The Newtown bee., 1907-05-24
LITCHFIELD COUNTY
WASHINGTON.

burglar safeblowing postoffice robbery episode, which has furnished sufficient reason for excitement and general public interest. Two safes in the
 store of S. Ford Seeley, the capable and popular postmaster at Washing
 ton Depot and local manager for the
 s. N. B. T. Co.,, were blown open and
 contents valued at about $7OO and in.
 cluding cash, postal notes and orders
 postage stamps and checks were carri-
 ed away. About ? a. m. Sunday morn.
 ing, George Poppensiek, aged l5, night operator for the telephone Company,
 the headq uarters of which is over the pOstoffice, heard noise and turning to investigate looked into the face of a masked burglar and the mouth of a big revolver. A burglar ordered him to throw up his hands, proceed to his bed, get into the bed and cover up his head. The boy is by no means a cow ard, but the argument of cooked re- volver was one he did not think it wise to resist. He obeyed the order and he thinks that for about an hour he lay there, watched by that masked burglar while things were doing in the store below. Suddenly there was an explosion which shook the entire building. Shortly afterward another and less violent explosion again caused the young man to think that the burg lars were blowing up the whole estab- lishment. Not long after this Pop pensiek heard the burglar depart, and oS hn do the bed rang up MT Seeley, it then be- ing a. m, and informed him of what had transpired. Every possible effort was made trace the burglars, but with out result. It is not known whether they came in a vehicle drawn by horse or on foot, but the fact that they stole whip from the store indi cateS that they may have driven a team to some distant point. The only articles taken from the store stock were the whip and some cigars. The postoff1ce safe was modern one, but by means of nitro-glycerine the door was blown off it's hinges and into frag- ments. So great was the force of the explosion that the heavy door, weigh ing probably 300 pounds, was blown against the counter four feet away, and splintering the wood work. Soap had been used to fill the crevices about the door of the safe so that the explosion could give it's full force to the work the burglars desired to be complete The people living in the vicinity say they heard the noise of the explosion but thought it was thunder. The night for the burglary was particularly we'll chosen, a dance in the Town hall having brought an large number of people to the center and keeping them there later than usual. The dance broke up about l o'clock. Evidently the burg lars began operations as soon as the dancers had departed. How they gained entrance to the store is a mys- tery unless they picked the lock of the front door and relocked the door be- fore leaving. There is nothing about the establishment to indicate how en- trance was effected. MT Poppensiek is able to give fairly good description of the man who held him up, except of course the features of the face. The
 
 the burg lars, for MT Seeley, Monday notified the banks to stop payment. This is the 39th postoffice in Connecticut within year. It occurs to many people that the gov ernment with it's resources and many secret service men at command will do well to detail some of the best sleuths in it's employ to follow up these Con- necticut burglaries and bring the criminals before the bar of justice. The town hall was also entered, but nothing of consequence stolen.
 THE sEELEY-BRONsONw WEDDING.
 The marriage of Miss Helen Seeley, daughter of Powell Seeley, to Louis Bronson, of the firm of Bronson, Townsend Co.,, New Haven, will oc- cur on Saturday afternoon of this week at the brides home
 Burr Hollister and Miss Helen See ley, the former teacher, gave dance in the Town hall to the High school pupils on Saturday evening of last week.
 A daughter was born on Monday, May 20, to MT and Mrs Frank Wood ruff.
 The amount of loss of the daring burglary at MT Seeley's postoffice and store on Saturday night was between $500 and S9OO. It is to be hoped that the burglars may be brought to jus tice.
 Albert Gustafson of Church Hill was surprised on the evening of his birthday, May 21st, by call from a number of his friends.
 The funeral of Theodore Hemming- son occurred at the Swedish church on Wednesday at l o'clock. He died
 of pneumonia at his late home at ROx-
 bury Station. Besides a wife he leaves seven children.
 BETHLEHEM.