The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1909-01-28
Unknown Thief ConceaIs Himself
In Saloon OF Vim. vo|Imer and
Gets Away With Sis Cash
LOCKED In PLACE SATURDAY
Man is Supposed to Have Waited Until
After Officers Deserted Their
Beats Then Quietly Made
His Getaway

The America. Saloon Of William
Vollmer on Main street was the scene
of mysterious robbery early Sunday
morning and the thief who must have
been a clever worker got away with
fifteen dollars in cash and left behind
no clue to his identity. The money
was not taken from the cash register
or cash drawer, but it had been care
fully concealed by the proprietor of
the saloon when he closed up the place
on Saturday night and for this reason
the case is even more mysterious than
an ordinary burglary the like of which
have been common in Kenosha. The
robbery was discovered at an early
hour Sunday morning when the barten-
der opened the Vollmer saloon for the
day. The rear door to the building
was unlocked and while there was moth
ing to show how the thief had entered
the saloon it was evident that he had
gone out the back door and had not
even gone to the trouble to shut the
door after him. Merchant Police Of
icer William Smith had tried the door
as late as five clock Sunday morning
and ha4 found 1t locked 1t is gen
orally thought that the man concealed
himself in the saloon at closing time
and remained there until after the DO
lice officers had left their beats in the
morning and in the cold gray dawn
slipped out Of the rear door Of the sa-
loon and managed to cover his tracks
SO as to leave no clue behind him. The
saloon was a, busy place on Saturday
night and the place had been crowded
with customers up to closing time
The order to close on time had been
sent out by the chief of police Satur-
day afternoon and Vollmer was in
charge OF the place himself He order
ed every one out of the place at half
past eleven and most Of the men were
out within two minutes Of the time
Then Vollmer proceeded to close up
He took the money out of the cash
register and concealed it in an unusual
place which even now he refuses to
disclose and then carefully closed and
locked the doors. He did not make
any, trip about the place to make sure
that no one was concealed in the room,
but he was in the basement to bank
the fires for the night and when he
came back to the first floor of the
building he went to a, drawer behind
the bar and got the key for the back
door and locked the door. The key is
fitted with safety device so that it
would have been impossible to open it
from the outside. After }ojlmer had
locked the doors he lighted d gas lamp
which it is customary to leave burning
in the building at night and went to
a restaurant for lunch. After lunch
ing he walked past the saloon, but the
light was burning and everything
seemed to be in condition for the night
The light remained burning during the
entire night and it is thought that the
man who robbed the place watched
Vollmer as he concealed the money and
thus licovering the hiding place waited
until after the night was well advanced
and then slipped out of his hiding place
secured the money and made his way
out Of the building through the rear
door, Nothing else in the saloon was
molested. 1t did not appear that even
cigar had been taken from the case
and the liquors on the bar had not
even been changed in any way The
case was reported to the police on Sun
day morning and every possible effort
was made to get some line on the guilty
parties, but without success. The man
who worked the robbery seemed to have
carefully planned his work so that he
got away from the saloon when the
officers had left their beats and he left
absolutely nothing behind by which he
could be traced. It is generally be-
lieved that the man had loafed about
the saloon in the evening and noting
the large crowd had conceived the idea
of concealing himself at closing time
and making the raid Several local
men are suspected Of the crime, but the
police have not been able to secure any
evidence against them as vet.