The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-12-14
Goes Store at 119 East Sixth
Ave. Point of Attack
Is WORK OF EXPERTS
Lock Neatly Blown With Charge
OF Nitroglycerin-
R.,eave No Glue Behind Them for
Police.

The safe in the private office Of p
G. Coe of the Coe Feed and Seed com
panv at 11s East Sixth street was
blown open last night and robbed OF
money and checks aggregating S1oo-
frank Clark. foreman OF the Coe es-
+ahlishnent. was the first person TO
enter the store this morning and dis
covered the broken safe and the dls-
ordered condition Of the office
The combination lock on the door
Of the safe was knocked off by blow
with q tvvelve-pound sledge hammer
and 8 charge of nitroglycerfn was in
serted and touched off The door was
ba5lv damaged. but not blown off its
hinges and it IS the opinion Of every
ner~on who has seen it that the work
resulted through the efforts OF an ex-
-arr safe blower who was so familiar
vffb the power and installation OF the
charge that they knew exactly how
rnueh of a charge would be necessary
4o break the lock and not tear the
door off its hinges.
safe Was FirepPoof
The safe is a small one and sup
posed to have been freproof- BEFORE
touching of the charge the safe blow
srs nut SOAP in the seam of the door
and the safe across the bottom out
\rorts to find other traces Of soap we're
u1successful- II Is evident that after
puttfug in the charge the glycerIne
ran down toward the bottom OF the
door a. the cement and fire clay which
vrss used as the lining was shattered
below the lock but not above II me
sheet iron which constituted the inner
side of the door was oent ana DloNh
hack AGAINST the inner door II also
showed signs Of being battered BY the
explosion The inside Of the door
around the edges, which IS made or
cast iron, was broken out from top
10 the bottom excepting a Shorf piece
al either end Fragments OF the lock
IN the outside door We're found streTn
around in the Office and the door pre-
inside but does not show i'll use on
the outside
Lock Knocked on
The inner door did not have a COM
biuatfou lock on 1t but was locked with
\ kew. The handle on this was knocked
or and the lock on the inside is gone
Sut parts OF II was found inside and on
the floor in front Of the safe dlfTer-
ence of opinion exists concerning the
manner of opening the inner door
Some believe that this was broken with
a small charge of the glycerine while
others believe that il was broken by
the concussiOn of the charge which op-
ened the outer door Evidence of both
noted which indicates a second shot
The lock is gone but the screws which
held it are in the door In addition 10
that books which were in the safe are
damaged apparently BY flying parts Of
the lock The books are cut as II
struck by -he flying parts
once inside the two doors. third
1oclx on a small partition was encoun-
tered but a blow from the siedge
hammer burst the door and the rob
hers took the contents of the strong
box The contents consisted OF money
and checks aggregatfng at least 500. I
but this was considerably more tnan
IS usually kept in the safe Mr. Coe
explained that the business after bank /
ing hours was heavier than usual yes
terday and that number Of collec-
tons were made which caused them /
70 leave more money IN the safe than
IS customary
Used Diamond to Cut Glass.
The robbers gained an entrance by |
climbing over a gate in the rear of
the building and then breaking the
glass in the rear door. a diamond was /
used in cutting the glass so as 10 make /
a hole large enough for small man 70 /
enter. Once in. the bars were removed +
and the door opened They advanced I
to the office. which is probably twenty 4
or twenty-five feet from the front Of
the building, and began operations
The Office IS so constructed. that I
through the other obstruetfons in the I
front Of the building. that 1t was easy
for the men to accomplish their task I
Without heing detected by the passersbE I
On sixth street OF course they worked 4
with not any more noise than was ab- +
soIutely necessary and the explosion OF i
the charge would not have been greater 4
than that Of an ordinary cap pistol and 4
would proba ably not have been heard by 4
rarSOu had one been standing in I
front OF the building The sledge ham I
mer was left in the office and IS now
in the hands Of the police
Took Everything in Sight.
A number of pennies. not more than
25. were left in the cash register but
these were found and taken by the rob
bers In addition 70 that every re-
-eutacle in the Office and in the safe
.vss searched and the robbers took ev-
srvthing in sight that had any COM
merciaI value
IT K Coe. son of D o. Coe. was the
second person to enter the building,
/ ~ af+er hearing the story of George
:. clark. the foreman. who discovered
he broken safe. began an inveStiga-
'iou He was unable to discover any
,avr feature that would assist in fer
-etiuz the mystery or aid the officers
n esta blishing a clue that viii be Of
nv ,5Se to them D O. Coe hurried
= the store and Detectives Frank
4 r-r1ers and Otto Anderson were
lAr4 rn make an investigation by Chief
3r Police Maurice jenkins Chief
Jenkins and a number of other officers
szments of the combination and
aarts Of the inner part of the door OF
he safe were found strewn all over
he office but in the immediate vicin-
II Of the broken safe. One piece
which could not be located was blown
fcontinued on Page Two.l