indicated tina
the safe-b.owers drank freely while the.
worked. So far rs known they did no
modest anything else in the warehouse.