The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-03-13
BLOW OPEN SAFE
AT POSTOFFICE
rcont,nueo from Page oneI

strewn over the room. Absolutely
everything which was in the safe had
been removed.
For a while today the police
man had participated in the safe
blowing. The report was that a wo-
man had been seen running from the
direction of the postoffice and had
thrown away a pair of women's shoes
at Sixteenth and College avenue, a
Washburn student claiming he had
found pair there. An 1nvestlgatlon,
however, showed that the student was
merely having a little sport with his
friends. The shoes were dancing
pumps, which a college girl had given
him to carry after attending dance
Heard FROM Sleeping Porch:
r. H. Steele, living at 1884 College
avenue, just across the alley from
Station B postoffice, was sleeping on
a sleeping porch.
The explosion awakened HIM ana
by him the exact time at which 1T oc-
Cured is well fixed, for he was not
awakened in time to hear the big
clock in the Thomas gymnasium at
Washburn college strike the hour, but
a clock in the Steele residence, which
is a half minute behind the WASH
burn clock struck three after the ex-
plosion. Steele thought the explosion
came from another direction and
thought that possibly an automobile
tire had "blown out" A dog belong
ing to a neighbor a few doors away,
however, kept barking and prevented
Steele from going to sleep, ana ne
heard someone walk through the mud
in the alley, and at just 3:45 O'Clock
he heard two persons passing the
house, going west. 1t seemed to him
that one was the voice OF negro
The other man had cough. After
the men had left, the dog ceased
barking.
An investigation showed that en-
trance had been made to the building
in a decidedly clever manner. Fol-
lowing the previous robbery, Yale
locks were placed on the doors A
piece of wire was pushed through the
woodwork of the decreasing, so that
the point of it pushed against the
beveledge of the lock and forced it
back. An attempt to open the door
facing on Euclid avenue failed, but the
same method succeeded with the door
opening on the alley.
There is a great deal of mud in
the alley and within four feet of the
door is a place where plainly the man
or men fixed some of the mud to the
right consistency to be plastered over
the crack between the door of the
safe and of the safe proper to hold
the soup" or nitro-glycerine as it was
poured into the safe. This mud,
stained with ashes, is spattered all
over the walls and ceiling of the room
and there are the same stains where
the mud was applied over the crack
of the safe.
Muffled Sound.
Footprints in the mud are those of
small person, and are of peculiar
shape. Police officers followed these
tracks north up the alley. A blanket,
which had been used on a horse, and
which is of peculiar pattern, was used
evidently to muffle the sound of the
explosion. A very large "rat-tail'' file
was also found, as was a tin can with
two small Sits cut in the bottom and
a piece of paper pasted over the Sits.
There was a large hole in the side of
the can, and candle grease and SCOT
on the inside. The suggestion has
been made that this can was used as
lantern. But no way of using it as
such seems possible, and the police
chief and the sheriff are at a loss to
figure out its use A piece of candle
was found in the room. Possibly the
hitting the explosion.
Along with the missing money and
stamps is a bunch of keys which were
locked in the safe. These keys are
used in unlocking mail sacks and will
unlock almost any sack used by the
their loss is of much concern to the
government authorities. The fact
that they were taken indicates that
the robbie. was not an amateur in
postoffice burglaries and realized
their value.
Bert Campbell, who has a confec-
tlonery store and print shop in the
same building was held up about a
month ago by two boys who pointed
a revolver at him and demanded his
money. They secured less than So.
The building has been robbed three
times in three months
Steel Posts and Fencing at Forbes
Adv