Los Angeles herald., 1907-05-19
STAMPS WORTH
$4,000 TAKEN
BY CRACKSMEN
Loot PostoMce at
Pasadena
Robbers Believed to Be Members Of
the Same Gang Which Terrorized
the County Several
Months Ago
Special to The Herald.


o'clock this morning and taken $4,000
in stamps from the strong vault. Ex'
perts who examined the work of the
robber or robbers are strong In theil
conviction that the job was done by
yeggers They base the theory on the
one unvarying trace of yegg work.
brown soap. Every yegg carries cake
of brown soap in his inside vest pocket
and the cake is wrapped in rag. This
rag was found near the job. The soap
was used to stick the combination disk
on the door to avoid discovery Of the
Job to a chance passerby or patrolman
peering in the window of the postoI-
flee.
The Freeman detective bureau and
night patrol OF this city is under con-
tract to make four nightly visits 10
the postoffice and thoroughly search
the premises for signs of eVlldoers.
This service has been paid out OF the
pocket of Postmaster ]. w. Wood. He
has put in request after request to the
government for the full service, includ-
ing an hourly visit. All have been ig-
nored. Yeggers have taught the lesson
and now it is a case of locking the
barn door after the steed has been
stolen.
Overlook Currency
Sixteen hundred dollars in currency
in the money compartment of the safe
escaped the robbers. They were un-
able to force entry into the safety de-
post vault.
The lob was either one of the most
consummate skill or it's success hinged
entirely upon good luck The combina-
ton disk was battered from the door
he
with a heavy twelve-pound sledge. A
chisel or steel instrument of some
nature was used to drive the combina-
ton back by striking the shaft con-
nected with the tumblers and the out
side disk three-quarters of an 1nch
into the mechanism of the lock. BY
turning the handle of the safe door,
the robbers then undoubtedly found
themselves in direct communication
with the interior of the safe. The safe
was an old structure, having been built
in 1872 by the Farrell Safe company
The robbers, for it was believed more
than one worked at the job, obtained
their tools at the Collins blacksmith
shop, Just west of the postoffice build
ing, on Holly street, brace and pair
of blacksmith's tongs were taken with
the sledge. The bits, if any were had,
were brought and taken away by the
robbers.
In View of Street
The safe stands in full view of the
street and any passerby could not have
failed to locate underhanded work be-
ing done within the office in which the
safe stands. The blind to the window
was undoubtedly pulled up by the rob
bers so that it was higher than the
average mans eyes, While the job
was done The shade this morning
was exactly as left last night by Miss
Keturah Yelo, stamp clerk, whose duty
it is to close and lock the safe each
night and to open the safe in the morn
ing.
when she reported for duty this
morning she noticed nothing wrong
with the safe until she examined the
lock closely in order to unlock the
safe. She then noticed the fact that
the safe had been tampered with, and
spread the alarm. Postmaster Wood
Immediately summoned Postoffice In
spectors Col. j. H C. Wilson and Frank
Stewart who worked all day on the
case. but without any clew developing.
Left on the scene of the crime were
several bits of paper which, when placed
together showed that they were por-
tions of newspaper clippings telling of
crimes reported in Los Angeles papers,
and one bore the date of May IS, show
ing that two days ago the men had
been in Los Angeles.
Two nights ago a man was taken into
custody in the local police station be-
cause he could not give a satisfactory
explanation of his presence in the city.
He had come out with others to take
the Santa Fe limited out of this city,
and failed in his purpose. He was
turned loose after being booked for a
bed over night. He had about $S in
cf flxrnY n ne II
man of the most pronounced type. 1t is
suspected that he and his comrades are
mixed up in the safe cracking.
Time Not Known
All attempts to fix the exact time
of the robbery failed this morning.
The Freeman night patrolman made
his last call at 1:43 o'clock. He made
his earlier calls at 1905, 9:10, :07 and
1906 o'clock, making one more than
the contract called for. Patrolman Joe
Schultz of the police force walked by
at o'clock and noticed nothing wrong.
Later in the forenoon TEX" private
night watchman at the Hotel Green,
happened by and noticed that the
blinds of the window were up. Moth
ing suspicious occurred to him. 1t is
supposed that it was about this time
that the robbers were doing their
work; if such was the case they were
well aware of the hours of the Free
mans patrolman in making his rounds
Following the robbery it is supposed
that the robbers stole the surrey of AL
len Ripley, 1853 North Marengo avenue.
and made their escape from the city
in the stolen rig. The outfit was found
in Los Angeles on Hewitt street about
3 O'Clock in the morning. 1t was pos
sible for the men to have obtained the
rig beforehand and to have departed
after committing the crime at 2 o'clock
and still make Hewitt street in time
for the horse to be found by o'clock
The horse was still painting, showing
q hard run, when the outfit was found.
The entrance to the department in
which the safe stood was obtained
through the private door leading to
Assistant Postmaster RamePs office.
and egress was obtained in the same
way.
Sheriff Hammel has donated the serv-
ices of his officers in an attempt to ap-
prehend the gang or any of it's mem
bers. 1t is not considered probable
that the robbers will be found in the
country, but that somewhere in the
city or in one of the suburban towns
they may be caught
This gang made it's first appearance
December 4 at Monrovia. blowing the
postoffice safe there. Close after that