The San Francisco call., 1896-01-21
NEW DAYBREAK BURGLARS
Montgomery & Co.'S Grocery-Store
Robbed of Much Valu-
able Produce.
HAULED OFF IN A WAGON.
The Neighborhood of Third and How
ard Terrorized-Looking for a
Peddlers' Fence.
HAULED OFF IN A WAGON.

Quite new. if not entirely original,
brand of thief and housebreaker has
broken out in the Mission district. He
comes in the early morning, with horse
and wagon, ana prizes open the front door
and calmly helps himself to whatever is
at hand. He makes speciality of grocery
stores, and he usually has several confeder-
ates.
He operated to considerable extent last
Saturday morning, between and o'clock,
on the grocery-store of Montgomery & Co.,
at 118 Third street.
The robbers broke in the front door with
Jimmy and then hauled off lot of hams,
several boxes of butter, sacks of coffee,
boxes of tea, canned goods, honey and
numerous other articles. Aside from this
they opened the cash-register and took all
the small coin it contained. This was less
than $50. In opening the front door the
burglars broke a plate-glass window, which
fell with crash that did not escape the
notice of one of the men in Wanne-
macher's butcher-shop across the street
1t was still quite dark and the butcher sent
his boy over to the store to see what was
the matter. The boy found two men in
the grocery-store carrying out parcels and
loading them on wagon. This did not
seem an unusual procedure to him, and he
returned to his employer.
They're opening up pretty early" said
the butcher, when he heard the boys re-
port, but he did not think that very
strange, because it was Saturday morning
and within half an hour or so of the usual
time for Montgomery's store to open
This is one of the best equipped groceries
in that part of the city and the burglars
made quite a haul. Mr. Gordon, one of
the proprietors, who was seen yesterday
said be could hardly tell how much the
thieves got away with unless he should go
over the whole stock. "When our clerks
got here in the morning they found the
| front doors pulled to and box of tea
standing near by. The thieves had either
been frightened away before they could load
this tea on the wagon, or else they had the
wagon so full it could hold no more.''
The police have managed to keep the
case quiet until now, but for all their
secrecy they have caught no one and have
no idea as to the identity of the burglars.
The detectives are searching for fence
which buys groceries and provisions, and
think that if one of these can be located it
will not be hard to find the burglars them
selves.
1t is thought there must be some place
where this class of goods can be sold to ad-
vantage, for the burglars would hardly
dare peddle the goods in the street. This
is especially true in the case of the butter
stolen. 1t would be a suspicious circum-
stance at this time of the year to find a
street-peddler selling butter, and he would
be arrested on sight.
Mr.. Gordon is of the opinion that there
must be a fence where groceries can be
sold for good many groceries are being
stolen in this City ali the time. Much is
stolen in broad daylight he says, from the
delivery wagons. especially in the neigh
| borhood of Kearny, Post and Geary streets,
so that it has become necessary to send
two men out with the wagon, one to go
into the houses and deliver the goods
while the other watches the wagon.
On the same night that the burglars op-
Grated on Montgomery's store there were
four or five other burglaries in the neigh
borhood, and but one of the culprits was
caught. He was found running away with
demijohn from Ryan's saloon at Third
and Tehama streets.
Earlier in the morning the Builders
Exchange, on New Montgomery street,
near Mission, was broken into and looted
to considerable extent, while a saloon on
Mission street, near Fourth, was entered
and the cash-register emptied. 1t is not
thought that these depredations were the
work of the same men, but that they all
belong to the same gang, which has been
operating in this part OF the City all win
ter, with considerable success to them
selves, much loss to the inhabitants, and
in little fear of molestation by the police.