Sistersville daily oil review. [volume] (Sistersville, W. Va.) 1902-1905, 1902-08-15
THE
THIEVES LOOT
POST OFFICE,

Office.
The William stown postofice was
burglarized between midnight and
one o'clock Wednesday morning,
and about $500 In stamps and 81
In money were carried away. The
operations of the craftsmen were
watched by Warner Guild, an oil
we'll pumper, but he did not give
the alarm until the men had de.
parted with their booty. The pc.
lice of both Parkersburg and Mari
eta are In possession of all the
clues, while Slstersville and other
towns have been communicated
with. The Post Office Department
at Washington has been apprised OF
the occurrence and has been asked
for instructions. The room In
which the empty safe and valueless
papers and blanks of the Office were
kept Is locked until the Postofice
Inspector arrives.
The postofice Is located In the
building on Ferry street, occupied
by the grocery store of Mr.. D. A.
Uhl. One corner of the room Is
set apart for the small grating,
stamp window, boxes, etc accord
ing to the arrangements in small
towns where the Office Is not of
sufficient Importance to have a
room entirely devoted to that pur-
pose. In the rear OF the store room
Is another smaller room, used for
storage purposes of the grocery
business. Here Is a small safe
where the stamps, money and yalu-
ables of the postoEce, together
with Mr.. Uhl's receipts, are locked
up after closing hours each night.
The Postmaster Is AS. Richards,
whose daughter, Miss Hattie Rich
ards, Is In charge of the Office dur
Ing the absence of her father, who
Is spending his vacation in the
Pennsylvania mountains Miss
Richards. upon closing the Office
for the night,
Took All the Stamps,
amounting to about $500, and
placed them In the safe In the rear
room. Mr.. Uhl turned the comb.
nation after the stamps had been
locked In the inner drawer of the
safe. The front and back doors of
the store were locked, and the
place was left for the night.
There Is closet a few feet back
of the store and Warner Guild, an
oil we'll pumper, was just preparing
to step out at about IL O'Clock,
eastern time, when three men, or as
he thinks, two men and a boy,
came around the corner of the
building and tried to force the side
door leading into the rear room.
They worked on the door for some
time, but were unsuccessful In
forcing 1t, as there were two locks,
one a spring and the other a key
fastening. Guild was afraid to
make his appearance, as he antici-
pated load Of shot or a pistol ball
In his anatomy. The men were
frightened once by a door of a
house across the street being sud.
denly shut. They stopped work
with their jimmies and laid down
for awhile until the noise ceased.
Then the small boy or man, 1t was
difficult to determine his age, was
posted at the corner of the street as
sentry. The two men In the rear
soon grew tired of forcing the door,
which was double locked, and 60
Ing around to the front, forced an
entrance by breaking the lock on
the front door. They then evil
IDENTIFY passed into the main room,
searched the drawers of the post.
Office, took a registered letter ad-
dressed to George W. Williams, In
care of the Ohio River Bridge and
Ferry company and 81 In money.
Safe Was Then Attacked
and the men tried to drill through
the steel door at one side Of the
combination. They worked only
few minutes at this and then tried
the combination which was EVIL
IDENTIFY not shut of, as the door
opened without drill or dynamite
being used. The cash drawer In
the inside was forced, a hole first
being drilled through the wood, In
order to break the lock. The