The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1901-08-21
STOLE HALF A TON OF GOLD
Thieves Tunnel Into Smelter Vault
and Get $280,000.
WORK OF SKILLED CRACKSMEN

Did Job In the Night and Within Thirt,
Miles OF San Francisco-Selby smelt.
ing Works, Largest on Pacific Coast
the Concern victimized - No Clue
to the Robbers.
San Francisco, Gala robbery, so
bold in it's conception and daring In
Its execution that it has fairly para.
lyzed the pol!c;'. occurred at tte Selby
Smelling Works on Bay Shore, Val
leie, early Tuesday morning. Four
bars Of pure GOD, each weighing from
1000 to 5000 onnces, and about 10000
ounces Of other gold. the total value
being s2sO,OO0, were taken from the
strong room Of the smelter while
workmen were busy within fifteen
feet Of the door.
The laborers heard the noise made
by the thieves, but said. 'It's only the
ghosts in the vault" and went on
with their work. While they labored
at the furnace the gold bars were
taken from the vault to a boat and
carried away.
Not a clue is left for the detectives
to work upon and there is small hope
that any of the stolen treasure will
ever be found. The robbery must
have been planned for months, while
the actual work required many nights
of labor.
The whole affair was planned and
executed skillfully. 1t is supposed
that when the robbers obtained their
loot they loaded 1t into a boat that
was waiting and disappeared in the
fog that had arisen over San Fran
cisco Bay. In their haste to get
away they left two gold bars worth
nearly $4,000 lying on the bank ut
the waters edge.
The police of all the bay cities i'm
medlately were Informed Of the
crime, but all they could discover was
a few Of the tools that the robbers had
used.
The Selby Smelling and Lead Com
pany Is the largest concern Of its
kind on the Pacific coast. Ores are
sent from all over the Western coun.
try to be smelted and refined, and
the gold Is then turned over to the
mint. A steamer makes special trips
between the smelter and San Francis
co, carrying the ores one day and
bringing back the refined gold. On
the morning after the theft when the
workmen entered the vault to prepare
the gold for loading on the steamer
thn 1fcnnunro1
thieves had taken the precaution Of
fastening the door Of the vault from
the inside, so that 1t would be difficult
II open 1t from the outside In case
they were interrupted in their work.
Preparatory engineering extending
over several weeks probably was done
before the robbery could be accom-
plished. Close to the wall Of the
building in which the vault Is, shaft
was sunk below the foundation. Then
tunnel was run to the vault and
holes were bored in the iron floor un-
til an aperture sufficiently large to ad-
NIT a man was made. It was then
easy work to pass the treasure down
into the tunnel and load 1t into boat.
The robbers even took the precaution
to sprinkle red pepper in the tunnel
in order to make 1t uncomfortable for
any one who might attempt to pursue
them.
There were four fine gold bricks in
the vault which the robbers looted
Each was ten inches long, five inches
wide and four inches In height. They
were all stamped with number, weight
and f1neness.
ut Is the boldest robbery in the his
tory Of the State" said Chief Of Detec-
tives Seymour, "and from all the in
formation that can be obtained at this
time there is absolutely no clue to the
robbers. In fact, we do not know
whether the crime was committed by
one man or five. The probabilities,
however, are that more than one man
was concerned In It,"