Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 38, Number 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 October 1905 — BURGLARS FLOOD THE BARGAIN STORE. [ARTICLE]

BURGLARS FLOOD THE BARGAIN STORE.

About six o’clock Sunday morning persons passing the Chicago Bargain Store, heard the sound of falling water, and looking in at the glass doors they saw several inches of water on the floor, and saw water pouring down in big streams from the ceiling, on the east side of the room where the clothing department is. Mr. Forsythe was called from his home, and found the water was coming down from the closet and wash room on the second floor. Investigation showed that burglars had entered the closet from the front hallway and had tried to effect an entrance into the store, by getting through some small win dows in the board partition which separates the closet from the up stairs rooms used by the store. It seemed that about a week be

fore one of these small Windows had been braken but it was not known for certain, at the time that anyone had entered the store, but to be on the safe side Mr. Forsythe had had an iron grating made and strongly nailed across these windows, from the store side. It is now evident that on this first occasion someone entered the store and stole one ol the best suits of clothes in the house. No doubt this same person accompanied perhaps by one or two others, came back for a larger raid, Sunday night. But after breaking out the glass again, and even carefully picking out all the mall -pieces of glass fromthe sash so that they would not cut them selves nor tear their clothes in get ting in, they discovered the iron grating. They then proceeded to pry this off by some implement they had, and| to get at it, the per son stood upon the wash basin on rhe opposite wall of the closet, which is quite narrow. After hav ing pried one end of the grating loose, the fastenings of the washbasin gave way, and went down, no doubt with the burglar with it. This broke both the feed and the waste water pipes,leading into the wash basin, and water of course spouted out in a big stream. That every burglar in the room was soaked before they could get out there is little doubt.

As soon as the leak was discov ered Sunday morning, the watei was shut off, and then some seven or eight men began sweeping it out of tho store with brooms, it being from 3to 6 inches deep, all ovei the main room. It was found that a great deal of clothing was wet and consequently considerably damaged. The boys’ clothing counters got the worst of the wet ring, though men’s suits were soak ed also in very large numbers. The damage done the clothing is mainly from the colors of the lin ings, but of course it greatly in jures their sale. Some of the lies! posted of the clothing department clerks think the total loss will be between SI,OOO and $2,000. The parties who discovered the water and called Mr. Forsythe, were Mr. and Mrs. Verne Robinson.