Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1901-08-09
.sELBY SMELLING WORKS 7 ROBBED.
Thieves Tunnel Under the building,
Gain Entrance to the Vault and
Escape with Gold Button
worth $33O,OO0.5 sE

WHICH, are OcdLcu Oh 1InS Day -SlOre,
about 80 miles from San Francisco.
They got, away with. nearly. 1900
pounds OF, fine gold, worth $50 an
ounce, without leaving. q trace of
their identity behind. The. robbery
is the most successful and remarka-
BILE eyer accomplished on the Pacific
coast and was evidently the work
of skilled mechanics.
Well Planned. @e
s The whole D; affair was 9skillfully
planned and skillfully executed. It
is supposed that when the robbers
secured their loot they loaded it into
a boat that was waiting and disap-
peared in the fog that had come over
San Francisco bay. In their haste to
get away they left two gold bars
worth nearly $4,000, lying on the
bank>at the waters edge. The police
at all the bay cities were immediate
ly notified 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 it's
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 shelter and San Fran
cisco, carrying the ores one way and
bringing back the refined gold. Tues
day morning, when the 'workmen en-
tered the vault to prepare the gold
for loading on the steamer the rob-
berry was discovered. The thieves
had taken the precaution Of fasten-
ing the door of the vault from the
inside so that it would. be difficult to
open from the outside in case they
were interrupted in their work.
The Tunnel. rs
Probably preparatory engineering
extending over several weeks was done
before the. robbery could be accom-
plished. Close to the wall of the build
ing in which the vault is located a
shaft was sunk below the foundation.
Then a tunnel was run, to. the vault and
holes were bored in the iron floor un-
til an aperture: sufficientlylarge to ad-
nit a man was made. It, was then
easy work to pass down the treasure
into the tunnel and load it into a boat.
The robbers even took the precaution
to sprinkle red pepper in the tunnel in
order to make things as uncomfortable
as possible for anyone who might at
tempt to pursue them.
.as=. Vaults Rich Contents.
Is There were four fine. gold bricks in
the, yault.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 fnenessyand ranithus: "No.:1,236,
containing 1190.37t ounces; No. 1927,
containing 1127.43 ounces; No. 1928,
containing ,1123.22 ounces, and No.
1899, containing 1O73.79 ounces ALI
the bricks were, 998 fine and worth
$4,000 per ounce. In addition to this
there were@stolen from the bullion
vault crude gold in all shapes and
sizes, and some oft in bars of different
lengths.
= Story of an Official.
Vallejo, CAL, Aug. IAN official o.
the Selby smelling works made the
following statement regarding the
robbery ~
The robbers must have succeeded II
entering the vault some time between mid
night and five O'Clock this morning. They
entered the vault through a hole about
| the size Of "a ma rho1a in a hoilar md fhf
indications point to the fact tina robbers
have been working on the scheme for som.
time. Over $50 holes were bored into tn,
bottom of the vault, and the workmanship
indicates tina mechanics of more than
usual ability superintendent the Job. TIL,
holes were bored to within a hairs breadth
Of the. surface, and when the proper tim.
came the plate was forced up, thus giving
the robbers access to the vault. The plot
terst first ~yexcavateGHa hole alongside tn,
building directly in line with the vault
The work Of ~excavattng must lave takel
some time and at the enc of each night
Ework+for3the work must have been don,
II at 5night-a. covering of laths. rubber sheet
ing and sacks was made, the whole bein,
covered over with a layer Of dirt, thus hid
ing any sign of what was going on. Wha
beeaAe o6tthe texcavated dirt we have beel
unable to,fnd out. 1t must have been re
moved.f iii Sacks. The covering, we have as
T1certs lned,,awas not strong enough to hoI
skthsa weights Of a man, but the excavation
was made so close to the building that tn
4 men, never, walked oyer it. We are Salts
Y" Hed plotters- were aided BY som
EDnsifamiliar with the system employed a
sths works and one fully informed as to tt,
. 4 construction Of the vault.
last night. one of the watchmen EN-
eEptoyeds about the ipremises heard noises.i in
side the vault and informed his fellow
that the.devil or ghosts were inside tn
vault. They laughed at him and made n
! Investigation and thus the robbers wer
lift %sunInolestsd at their work. The weigh
Observation-Disclosures out aggregates. 100
f1Spounds ~ nd tit must nave taken. severa
trips for one man, and several men mus
have been employed In carrying the meta
rfS1 The sboat.8We are assured a boat was i
hMaiting for them. Inside the vault wer
tsseyeral sacks containing $l10, 900, but thi
was not touched. 1t may have been tina
THE men became alarmed. That they wer
alarmed is also indicated-by the fact tina
two bars Of gold, of great value were lief
II on the beach in their haste to. escape. /
II Is impossible for us to saytat this tim
80 what direction the men tookc 1f they use
.aIfca steam launch to- leave the scene of III
a robbery they could ave gone in any direc
lt1tion. but If they escaped In a rowboat the
II would doubtless have taken the "directio
y4Ftp. r,L3oh.-&I - <gSa -,-~g- caxvo~o