The San Francisco call., 1901-10-22
BOLD RAID
ON CHICAGO
POSTOFFICE
Burglars Tunnel Under a
Vault and Secure a
Fortune.
Stamps Valued at S74,61o
Are Secured and Safely
Carted Away.
Robbers Crawl Under the Building
for Three Hundred. Feet and
Cut Their Way Through
Brick Walls. ~.

in stamps, was discovered here this morn
ing when the wholesale stamp department.
of the postoG1ce was opened for business.
A rapid investigation developed the fact
that the burglars had crawled under the
flooring for about 300 feet, bored a hole in
the bottom of the vault, secured the
stamps and escaped. carrying their booty
in a wagon.
The work Of forcing an entrance to the
vault had evidently been going forward
with the greatest patience for many days.
1t is believed, however. that the inten-
ton of the thieves had been to enter
the cashiers vault, in which there was
$35, 900 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 ninety-seven holes
were bored until a space eighteen inches
square-just enough to allow the entrance
of a mans body-had been so weakened
that it was possible to take out the whole
plate without difficulty. A dry goods box
stood over the hole thus made and con-
cealed the work of the robbers while it
was in progress When discovered to-day
the finger marks Of one of the burglars
were still discernible on the dust Of the
box which he had pushed to one side
Raid Is Carefully Planned
So carefully had the job been planned
that men working in other parts Of the
building had not the slightest inkling of
the daring robbery being worked almost
under their noses.
The robbers drove HD to the southeast
corner of the postofice in a wagon, the
tracks of which could be plainly seen
to-day. The building is a temporary af-
fair and the men had only to open
little door to admit themselves under the
flooring. To reach the vault it was neces-
sary to crawl about 300 feet over odds and
ends of boards which Uttered the way.
The route evidently had been carefully
studied, for a detective who went under
to-day without knowledge Of locations be-
came lost and was nearly overcome by the
foul odors before assistance reached him.
Having secured their plunder the rob-
hers loaded it into the wagon, drove
across a vacant lot and turned into Wa
bash avenue in front of the Art building
Of the s74,61O in stamps taken S4712 were
in postage due stamps and S26O0 in spe-
cial delivery stamps. So the convertible
stamps amounted to s67.S2s, but Of these
s4S2S were Pan-American stamps Of and
10 cent denominations.
Discovers the Robbery.
G. F. Spaulding, chief clerk Of the
wholesale stamp department, discovered
the robbery when he opened the vault at
7;5O o'clock The safe had been locked
with contents apparently secure at p. M
Saturday Spaulding notified Postoff1ce
Tnspector Stuart who hurried from his
! home and at once began an investigation,
assisted by his deputies and squad OF
detectives from the City Hall. After COM
pleting the search the inspector said:
cit was the largest stamp robbery ever
done 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 clearer route. The
wall. like others under the building, is of
| himsy construction and it could not have
taken them long to pick their way
through it. A hundred feet or so farther
ON thew ran against another wall and this
\ also
also encountered a number of pipes. and
as the floors 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 order vault, is sup
ported by a brick wall. 1t forms a square,
and before the robbery was alright.
Burglars Make Air Holes.
''In this the robbers 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. This battery one
of my men discovered. 1t and the wagon
tracks are the only clews we have at pres
ent.
''The space under the vault is large
enough TO allow man to stand upright,
and their work must have been compara-
lively easy with the drills and steel saws
which they used. The stamps were ar
ranged in twenty-pound bundles. and the
weight of the load they carried off must
have been 500 pounds. Evidently one man
handed the packages down to others wait
ing below. AS their progress must have
been slow carrying even one bundle
through all those tunnels, crawling on all
fours. 1 Judge they worked for hours get
ting their booty to the wagon.
evidently they felt perfectly secure.
though somewhat disappointed at missing
the cashiers vault, where there was $35,-
600 in cash and a great quantity of
stamps. 1 cannot tell now how many men
worked at the job. Every effort will of
course be made to recover the property
and capture the men who took it,