The San Francisco call., 1898-01-03
BURGLARS AT
 HER DOOR Bold Midnight Visitors Ransack Mrs. Pettee's
 House.
Tried Windows, Then Climbed the Porch and Searched
 Many Rooms.
Pistol in Hand Within Her Room She Awaited an
 Attack.

Late New Years night bold burglars entered and deliberately ransacked many rooms in the residence of John Pettee at 25O5 Leavenworth street, while Mrs. Pettee, in fear and tremb- ling, remained locked in her bed cham ber not daring to venture out, but all the while conscious of the presence of the dangerous midnight visitors in the house.
 Twice the unwanted New Years callers cautiously approached her door, and twice she saw the knob turn and return as the unseen hand with out tested the lock that fortunately did not yield.
 Just before midnight Mrs. Pettee heard the first suspicious noise that alarmed her. It came from the room in which the younger children's Christmas tree was standing.
 Then, as she became nervously alert, she heard soft sounds of persons mov- ing about downstairs. The sounds continued. and her little daughter re- marked that there was some one in the house. But, excited as she had now become, the mother attempted to pass the remark by as a product of un- warranted childish rear.
 During a half-hour that seemed an eternity to the trembling expectant lis tener Mrs. Pettee caught occasional suspicious sounds that indicated in general way the movements of the burglars.
 Next she heard a peculiar, low, rumbling noise in the parlor. What it meant she could not guess.
 Then there was an awful silence for fIlllV half hnIr nnfi1 Sh tinguished the stealthy movements of the men, now in the upper part of the house, and presently just outside her own door.
 With pistol in hand Mrs. Pettee tremblingly stood guard on her side of the door, watched the knob slowly turning and feverishly debated with herself whether or not she had better take chances and fire at random through the door.
 After a time no other sounds were heard. All remained quiet within the house.
 Early yesterday morning the full significance of the noises of the night was plainly evident in the wild disor- der of the rooms.
 Everything that might have hidden some valuable had been thoroughly searched. From the parlor teatable had been taken a dozen small gold
  From the library the burglars had car ried away all the specimens of gold quartz, and from the very room in which young Pettee had retired at half past 12 o'clock they had taken a new razor that had lain conspicuously upon a table.
 Apparently nothing else of particu- lar value had been found, though a large amount of plated ware in the dining-room had been tested and ig- nored. The family plate, together with personal jewelry, had, however. been safely deposited for the night in a se- cret vault in the room in which Mrs. Pettee had remained an unintentional guardian of valuables, fearing for her life.
 A further search showed that the burglars had tried with some instru- ment the locks of all the downstairs windows on that side of the house away from the stable in which the three dogs are regularly shut up at night. They had finally gained an en- trance by climbing the porch and rais- ing an upstairs window Descending from the upper hallway they, or one of them, had unbolted the front door | and unlocked the various doors open ing on the lower hall.
 The position of the upright piano in the parlor indicated the cause of the peculiar rumbling noise heard after midnight.
 The burglars had heard young Pet tee approaching the front door and they had probably moved the piano out from the wall in order to obtain a hiding place. As he entered he. too. distinctly heard the rumbling noise but quietly went upstairs and retired; |; so quietly, in fact, that Mrs. Pettee did not hear him enter his room.
 The police, notified at z o'clock yes terday morning. are now working on the case. with some small clews and the knowledge that several suspicious characters have recently been seen lurking in the vicinity