Evening star., 1901-02-20
BROOKLAND POST OFFICE
AN ATTEMPT MAnE TO BLOW OPEN
ITS SAFE.
Detectives Are Examining Into the
Case Burglars Were
Frightened Of.

"yeggmen.'' who have been operating in
neighboring states during recent months,
paid visit to the; post office at Brook-
land some time this morning. They PRED
open a aewindow, entered the office ana Drill
ed a hole in the small iron safe. Before
using an explosive they left the place, ana
it is believed that they were frightened OIL
by policeman who appeared at the patrol
box not far from the post office to turn IN.
1t was not until Miss Mary Louise Marean,
the postmistress, went to- open the office
that the work of the burglars was known.
She went to the Office about O'CLOCK, ana
upon opening the front door she discovered
that the safe blowers had been at Work
There was a hole in the door OF, the sale
and on the floor was a chisel and piece
of wagon spring. The piece of wagon spring
had been used by the burglars III forcing
open the shutters of the rear WlndoW.
After the shutters had been opened very
little trouble was experienced In sprlnsins
the eaten on the window. So far as the Sc
curity of the place Is concerned the ponce
say that the safe may as well nave peeh
in an open field easy was the place 10
enter. While the burglars were not heard
by any of the residents of Brookland, II Is
believed that the building was entered be-
tween 2 and o'clock in the morning.
Looking Into the Case.
Policeman Jett examined the premises
soon after the discovery was made and TOOK
charge of the chisel and piece of iron wagon
spring. Detectives Parham and Boyd were
sent to the post Office later, and they are
working on the case They found the condl-
ton of affairs at the post office as stated
and were satisfied that the attempt was
made by men who understood what they
were doing. y hole about one-third of an
inch in diameter had been drilled in the safe
door between the combination and the knob,
q ha Orlx h91 hoo
were evidently about to use the explosive
when they We're frightened off. 1t Is the
idea of the detectives that the men In the
party, possibly about three in number, had
visited Brookland before last night and To-
Gated the safe Being satisfied that there
was enough money in 1t to Justify them in
taking the chances of getting caught they
paid the visit, not knowing just what hour
the policeman on the county beat would ap-
pear.
From the little post office building the
men could see the police patrol box, and
the noise made by the officer when he used
the telephone probably attracted their at
tention. 1t may be that the officer re-
mained about the vicinity of the post office
so long time that the burglars became
matches found on the floor of the post Of
flee convinced the officers that the safe
blowers had made light in the place by
using the noiseless matches, and it may be
that they thought the light had been seen
by the policeman.
Cash in the Safe.
The cash in the safe amounted to about
$500, besides a quantity Of postage stamps.
In a candy box on the desk there was
about 50 in cash, but this was not touched.
Post Office Inspector Smith, who has
charge of the inspectors in this division,
and his men are working hard to locate
the robbers.
Usually in such cases the safeblowers
rob blacksmith shops in order to get what
tools they need, such drills, chisels and
hammers but so far as the detectives have
been able to ascertain no such shop III tho
vicinity of Brookland was robbed last
night. Just what particular gang made the
attempt this morning the police, of course,
do not know, but they believe the men are
connected with the gang that has been op-
Grating in Maryland and Virginia. Several
weeks ago the bank at Sandy Springs was
visited and later the post office at Orange,
Va, was robbed by blowing the safe. The
Marlboro post Office was visited only few
days ago and robbed of money and stamps
amounting to more than S400 At some OF
the places where the safes were robbed
the work was done by men who did not re-
sort to drilling. They used soap and nitro
glycerne, which resulted in smashing the
entire door and running the safe generally.
In the case this morning, however, as al
ready stated, drill was used, and the eX-
plosive, had the men used it. would prob
as only the combination would PROBABLY
have been attacked. People living in
BroOkland have not noticed any suspicious
looking men lettering about the town re-
Gently and the police have not yet OD-
tained any clue to the robbers.