The San Francisco call., 1908-04-12

ooroecA From there they wa1Eeo
calmly through W8eAman,s front door
% the street
LEAVE sB.TCET CLEw
Except for the rnaFveious workman
ship with waich they wrought their
ends and the tools with which they had
opened the safe the robbers lsft no
olevrA But the police declare thet the
sob must have been done by en- organ
ized gang ot expert oraokenen. con-
sistang oc thros men &C the very least
and possibly nve,
The robbery occurred some time be-
tween IL o'olook Friday night aid $3.50
O'Clock yesterday morning when Spe-
cisl Policeman Montgomery Houston
found the front door OF the candy store
swinging wide open. With the lock
smashed TO pieces. Yet suxh care had
the robbers taken 30 conceal their real
work long enough TO enahle them TO
7Aze good their escape that tie riding
of the safe was not discovered for an
hour iRtsN
Some time between the hours named
the robbers approached Wiohman's
candy shop. This is directly next door
70 the tewelry store on the west and
only an tnoh plank wan ssparasas the
two tneor3ocs. Waiting their une
when no one wes Ia sight. O powerful
pxsh On the door broke the lock and
enabled them TO make their entsanoe
70 the candy shop. In which they did
all their preliminary work. Thstr syU-
temstto operations here have convinced
the police beyond doubt that the coup
had been most carefully planned. per-
baps for weeks ahead. for the desper-
edOes knew as book every nook snd
corner OF the jewelers. and the candy
merchants.
HOLE 9EzROUGH CLOSET
IN the resr OF the candy store Is q
ANAL clothes closet and behind that
IS q lav2tory. The me0 nrst attacked
the north wall Of the lavatory. intsnd-
ing 70 make their way TO q laYztogy Ia
the rear OF the jewelers.. But they
struck lead pipes and abandoned the
attempt Then closing the outer door
0f the clothes closet SO that they
couldn't be seen from the street they
bored holes with an asgar through 1--WE
boards in the wall. then sawed along
the line OF holes. Pulling out the
boards they had sawed, they had en-
entrance three feet high and big
enough 20 crawl through into the jew
elry store.
Then with hve-sixteenthsi inch steel
drill they attacked the steel door OF
the safe. They only bored one hole
that was enough. With remarkable
precision. indicating that they knew
the construction OF safes TO the m3nut-
est detail. the robbers drilled directly
under the combination and into the pin
that holds the tumblers by which the
combination Is worked Il they had
bored so much as sn eighth OF an inch
on either side they would have missed
this vulnerable point ana the work
would have gone for naaght. But the
drill hit it sQuarely IN the center. A
smashing blow with q ooid chisea. the
tumblsrs fell useless and the safe door
swung open at the turn Of a wrist
Then II was simpla
TAKE EVERYTHING OF VALUE
The oraclsmea rihed the 40 little
wooden drawers containing traya of
diamonds eme1aidE, pearls and other
Jewelry, and then went through the
snow cases and took everything else
ol value They made q clean sweep.
Every diamond IN the house they stole
They got lot OF emeralds, solid gold
watch chains, loolets, jeweled cun
INKS and rings. Among the booty was
case OF 100 diamond rings and 500
solid gold wedding rings The robbers
with keen discrimination left watches.
gold plated 5ewelry and cheaper Sfones.
The police believe that two men did
he inside work. while one man and
perhaps three. remained on the street
as lookouts- While one man drilled the
safe they think the other one went
through the showcases and took everv-
thing Of value.
When they left by way of Wich
mans store the robbers smashed the
oash register. but finding only a dollar
Ia small change. they left 1t there They
stole big jar OF salted almonds.
FINDS DOOR OPEN
Special Policeman Montgomery
o'clock In the morning. when he saw
that the door OF the candy store was.
Wioe open he rushed inside and. find
Ing that the place had evidently been.
robbed, telephoned TO Wichman. In thA
meantime the. departing robbers had
taken the precaution of closing the
door OF the clothes closet, inside of
which they had cut the partition
through the wall, and It wasn't until
Wichman himself POUNDS II an hour
later that the police learned the Jew
elry store had been entered
Lunoy declared last night that he
was completely ruined by the robbery.
He did not carry q cent OF insurance
on any OF his goods
7 have just house and lot left at
s9f Stanyan street, and they may have
70 take that. too" he said He was al
most prostrated by the AFFAIR
Until q complete inventory has been
made OF the stock on hand. the exact
amount OF the loss cannot be told. but
Lundy said that il would probably
reach at least $4,000. Two experts
from the jewelers. association were GO
Ing over the stock yesterday, and a Gu
rious crowd Of people that hung about
the store was barred from entrance.
Six months ago q similar effort TO
enter the Jewelry store was made. but
that time the attempt was made TO
saw hole through the rear wall from
the quarters OF the Waterman foun-
tain pen company. The would be rob-
bers then We're foiied because they
missed the jewelry shop altogether
when they tore out the boards in the
wall
On the floor beside the safe the po-
lice found heavy siedge hammer, a
monkey wrench and the drill that had
been used in boring through the door.
There was also a rubber bag IN which
the tools had been carried.
At the time the robbery was com
mifted the interior of the store was
brilliantly lighted. There was one
electric arc near the door, another d.
rectly over the safe and a third IN a
business Office built above the floor.