The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-10-22
FORTUNE IN STAMPS
STOLEN FROM CHICAGo's IEMpOR-
AIRY P0STOFFICE BY A GANG
OF BURGLARS
AMOUNT TAKEN IS $74.e1o
Thieves CrawIed a Hundred Yards
Under Flooring, and Then
Bored Through Bottom
of Vault.

CHICAGO, Oct. 21.-A sensational rob-
berry which Melted the perpetrators $74 SIC
in stamps, was discovered here this
morning when the Wholesale stamp de-
partment of the postoffice 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. remoy-
ing their booty in wagon The work
or forming an entrance to the vault had
evidently been going forward with the
greatest patience for many days. 1t is
beheVed, however, that the intention of
the thieves had been to enter the cash
lers vault, in which there was S35. eco 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 space eighteen inches souare-i11st
enough to allow the entrance of a mans
bcdy-had been so weakened that it WAS
POSSIBLE to take out the whole plate with
lIltle olIlculty. dry goods box stood
over the hole thus made and concealed
the work of the robbers while it was in
progress. When discovered todav the
niger marks of one of the burglars were
sun dlScern1ble on the dust of the box
which he had pushed to one side
80 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.
LOOT REMOVED IN A WAGON.
Inc robbers drove up to the southeast
corner of the postoffice building in a,
wagon, the tracks of which could be seen
plainly today. The building is tenn
pofary affair and the men had only to
open little door to admit themselves
underneath the flooring To reach the
vault 1t was necessary to crawl about 3O0
teet over ouuS ana ends of boards which
uttered the way. The route evidently
mad been carefully studied, for a detective
VINO went under today without knowledge
OF the locations became lost and was
nearly overcome by the foul odors before
assistance reached him.
having secured their plumber the rob
oers loaded it into the wagon. drove
across a vacant lot and turned into Wa
pash avenue in front of the Art build
ing.
OF the $7461O in stamps taken "a no
were in postage DUE stamps and 81, ESQ
III special delivery stamps SO the con-
VerIlple stamps amounted to $67, S2S. but
OF these $4,S2S were Pan-American stamns
OF and lO-cent denominations.
f. o. Spalding, chief clerk of the stamn
department, discovered the robbery when
ne opened the vault at 80 o'clock. The
safe had been locked with it's contents
apparently secure at p. m. Saturday.
Mr Spalding at once notified Postottica
Inspector Stuart, who began an tnIasti1
cation, assisted by his deputies and a
SQUAD OF detectives from city hall. After
completing the search the inspector said.
,LHVETI0 yKrnDr-
1T was the largest stamp robbery ever
known in the history of the postal service
IN this country. To get to the yauIf the
men entered through a trap door. A few
Witch 1e6t IN y 15ney encountered brick wall
proWl around looking for a clearer route
Ihe wall, like others under the building
Is OF H1msy construction, and it could not
nave taken them 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 Wav
they also encountered a number of pines
ana as the floor is 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 supported by brick wall 1t
forms a square, and before the robbery
was alright. In this the robbers broke
two holes, possibly to secure more air.
Tor the place undoubtedly was very foul.
or to have an extra place of egress in
case of a discovery. For light they used
dry batteries, one of which they left be-
hind. This battery one of my men dis
covered. 1t and the wagon tracks are the
only clews we have at present.
THE space under the vault is large
enough to allow man to stand upright,
and their work must have been compare
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
nave been 500 pounds. Evidently one man
handed the packs on 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, judge they worked for hours
getting their booty. to the wagon.
Evidently they felt perfectly secure,
though somewhat disappointed at missing
the cashiers vault, where there was $780,
0OO in cash and a great quantity Of
stamps. I 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,
RESTS WITH CONGRESS.
WASHINGTON, Oct. I-It is explain
ed at the postoffice department that the
law allows a credit up to $4,000 to post
masters at offices where losses occur in
which proper precautions had been taken.
AL ABOVE TINS amount mas TO depend upon
the action of congress. Postmaster
Coyne will present claim for the amount
of the loss, and the department will
transmit it to congress. Meantime any
balance against him on account of the
loss will remain outstanding, but if con-
gress should fail to act favorably, he
will be called upon to make the loss good.
1t is a foregone conclusion, according to
the belief of postal officials, that the re-
lief will be granted as usual in such
cases.
Eyes and Nose Ran water.-C. G.