The $40 Prize Burglary That Came Up Through the Floor

A very clever piece of criminal work was done sometime Friday night or early yesterday morning, when a wooden box containing $40 in cash was stolen from the show window of the Famous Clothing Co. at 700 and 702 Front Street. The police are working on the case, but as yet have made no arrests. The box had a glass front, behind which could be seen the cash, fastened with mucilage to a sheet of paper. There was a lock to the box and about 2,000 keys, one of which would open the lock. Any person who purchased $2 worth of goods got a key, and the possessor of the lucky key was to receive the $40. Some time ago Chief Rogers notified the proprietor of the store that the money box ought not to be left in the window overnight, as it tempted burglars. After this it was put in the safe until last Tuesday, since which time it had been left in the window, owing to the trouble of crawling over the clothing in the window every time the box was removed. When I. J. Lewis, president of the company, arrived at the store yesterday morning he noticed that the box was gone from its place and that two coats were drawn up in such a manner as to cover the place where the box stood. The advertising card that was kept on top of the box was lying in the window. Thinking that the box might have been put in the safe, he commenced an investigation. It was not there, and the clerks said it was left in the window. Mr. Lewis then examined the back door of the store and found no trace of a burglar. Then he went down into the basement through the stairs on Cherry Street and discovered that the padlock to the basement door had been broken. His next discovery was the money box. Its glass front was broken out and the money was missing. Directly under the show window in the basement was a large dry-goods box, and on top of it, fitting up to the ceiling, was a stepladder. The condition of the ceiling told what had taken place. With an inch bit someone had bored holes through three thicknesses of flooring and taken out a piece large enough to pass the money box through. The floor covering the show window had been cut, but in such a manner that it could be made to fit back in place after the box had been taken down. The hole was bored as straight as a die, showing that no one but a man skilled in the use of a bit stock could have done it. The company announced that, although the money had been stolen, the possessor of the lucky key would be paid just the same. The money stolen was about $45: $40 in bills, a number of silver dollars, quarters and halves.