The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-04-05
CRACKED A SAFE,
Burglars Rob the Fitzgerald &
Lannan Store.
Secured About One Hundred and
Twenty Dollars.

Safe blowers operated in the Fitzger-
aid & Lannan grocery store, at 312, IA
16 East Fourth street about 4 o'clock
this morning, blowing the safe open and
escaping with the cash contents,-about
s1a0.
The robbers drilled through the safe,
which stands on the east side of the
Dig store room, inserted a heavy charge
or powder and a fuse, and the explo-
sion tore the door from its hinges.
They escaped from the building by one
of the several front doors.
A few minutes before o'clock Officer
Maze, who is on the Fourth street beat,
came west past the store, met Sergeant
NolleS at the corner of Fourth and Kan
sa avenue, and then went back toward
the Santa FNe depot. He did not hear the
explosion, but when he reached the
fitzgerald & Lannan store he Smelled
the powder fumes. Thinking 1t was
escaping gas, he peered into the store,
and saw that the room was full of
smoke. He tried two of the doors which
were locked. and then ran to the pawn
shop, one door east of the store and
called out the proprietor, A. Hendrix,
to telephone for the fire department.
Returning to the store, the officer found
the door which was unlocked, and ran
inside to fight fire. When he found the
cause of the smoke he changed his call
from fire to police" The light, (which
is kept burning in the store all night,
had not been turned off. 1t was not nee
essary to the safety of the robbers. The
safe is located on the east side of the
store, and faces west. The hole was
drilled on the north side of the safe,
and the robbers could sit quietly behind
the safe, and watch the policeman pass
ing outside without fear of detection.
The hole bored was Just large enough to
admit an ordinary blasting fuse. The
safe is one of the old style, which in
stead of being constructed of solid
metal is composed of a steel shell filled
with cement. Therefore the robbers had
to drill only about one inch of steel, and
four inches of cement. Chief Donovan
this morning found the broken shank
of one of the drills used and few frag-
ments of the blasting fuse.
Hendrix. the pawn broker, says: We
sleep in the rear of my store, next to
the Fitzgerald & Lannan store, with
only a half number shoe shop between.
Both myself and my wife were awak-
ened by dull thud, and after talking
about 1t a minute we decided that one
of the horses in the stable back of the
store had kicked against the wall We
were still awake when we heard the
officer rafting the front door The
an explosion"
Mr. Lannan, one of the proprietors
of the store, who is an expert machin-
ist, says that the steel shell of the safe
is very hard, and that although it is
thin, the robbers had no easy time in
drilling the hole.
The interior of the safe was wrecked
and some of the money secured by the
robbers may be mutilated. The safe
door was torn from its fastenings and
thrown back so violently that the
hinges were broken.
There is no clue to the identity of
the robber or robbers The work looks
like that of a professional "yegg" bur-
glar There is still some doubt as to
how the robbers got into the store
building The police found a way
through the cellar. and a trap door in
the floor open. Mr.. Lannan is GER
tain that this door was barred from
the top, and that the robbers opened
it as a possible means of escape be-
fore working on the safe. If such is
the case, an entrance was effected with
skeleton KEYS.