The Red Cloud chief., 1900-11-09
SHELBY IS BURNED
OPERA HOUSE FIRED AND
BUILDING BURNS.
NdHNARIfSlOOI SOME OF THE STORfS
Seat OF Msny Business Firms. and Total
Loss Placed ut Twenty Thousand
Bioodhounds In Pur.uit-Other
Interesting News

Reports have reached Rising City.
Seb.. of a disaster al the neighboring
town OF Shelby. Burglars entered the
butcher shop and looted IL, along with
jack Rathborne's store and James
Hills restaurant. Thence they went
to the posiofice. blew up the safe and
set FIRE to the building. which was to-
tally destroyed. along with the opera
house block, ID. T. Laird's drug
store and Brigham's dry goods store.
Kennedy's implement; building was
crushed by falling walls The thieves
escaped and the country is being
secured by men on horseback and with
teams
Unable to Quench Fire.
The crime was committed between
2 and 3 o'clock a. m. October 81. The
first anyone knew of it was when the
fire was discovered in the opera house
block. Ii had already gained great
Roadway and the primitive fire fight
ing apparatus of the town was insult
hcient to save the building and its con-
tents.
The block was occupied BY three
stores and the postofice. One store
was the large mercantile establish.
ment of Brigham Bros. another was
Laird's drug store and the other the
hardware establishment of Knerr. in
the rear part of the hardware store
was located the postofie. Across the
alley is the frame butcher shop of
Exn.Sy and 49, l;as 1890 T. ~
grocery store of J. q. Osborne. The
tills in Eoetz's place and Osborne's
grocery were 10th tapped, and the
safe in the postoftice was blown open.
IL is presumed that the other stores
were robbed, but as the contents were
all destroyed by the fire this can not
be definitely known. The authorities
have no doubt hat they were robbed.
The fire was first seen in the hard
ware store, near where the p~ostofice
was. j. w. Bellinger is postmaster.
He says that his safe was blown open
and robbed Of a few dollars in money,
and he thinks about 500 in stamps.
OF the amount he is not positive. as he
has taken no invoice. Some stamps
were found in the rear of the building
as conclusive proof of robbery.
Some of the Losses.
Some of the losses are as follows:
Frank Brigham. 1000. on general
store and double rooms: insurance, ST.
500.
Ida NJ. Yerty, drug store. 81. 900; no
insurance.
E. Z. Knerr, hardware and jewelry.
$500; insurance, 81. 200.
G.. E. Brigham, store room, 81, 500;
in rance, 81, 900.
Inks store room and Office. So. 900:
Insurance, 81 200.
DR.. Woodward, Office fixtures, $500;
no insurance.
]. c. Rahe, publisher of the Sun, ST.
500; no insurance.
The top part containing the opera
house and offices, costing 5000, had
no insurance.
The opera house was the pride of
Shelby and was praised by every troupe
playing there. The Nebraska tele-
phone Office was in the big store. No
money was secured by the robbers il
the postofice for the postmaster saved
II.
Three stores were broken open and
tills tapped, also $500 in stamps were
stolen or burned. Mail sacks and all
mail and p~ostoffice equipments were
burned. Stolen letters and registered
packages had been opened and found a
block away.
The opera block, with its furniture.
will probably entail a loss Of almost
ten thousand dollars. which the other
losses viii easily swell to more than
the twenty thousand mark. The block
and stocks, with the exception of that
Of Mr.. Laird's, il is understood. were
well insured Mr.. Laird carried no in
surance and his loss will be a total
one. Only twenty dollars was saved
from the ~postofiice.
No clue to the burglars has been
found. B~loodhounds from Lincoln
have gone to Shelby to trace the
robbers.