Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1901-08-08
BOLD GOLD THEFT.
sELBY SHELTER AT VALLEJO is
ROBBED OF $2so,ooo.
Robbers Make Away With Massive
Bars of Bullion by Boat-strong
Room Entered From Below After
Much CIandestine Toll,

San Francisco, Aug. IA few de-
tails of the robbery of the strong room
of the Selby smelter at Vallejo have
been received in this city. A. j.
Ralston, president of the company,
stated to the Associated Press that
thieves had excavated a tunnel be-
tween 300 and 400 feet long from a
point near the railroad tunnel and un-
der the strong room connected with
the works and had secured bars of bull
lion aggregating in value over $2S0,0OO
and had transported the gold to boat
in waiting near the company's wharf.
The robbers took the unusual precau-
ton OF strewing their tracks with red
pepper presumably to throw blood
hounds off the track.
President Ralston stated that he
had no clue as to the identity of the
robbers. At the Selby works the gold
is kept in a steel lined strong room.
The robbers tunnelled until they got
directly under the room and then cut
through the floor.
The tunnel was skillfully construct
ed and it must have taken many days
to construct it. Once in the strong
room the thieves had only to help
themselves to all in sight.
The thieves tunnelled from outside
the building under the vault at the
Selby works, which are located on the
bay about 80 miles from San Fran
CISCO. They got away with nearly
l,2OO pounds of gold, worth $40 an
ounce, without leaving trace of their
Identity behind. The robbery is the
most successful and remarkable ever
accomplished on the Pacific coast, and
was evidently the work of skilled me-
chanics. The whole affair was skill
fully planned and skillfully executed
1t 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 $50,0o0, lying on the bank at
the waters edge.
The police at all the bay cities were
Immediately notified of the crime, but
all they could discover was few of
the tools that the robbers had used.
The Selbv 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 country II
be smelted and refined and the gold
is then turned over to the mint. A
steamer makes special trips between
the smelter and San Francisco carry
ing the ores one way and bringing
back the refined gold. Yesterday, when
the Workmen entered the vault to pre-
pare the gold for loading on the
steamer the robbery was discovered
Inc thieves had taken the precaution
OF fastening the door of the safe from
the inside so that it would be hard
to open in case they were interrupted,
Probably preparatory engineering, ex-
tending over several weeks, was done
before the robbery could be accom-
pllshed. Close to the wall of the
building in which the vault is located
shaft was sunk below the founda.
tlon Then tunnel was run to the
vault and holes were bored in the iron
hoor until a hole sufficiently large to
admit a man was made 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 We're all
stamped with number, weight and
hneness. In addition to this there
were stolen from the bullion vault
crude gold in all shapes and sizes
and some of it in bars of different
lengths.