Evening journal., 1914-01-27
THIEVES STEAL
METER LETTING
GAS ESCAPE
Lives Of ROOmjng House OC-
CupsntS Endangered by
Daring Night RObber
ALSO TAKE CLOTHING;
LEAVE SILVER BEHIND

Thieves last night robbed the home OF
Dr. Il. 2. Zun. at No. 4O7 Delaware
avenue, of its gas meter. containing
aboni 50 IN quarters stripped the family
washing iiom tine ciotheslme which had
been lsli i'm the back yard over night,
niadc neat bundle of the silyerwme in
the house. but We're evidently frightened
away. for they left the silverware be-
hind. As result Of the gas escaping
frmn ihe pipes which went into the
meteor. the lives of those in the house
and h the adjoining house were endan-
eered. and had il not been that one Of
thc occupants OF the adjoining house
wa. awakened by tbe gas fumes, death
might have followed as consequence
9i the robbry.
Although one OF the thieves was -een
by a man who was passing the house
aud th, police notified. no arrests have
been made II is not known how the
thieves entered the house. But il is
thou ht they entered by way OF the
kitchen window This morning the win
dow was found open by Miss Margaret
Valentine. who is DR.. Iuill's housekeep
er and the table, which was left against
the window. was moved back into the
room. lt also IL possible that entrance
was made by way of the front door. as
ihe house l. rooming house and The
key 10 the front door Is left hanging ON
nail in the ycstib-iic all night.
Before entering The house the thieves
stripped the clothes line of the entire
family wash with the exception OF a
few articles which they could not use.
Practically an of Miss Valentine
clothes were taken. together with d
largc iableclotl aud tour dozen napkins
and other srSall articles
IN fobbiug the meter the thieves
showed That they had absolutely no fc.
gard ior the lives of the occupants OF
the house. The entire meter WAS torn
trom the wall of the cellar, the lead
pipe. being badly twisted and scratched
up. showing that the men went at their
work with a feeling OF safety and were
not afraid Of arou-ing the occupants of
ihc house. After tearing away the me.
ter ihoy tied bhic handkerchief aronnd
thc ldls from the gas main and at
Tempted 10 stop the flow of gas in that
lnnner When The police ionnd il the
aas was issuing from the broken pipe
lilsr water. in the cellar was also found
B ,biit pirk. Ihe pick bad evidently
CONS, n hands p iragie= he aaeirf
t-n1f n irail- Ait.f io ori0-k id-t
right Df Zunl had gone 70 the cellar
and placed q quarter in thc meter iie
stated this morning that he Thought be-
tween - and s. WAS in the meter At
the time It was taken. Early this morn
n., the badly v-twsted meter was found
behind an ash barrel in tho vicinity OF
Thirteenth and West streets. The
money had been taken from it.
aiiss Valentine did not know until
late this morning that any attempt had
hccn made 10 steal the silvcrware OF
the mouse. While cleaning mp she dis
covered that SPOONS. knives and lork
and other articles were missing aud sh'
began to search for them. Behind the
lndiatur In flc dmineroom she iound q
bundle of ~ilverware tied up iu a nap
kin. The thieves had evidently become
frightened and thrown It there Whether
any ether articles were taken IS ho'
known.
Miss Valentine declared she smelt
very little gas in the house. The FIRST
she knew of the robbery was when
she was awakened by DR.. Zuill about
100 O'Clock this morning. When
She came down stairs she found tue
neighbors and policemen on the
scene. As a result of her expert
rnce she is i'll this morning, and q
physician had TO be called TO at
tend her.
The gas leak was discovered by
Mrs. Mary II. Vandegrift, mother Of
Mrs. Cornelius d. Pordham. who
Keeps a r0oming house at 4OS Del
aware avenue. Early this morning
she was awakened by the smell o.
gas and found the house full OF u
She called to her daughter. who
awakened AIR Pordham, and he, viii
w. ID. Brown, roomer Went down
stairs to investigate. The first thing
they did was to open the windows
and then went to TIE cellar, but the
gas odor was so strong there that
they were afraid to light match
While they we're moving around th'
house they saw two policemen stand
ing outside. Fhey called to the Off
GERS and the officers asked them 4
they were looking for gas. The OF
fcers came into the house and wen
down cellar with their flashlights
ard after searching the cellar, de
cided that the gas must be coming
from Dr. Zullls house.
& The party went to the Iuill hous
aud entered the cellar. Mr.. Brow
M Vas a former rOomer in the house an
Knew all about the cellar. When tn
police got In the cellar the officer
Continued on Page Eight.