The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1905-07-04
Another Post Office Robbed.

Another Post Office Robbed.
Chloroforming Postmaster James E
Jones and his aged housekeeper, burglars
without fear of interruption, early Thurs
day morning ransacked the Florence post
Office and the dwelling in which it is To-
Gated
The thieves cleaned out the safe, the
door of which they found ajar, getting
/ $50 worth of stamps and about the same
! amount in cash. Silverware valued at
$40 was taken from the house, but the
robbers overlooked nearly a thousand dol
lars which the postmaster had in his room.
That the burglars were members of the
same gang that robbed post office at
Elmer, was the first opinion of the au-
thorities Apparently so well acquainted
were the thieves with the place, as ap-
peared after an investigation, that the po-
lice are now inclined to believe that the
job was done by some one nearer home.
| A noise in his room awakened Postmas-
ter Jones about 2 o'clock. He seized a
revolver that lay under his pillow and at
tempt1 to get up. That was the last he
knew until, about four hours later he
was aroused by his housekeeper. Pound
ing on the door of his room, which is over
the post office, she cried to him to hurry
downstairs, that the house had been robbed.
Still dazed by the effects of the drug.
which the thieves had placed on rag over
his face, the postmaster dressed as rapidly
as possible, but it was a half hour before
he managed to get down stairs
when awoke, said the postmaster
in relating his experience, Il was lying in
the middle of the bed and my revolver
was still in my hand. At first could not
imagine what was the trouble Then /
remembered trying to get up when heard
noise about 2 o'clock, but the bed seemed
to spin around and heavy weight seemed
to push me back. The next l knew l
heard Mrs. Rhodes calling me.
when got downstairs, the first saw
were several trunks lying open. their con-
tents spread all about the kitchen floor.
Going into the post Office, which is in the
front of the building, l found the safe
rified. My stock of tobacco and confec-
tions, in the little room adjoining the Of
fee, had been rified too, but little was
taken there.
II remembered that l had neglected to
close the safe that night, but, fortunately,
l never keep much money in the safe, only
enough for days use. But had over
5000 hidden in my room, where the thieves
missed it. / put that in bank early next
morning"
Evidently the thieves came in wagon,
judging from the amount of silverware
they carried away. An alley beside the
post office runs from Broad street to road,
through a vacant lot, block away.
Through this the robbers could escape
with little chance of arousing neighbors
The only possible clue to the identity of
the robbers was the appearance of a
stranger in town a week ago. Miss Flor
ence Emlen, clerk at the post office. saw
this man peering through the post office
window. She called the postmaster, who,
since the many post office robberies In
South Jersey, has lived in dread of visit
from the safe crackers, but Jones was busy
in his little store and got only glimpse
of the man, who he describes as tall and
dark and rather thin.
Postmaster Jones is a widower He
lives with an aged housekeeper, Mrs. Grace
Rhodes. He has been postmaster at Flor
ence five years. Mrs. Rhodes believes she
was also drugged. She sleeps on the
third floor, and when she awoke Thursday
morning she says she experienced the
strange sensation of being conscious, but
unable to rise in bed. She thinks it was
half an hour before she managed to get
out of bed and dress
The robbers gained an entrance by pry-
ing open shutter in the kitchen and lift
ing out window. They then used
Jimmy" on locked door between the
post Office and the living rooms.
After going through the post Office safe
and the store, the thieves carried several
trunks from the second floor to the kitchen,
where they broke them open. The silver
ware stolen was hidden away among cloth
ing in these trunks.