The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1910-10-06

hN AitNAAOA vi tnO OilCC VI lllt
Adams Express Company, on west
LaPorte street. was almost wrecked
when burglars blew up the safe
early Tuesday morning. The damage
done by the explosion exceeded by
several times. the amount of booty
secured by the thugs as result OF
their attempt. About twenty-five
dollars i'll money was secured, and
quantity of papers valuable only to
the firm were carried off. The ex-
plosion was a terrific one and was
heard at distance of several blocks
from the scene. The explosion oc-
CURED at exactly 2:10 A. NJ, as
noted by Joseph Glaub, third trick
operator at the Pennsylvania rail
road telegraph tower. Within ten
minutes a good sized crowd was at
the scene of the robbery. All of the
neighbors in the vicinity were awak.
ened, and rushed to the burglariz-
ed Office. Nightwatchman Mitt
Mckinney was at the scene five
minutes after the explosion. Evid-
entally the robbers worked hard and
fast after the explosion, to secure
the contents of the safe, and make
their escape Besides the money
and papers taken from the wrecked
safe. strong box, made of steel and
weighing about seventy-fve pounds,
was carried away bodily. Express
agent, Oscar g. Curtis stated this
that the box was empty, al
though locked.
Thugs Miss Valuables.
The most valuable contents of the
safe namely two finger rings, one al
fine diamond, and the other a moon.
stone, were missed by the robbers.
Those pieces of jewelry, together
with about four dollars in change,
were found in the plastering on the
floor, by Milton E. Soice. who resid-
es across the street from the ex-
press Office. Mr.. SOice was one of.
the first on the scene, and entered
the Office at once. The two rings
were received by the office too late
for delivery Monday evening, and
were consigned to residents of this
city.
Force of Explosion.
The safe was located in the rear
of the building with its door fac
ING the front of the frame structure.
The office is small room about
ID feet wide by % feet long. The
force of the explosion, blew the
door from the safe and hurled it
for fifteen feet into the front wall
and just below the ceiling. Two
large holes were torn completely |
through this front wall. All of the
windows in the front and side of |
the room were destroyed by the
powerful blast When agent Curtis
reached the scene ten minutes after,
the interior of the room. resembeled |
a fire scene. Plastering was strewed |
on the floor, smoke was issuing from |
the broken windows, and the room
was in haze. A quick survey show
ed that the room was badly damag-
eel. Entrance was affected through |
n SI1a fhn .rlacc af x.-h. .ol, |
was broken out, and the window un-
latched. The burglars made their exit
through the rear door Footprints |
in the mud, showed that there were
two burglars. The tracks were
traced to the Pennsylvania tracks
near the freight house. and there
lost. There were no freight trains
leaving soon after the burglary, and |
every train leaving the city since
that time has been carefully watch
ed. by local and railroad officers,
and detectives.
Girl Sees Burglars.
Miss Chloe Zentz, who resides di- !,
rectly across the street from the
Adams Express office, perceived the
robbers, Immediately after the ex-
plosion, while they were in the act
of securing the plunder blown from
the safe. Miss Zentz has been in
poor health for some time, and was
sleeping lightly when awakened by
the noise. To a reporter For the
Tribune she told of what she saw.
Shortly after two clock, | was
awakened by the terrific noise" she
said, "and hurried to the window
of my room, to see what caused the
explosion. My room is upstairs,
and faces the street. / saw two men
One was standing in the front
doorway. and the other was on the
inside. The man on the inside |
struck a match. and leaned over,
searching the floor. He remained
In t he room only a few seconds, not
over minute, when they both dis
appeard behind the building" Miss
Lentz saw only hazy view of the
men, but was sure there were two.
The one on the inside could only be
seen when he struck matches. The
one who stood guard, seemed to be
exceptionally broad shouldered,
otherwise of average size. She does
not believe that she could identify
them.
Find Small Safe.
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