The San Francisco call., 1908-12-29
NIGHT RAID MADE
ON CIGAR STORE
Brace and Bit Used in Looting
Nose Gunst & Co.'s Place
in Van Ness Avenue

After wiggling a devious way under
three stores and boring 100 holes
through a double flooring with brace
and bit, a burglar, or burglars, sue
ceeded early yesterday morning in ef-
fecting an entrance into the cigar
store of Nose Gunst & Co, Van Ness
avenue and Geary street. and robbing
the safe and shop of money and val
uables amounting to $62S in the ag-
gregate, part of which was recovered.
The crime is almost the counterpart
of a robbery which occurred in the
same store October 16. The police,
after investigating the latest robbery.
placed Ben Band. bartender en-
ployed in the saloon of Tarbox & To-
bin, 11o1 Geary street. under surveil-
lance. The theory of Policemen E. F.
limbs and Fred Biermann, who first
investigated the crime, is that the
thief went under the Gunst store from
a passageway connected with the Tar
box & Tobin saloon.
Detective Ed Wren was detailed on
the case, and after investigating it he
took Band from the saloon to further
interrogate him.
CLERK DISCOVERS CRIME
Sol Guggenheim, a clerk employed
in the cigar store, discovered the bur-
glary at o'clock yesterday morning
when he opeffed the place for the day
He summoned Policemen limbs and
Biermann of the Bush street station
whose beats were in Van Ness avenue
The policemen mace a close exam
ination of the store, and at first could
discover no clew as to how the crime
had been committed. At last limbs
detected a thin bit of shaving on the
linoleum floor near the safe Imme-
diately he attacked the floor covering
and found it was loosened and that a
hole barely large enough for mans
shoulders to pass through had been cut
in the flooring by means of a brace
and bit, and then covered up. limbs
had to enlarge the hole to get under
the store.
FIND BOOTY IN CELLAR
At first it seemed impossible to trace
the means of egress from the hole
but while examining the cellar of the
saloon limbs and Biermann discovered
part of the loot hidden in a disused
stairway. In a cigar box the police
man found $51 in nickels, 1900 cigar
checks, valued at $3.50, and IA costly
pipes, valued at $107. Three hundred
and forty dollars in gold had been
taken away. The search was con-
tinued, and the policemen satisfied
themselves that the burglar had crept
lHTOuBu Trap III the SlQG OF the
passageway. A 16 candle power cleo
trio light bulb, attached to several
lengths of wire and fixed so that the
electric wires under the building could
be tapped, was found in the cellar of
the saloon. Both the light bulb and
the loot were discovered in a compart-
ment that is kept locked and was
locked yesterday morning when the
Chinese janitor arrived. The police
also found a brace and bit which it is
presumed was used on the job.
BAR TENDER IS SUSPECTED
Those circumstances put suspicion on
some one connected with the saloon
and on that account Wren picked up
Band.
A peculiar feature of the crime was
that the safe was opened by turning
the combination and no force was
used.
J. E. Tobin, one of the proprietors
of the saloon, said that Band left the
saloon at O'Clock Sunday evening,
and he himself closed the place at a
quarter Of 1 o'clock. He said that no
one went downstairs while he was
there, save young man, who re-
turned. Band was working at the sa-
loon when the robbery In October oc-
CURED. AT that time $500 was taken.