The Red Cloud chief., 1898-12-02
THIEVES IN THE STATE HOUSE
Money stolen rrem this Deposit vaults OF
the Kansas state Capitol

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Money stolen from this Deposit vaults Of
IRE Kansas state Capitol
TopRKA, Kan, Nov. e6.-The oficcrsA
and employees Of the state house wersN
discovery that the private boxes Of the
vault Of the state treasurer have been
robbed recently Of sums aggregating
nearly q thousand dollars. possibly.
more. In this vault Is q section OF
boxes, which for years II has been the
custom OF state officers and employees
Of tho state house to use as safe dcpos-
tories for money, private papeys aud
other valuables. Tho boxes are Ia
beled with the names of their respect
i've owners and each has . key sup
posed to At his particular box and no
other. BY the rules Of the treasury,
nobody Is permitted to enter the vault
except employees Of the Office and per-
son holding boxes. A. night nobody
ian enter, the doors being equipped
with . time lock.
On Wednesday Governor Le.dy went
to his boz to get a little Thanksgiving
money aud vas surprised to And moth
Ing there. just . week before he had
Left S165 In tho boz and had not been
near Il since. He made no invsstiga-
tion at the time, as he was about to
leave for his home In Lawrence, and
he cautioned tho employees Of the oflco
70 say nothing about 1t. Soon after
ward the vault was closed and tho
time lock put On till to-day.
Last night J. NJ. Harrington, tho
state house guide, who kept . little
fruit stand In tho building, died aud
this morning his vito sent her key
down to the ~trcasurer's Office for some
money, bar husband having $500 In .
box. Tho box was opened by Mr..
Williams. the assistant treasurer. aud
tho money was found to be gone. In
for mation Of this loss o spread over
the building aud the employees has
tened to examine their boxes. The
first TO open her box was Lem Nc
Lallin. who discovered that 500 she
had put away for safe keeping was
missing. Then w. II. Barbee, q jani-
tor. whose box 10 just above Mr., Har-
ington's, found that he had lost $50.
Barbec Ii . son.in-law Of Harrington.
II. A. Mosher, an employe Of the treas
urer. was more fortunate. Ho had
5000 in q box, but IL was locked within
q smaller box and the thief did not
take It., presumably because It was too
bulky to carry away without discov-
cry.
Numerous others have boxes IN tho
| pat,lt h.,H M fsr &ha Iassoa ahNyA
stated are the only ones discovered.
There may DO others, however, as tho
holders are out Of town. Among them
arc John W. Breidenthnl, state bank
commissioner; M. A. Waterman. assist
ant state bank commissioner; w. n.
Barnes, secretary Of tho state horti-
cultural society; j. W. Amiss, assistant
superintendent Of public instruction.,
II. 2. Gill. secretary Of the state board
Of health, besides q number Of clerks
and minor employees of tho state house.
When IL was discovered that n whole
sale robbery had been committed. the
and Mr.. Williams, his assistant, b.
gan an investigation and found that
instead Of there being but one key for
every box, many Of tho boxes were
exactly alike and one key was found
that fitted eight different boxes, ono
Of them being Mr.. HcHe bower's box.
It was also learned that keys given OUT
by former t%reasurers have never been
tarned in and on that account tho only
real security is the strong doors OF tho
, vault itself and the tune locks. II IL
agreed by oil that since tho vault 10
secured by the time lock ut night, the
!, robberies were committed during bust
ness hours, and by somebody who
holds . box and discovered by expert
menting that his key fitted other
boxoa
That the robbery was committed By
somebody employed in the state house
: nobody doubts for although othsrs
may have keys given out by formsr
t~reasurers, only persons known Ia
, have keys have been allowed TO enter
/. tho vault during this administrator.
Mr.. Hefebower will employ . detect.
, i've to ferret ont the robber.