Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1901-10-25
ROBBED OF STAMPS
CHICAGO PosToFFlcE LOSES
S74,ooo WORTH.
Burglars CrawIed 800 Feet Under Buildinsl
Bored Into Vault, And Carried Away
Spoils in Wason-Supposed to Have
Been Many Days on the Job-$35.000
Missed by Robbers.

Chicago, Oct. 23.-A sensational
robbery which netted the perpetrat-
ors STA, 610 in stamps, was discovered
here this morning, when the whole
sale stamp department Of the post
Office was opened for business. A
rapid investigation developed the fact
that the burglars had crawled under
the flooring for about 800 feet, bored
a hole in the bottom of the vault,
taken the stamps and escaped, carry
ing away their booty in a wagon.
The work OF forming an entrance
to the vault had evidently been going
forward for many days. 1t is be-
lieved, however, that the intention of
the thieves had been to enter the
cashiers vault, in which there was
$35, 600 in money and stamps valued
at hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The bottom of the vault is of steel,
half an inch thick. In this vicinity
seven holes were bored, until space
of 1S inches square-just enough to
allow the entrance of mans body
had been so weakened that it was
possible to take out the whole plate
with little difficulty. A drygoods box
stood over the hole thus made, and
concealed the work of the robbers
while it was in progress. When dis
covered today the finger marks of
one of the burglars were still discern
ible on the dust of the box, which he
pushed to one side.
1t was the largest stamp robbery
that has taken place in the history of
the postal service in this country. To
get to the vault the men entered
through a trap door. A few feet in,
they encountered a brick wall, which
they dug through rather than prowl
around looking for a clearer route.
The wall, like others under the build
ing, is of fiimsy construction, and it
did not take long to pick their way
through it. A hundred feet or so
further on they ran against another
wall, and this also they dug through.
On the way they also encountered a
number of pipes, and as the walls are
but two feet and in some places three
feet above the ground, they tunneled
under the pipes. Their whole course is
plainly marked in this way.
The wholesale stamp vault, like
the cashiers vault and the money or
der vault, is supported by brick wall
1t forms a square, and before the rob-
berry was air tight. In this the rob-
bers broke two holes, possibly to secure
more air, for the place undoubtedly
was very foul, or to have an extra place
of egress in case of discovery. For
light they used dry batteries, one of
which they left behind. It and the
} wagon tracks are the only clews at
present.
, The space under the vault is
large enough to allow man to stand
, upright, and their work must have
been comparatively easy, with the
, drills and steel saws which they used.
The stamps were arranged in 90
) pound bundles, and the weight o.
) the load they carried off must have
| been 500 pounds. Evidently one
man handed the packages down to
3 the others waiting below. AS theil
e progress must have been slow carrying
: even one bundle through all those
: tunnels crawling on all fours, they
, worked for hours getting their boot!
e to the wagon.
S OF the stamps taken 81, ,712 were il
e postage due stamps and So, 26O il
/ special delivery stamps. So the con
g vertable stamps amounted to $67, 1928
e but of these $4,82S were Pan-Ameri
s can stamps of and 1O'cent denomi
: nations.
e Of these 1,776,o00 were one-cen
), and !, ,662, 900 two-cent stamps. The
! got $50 81, 3O7 So and los SIS stamp
! but Inspector Stuart said they vii
# have difficulty in disposing of tn
e larger denominations.