New Ulm review., 1922-10-25
BELIEVE AMATEURS
BROKE /; INTO BANK
TRAIL OF BANDITS LEADS
TOWARD NEW ULM.
GLOVES FOUND. @..'Gs
OXYGEN TANK STOLEN FROM
SOUTH DAKOTA GARAGE
IN SEPTEMBER. g..

The robbers of the Klossner State
bank last Wednesday evening, October
Is, were amateurs who were familiar
with the interior of the bank. They
fled in the directio0 of New Ulm and
the oxygen tank which they left in
their haste was stolen in September
from garage at Mount Vernon, S. d.
These are additional facts in the
case which have been developed during
the past week by the Investigations of
Sheriff Norman of Nicollet county,
Sheriff Julius of Brown county, Chief
Alvin Harmening of New Ulm and
George H. Vetter, cashier of the bank
Bandits We're Amateurs.
The officers are of the opinion that
the bandits were amateurs for several
reasons. They were evidently fright
ened away by the unusual amount of
commotion in the village between mid
night and a. m. So rapid was their
flight that they failed to take their
oxygen tank, although no one has
been found who saw them. They were
only able to get hole through the
vault door after previous unsuccessful
attempt to cut the bolts with their
acetyline torch. Once in the vault
they depended upon matches and
candles for their light in place of using
flash lights.
Fled Toward New Ulm.
Investigation has shown that the
robbers fled toward New Ulm, for
Thursday morning three rubber gloves
were found on the road half mile
south of Klossner. Two of the gloves
were for the left hand. One of the
gloves had the index finger missing and
this part was found in the vault.
Following the robbery Mr.. Vetter
received letter from the Beisen
garage at Mount Vernon, S. D., asking
for the number of the oxygen tank
left by the bandits. When he wrote
that it bore the number 4060 and was
manufactured by the Balbach COM
pany at Omaha, the garage replied
that the tank had been stolen from it
on September rs, 1922. The Balbach
company in letter to Sheriff Julius
explained that the tank had been
sold last August to B. W. Taylor of
Mitchell, S. D. and he in turn had dis
posed of it to the Beisen Garage at
Mount Vernon. When the tank was
discovered it still had 900 pounds
pressure of total capacity of 5000
pounds. The tank will be shipped to
the Beisen garage.
Loss Reaches $128.13. .
A final check completed by Mr..
Vetter shows that the bandits secured
$98.13 in addition to $50 in War
Savings stamps. Of the cash $3.50
was in pennies and $32 in nickles.
The money was the bank cash which
had not been deposited in the safe in
side the vault.
The war savings stamps were the
property of Martin Schnobrich and
were in his safety deposit box. The
robbers took deeds, mortgages, notes,
life and fire insurance policies of Mr..
Schnobrich. The bandits also stole
valuable papers from the boxes of
Henry Durbahn and the Klossner
Creamery company. From the
Creamery saftey box they secured
deedc, certificates of Incorporation, by
laws, real estate mortgage, and fire
and tornado insurance policies.
Failed to Crack Safe.
In their haste the bandits failed to
crack the safe inside cf the vault
and overlooked 500 in currency which
had been placed in the general ledger
for safe keeping by Mr.. Vetter. We'd
nesday evening the Creamery associa-
ton met in the bank and deposit of
S100 was made. Since the vault was
closed Mr.. Vetter concealed the money
in the ledger. ii
The burglars entered the building 6
first through the basement windo W but
were blocked by not being able to
open the basement door. They then
cut the screen from a rear window
and pried open the window.
Open Vault Door
Using an acetyline torch the bandits
cut hole through the vault door and
slipped back the bolts. They localized
the heat of the torch by dipping
sponges in pail OF water. The pail
had been stolen from the school one
half mile away.
Automobile Breaks Down. III
The trend of events which is be-
lieved by Chief Alvin Harmening Of
the New Ulm police department, to
have resulted in the robbers leaving
AZ