The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-03-03
SAFE CRACKERS
ROB STORE OF
ROWE & KELLY
Blow Safe in Early Evening,
Securing Cash and VaIu-
able Securities.
WORK OF EXPERTS Is
CLEARLY INDICATED
JOB ATTRIBUTED TO CRACKS.
MEN WHO INVADED MAR
RIOTT'S STORE.
LOOK OUR FOR CHECKs.

= LOOK OUR FOR CHECKS. =
q" The booty taken from the Rowe =
= & Kelly store included about $3.50 :.
= in Endorsed checks. The propTie- :.
= tors wish to warn the public ::
= against cashing any of this paper. =
2 = . Q @ g q g % 9 - g 9 . 9vSS ,
Safe-crackers invaded Main street
last night and blew open the safe in
the Rowe & Kelly companys clothing
store. 132-1S4 South Main street The
robbery was committed some time be-
tween 6 and 9 o'clock last night, when
Main street was crowded with people.
The thieves carried off more than 500
in gold and currency, about $3.50 in in
dorsed and negotiable checks, 500 in
other checks, $4,000 worth of mining
stock, some shares in business CON
Germs. silver watch and gold ring.
Their work indicates that they were
the same men who forced open the safe
in ]. NJ. Marriott's market, % West
First South street, on Wednesday
night
Both crimes are puzzling problems
for the police to solve. The robberies
acquainted with Salt Lake, or are dar-
ing thieves who make careful and
painstaking preparations before break
ing into a building.
1t is hard for the police To under
stand how the robbers could have
gained the information which must
have been necessary for them to sue
cessfully carry out last nights exploit.
The Rowe & Kelly store was entered
from the rear. The safe-crackers first
pushed open a door which was braced
he rtrfHn frTr Of
This admitted them into a small shed.
There they found their way barred by
a heavy door, secured by a heavy bar,
resting in iron brackets. AS there was
no lock TO pick, the robbers smashed in
a panel of the door. They had appar-
emily provided themselves with suit
able tools for this.
Forced to Use Explosive.
When they got inside. they must
have attempted TO make short work of
getting into the safe, following the plan
that was successfully carried out in
the Marriott robbery. The knob of the
combination was knocked of and a
punch was apparently driven into the
hole, in the expectation that the tum-
blers would fall, making the work Of
opening the safe easy. But things did
not work as smoothly in the Rowe K
Kelly store as at the Marriott market
1t was necessary for the robbers TO
use nitrOglycerine. They were pre-
pared for this emergency. First gath
ering up armfuls of shirts, overaHs,
clothing and other articles from the
stock of the store, they made a rough
mattress for the safe door to fall upon.
This was for the purpose of deadcning
the sound. when the big iron door
should fall. AS it was, there must have
been considerable noise. and it is con-
sidered remarkable that none of the
many passers in Main street had their
attention attracted by what was going
on in the store.
Lay of the Land.
The safe occupies a position in the
store about sixty feet from the side
walk. and while it cannot be seen from
the street, it would have been easy for
persons on the sidewalk to look through
the big glass windows in the front of
the store and see the safecrackers NOV
ing about inside. So far as the police
were able to learn last night, no person
walking i'm Main street last night no
ticed anything strange in the Rowe &
Kelly store.
The thieves, after blowing off the safe
door, had no difficulty in forcing open
the interior door and opening the tin
box inside. containing the money and
valuable papers. The money belonged
to the company. The mining shares,
the watch and the ring were the prop
erty of William 7. Rowe, president Of
the company.
To successfully carry out their plan
to rob an important Main street store,
the safecrackers must not only have
gained information concerning the
means of entering the place, but of the
habits of the night Waterman. George
Houghton. He goes on duty at o'clock
at night.
The store closes at 6 o'clock in the
evening. Usually, fifteen minutes or a
half hour pass before all of the en-
ployes have passed out of the building
and the doors are closed for the night.
This gave the robbers less than three
Continued on page 2.