Jasper County Democrat, Volume 18, Number 60, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 October 1915 — ROBBERS MAKE BIG HAUL. [ARTICLE]

ROBBERS MAKE BIG HAUL.

Valparaiso Jewelry Store Robbed of SB,OOO Worth of Diamonds. Valparaiso, Ind., October 23. Burglars early today perpetrated the most daring robbery iiere in recent years when they forced open a rear window at the jewelry store of Gdo. Beach, a ctty councilman, in the heart of the business district, and took virtually all the stock of 'iliamonds. The loss is SB,OOO. The showcases and display windows were ransacked. Twenty-eight gold watches also were taken. The safe in which the diamonds were kept was opened by some one who had come in possession of the combination, and a skeleton key provided easy access to the strong box inside. Tenants on the second floor were undisturbed in their slumbers and the thieves accomplished their work without leaving the slightest clew. The city’s lighting system is operated on a “moonlight” schedule and all the alley lights were out. This afforded the robbers the opportun-

ity sought to enter the store from rear, since an electric sign and window lights “made entrance from the front impossible. Less than ten feet away stands a police patrol box from which the officers turn in reports

every hour. The theft was not discovered until morning, when Beach opened the sale. When'the news of the robbery became generally known there was a stampede of customers to the store to learn whether articles of jewelry taken there for repair or alterations had been stolen. Their fears were unfounded, for the thieves seemingly refused to steal anything but diamonds and watches which bore no workman’s memorandum tag. The police assert the theft was too daring and cleverly executed for amateurs. Beach estimates his loss at SB,OOO.