Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1897-02-18
Burglars FIT The Lancaster PostoffiCe.

A. , o'clockthis, Wednesday. morn
ing burglars attempted to raid the
Lancaster postoifice which is located
in . large front room on the first floor
of the brick block owned by John G.
Clark.
They entered the building At the
rear and north end by passing down
short stairway and breaking in the
basement door This let them into a
small basement room. Between this
room and the larger basement room
directly beneath the postofiice is
tight brick wall through which. with
ehisel they cut a hole large enough
to crawl through. They evidently
expected to find in the second large
basement room stairway leading up
into the postoliice; but in this they
were deceived, as there is none. and
so they crawled out again ard at
tempted another entrance.
From the first mentioned small
basement room there is an elevator
shaft running up stairs that would
have let them into small room back
of the postofiice; but they did not get
into it that way. They went out on
Jefferson street and smashed off
lock on the outside door OF the little
press room and once in here with
brace and bit and chisel they made
large hole through the partition, in
tending to crawl through this into the
postotlice. This hole opened against
a mailing rack or bank on which
there was little lamp. They reached
through the hole and got the lamp
and lighted it. But they never crawled
through this hole into the postoffice
room as they were frightened away
AT , O'Clock this morning Night
watch Gus Posey was on his beat as
usual. In passing the postoffice he
heard noise WITHIN the building that
attracted his attention. He tried the
front and the back doors and found
them locked as usual. He could hear
noise, like rats chawing a plank.
as he described it; and he watched
around the building for half an hour
when Holl Stephens calne along and
to him he related his fears that all
was not right. The two began the
investigation afresh, when the burg
lars took alarm and jumped down the
elevator and ran up out of the cellar
way Here Posey and Stephens saw
them and the chase began. The two
burglars ran into an alley between the
Clark block and Ben Britton's house.
burst through an ugly wire fence and
rolled in the snow on the other side
in Col Clark's yard, got up and ran
north through Clark's yard. Steph-
ems took Posey's revolver and emptied
il at the two burglars as they fled
They jumped out of the yard over the
picket fence at the northeast corner
and ran north toward the depot
Eothing has been heard of them since.
Here is description of the burg
lars: One rawboned man feet, ?
or inches tall, weighing about 200
lbs. high cheek bones, shaved smooth
Had on light colored overcoa. and
cap. Thought to be about 80 wears
Of age The other was medium
sized man. % years old, weighing 40
lbs, and had on 4 brown overeoat
These two men came through Hurri-
cane Tuesday morning, were about
the streets Of Lancaster Tuesday could
not be found Wednesday are are sup
posed to be the burglars. They left
their tools-a brace and bit, punch,
chisel, and mallet with ) Muessen
branded IN the handlc-at the second
hole whore they stopped work. In
postoflice drawer were change and
postage stamps to the value Of $25
which they could easily have gotten
without disturbing the safe.