The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1922-04-21
OPEN TWO VAULTS
CRACK SAFES ALSO
But Amount Obtained
Runs About $500
PHONE LINES SLASHED
Bank At Garvin Received Visit
From Thieving Element;
Got Nothing

hours Of twelve and three broke
in the back door of the Farmers
State bank, here and attempted
to blow up the vault. Two at
lacks were made. but the door
would not break, holding fast
on the bottom. Giyeerine was
used. The large plate glass in
! front Of the bank was shattered
and there was considerable dam
age done inside also. All the
| surrounding towns heve been
notified with the request to be
| on the lookout for any strange
! they came by car, but not one
got onto any of the morning
trains, so it is believed they
must have come by automobile.
The yeses failed to secure any
money from the bank.
Safeblowers opened TWO vaults
and a safe at the main Office of the
Standard Oil company, this city, and
the safe in the service station at
| the corner of Byron and West From
! streets last night and n ade a get
away with something over 5000 in
cash, $4,000 in checks and several
$25 gasoline coupon books. Both
vaults and the safe at the main and
second floors practically wrecked as
to fixtures, decorations and furni-
| ture.
No means of getting an accurate
check on the loss were available to-
| day and the matter of the loss is
largely guesswork although it is
known that little actual cash was in
either place. At the filling station
no checks were taken. the robbers
combining their wants to the cash in
the safe.
Window Was Forced.
Not much information as to the
procedure at the main office is
available today but that the filling
station the work Of the yeggs is
quite apparent A window was fore.
ed with a Jimmy and a drill used
on the safe and the combination
opened in that way. There was no
noise connected with that proce-
dure and no damage to the furnish
ings other than the drilling into the
combination. The loss was dis
covered by the station attendant,
John l.. Harris, when he went to
work there this morning.
Figures on loss were estimated
| today by Chief Clerk r. W. Pinney
and no effort was made to give an
| accurate figure at this time. Mr..
| Pinney and Manager NJ. H. Ches
brough called all Standard Oil Off
ces in this part of the state notify
ing them to be on the lookout for
the coupon books and checks, ETC.
While the local officers were en-
gagged in going over their loss this
morning, they received phone
message from the Minneapolis Of
| g.. f~oro fhou nnfi6a d nf
the robbery of four Standard service
stations in Minneapolis last night.
| All wires leading into the local
office were cot, presumably before
the fireH orks began last night. No
| telephone communication into the
office here was possible until about
$50 this morning when local tele-
phone workmen had made the nee
essary repairs.
Further investigation today dis
closed that the thieves had taken a
bundle OF sixty eight voucher
check numbers A-80632 to A $1,000
inclusive. All bills receivable By
the local office were also taken and
it is probable that these two bund.
les will be thrown away as soon as
the yeggs discover that they are Of
no use TO them. Should anyone
find either of these sets Of papers,
it would aid the police greatly If
the department or the county sher
in were notified Immediately.
Presented Scene of Chaos
The interior of the main offics
of the company presented a scene
of chaos this morning. The terri
fic blasts which blew on the vault
doors had more than done their
work. In the lower room, where
nd rSfF h0
heavy steel door was blown a dis
lance OF twenty i've or thirty feet
and the door took toll as it few. A
railing was torn completely loose
from the floor, light fixtures were
knocked from the ceiling and three
large windows were shattered.
Mahogany desks with which the
big room is furnished, were cut ana
married by flying steel and the
whole conglomeration is covered
with a coating of fine dust that was
shaken of the plaster on the walls.
in the upper room where the big
door operation was repeated, prac-
tically the same situation obtains.
from that blast and the terrific
force of the flying door was illus
trated by the manner in which a
swivel chair was slowed under d
desk. The door hit the chair with
sufficient force to shear of the
back of the chair and securely
wedge the legs and seat under the
desk.
Within the upstairs vault was a
small safe which was also blown.
The door of the small safe was the
heaviest of the three torn of, but
it was a clean job and nothing re-
manned but half of the hinges. All
three doors were bent and twisted
by the charge.
Neighbor Heard Noise
Mrs. John M. Siebenbrunner, VINO
lives Just two doors from the main
office of the Standard Oil company
stated to The Free Press today that
all during the night the family dog
was restless and barked most OF
the night. She stated that it was
unusual for the dog to bark in the
nisht and attributed .ae canine !;
agitation to some prowler around
l 81 IF tho