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DARING BURGLARY: Safe in W.F. Stute’s Saloon Blown Open and $51 in Cash Stolen From It

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This is a newspaper clipping found today tucked in the Cram’s Unrivaled Family Atlas of the World published in 1891. The clipping has written on in pencil March 21, 1922. There was no indication of what newspaper it was but we checked the Hector Mirror March/April 1922 newspaper and didn’t find a mention of the burglary.

“Hector was the scene of a daring robbery Thursday night, or early Friday morning. The safe of W.F. Stute’s saloon was blown open and the robbers made away with $51 in cash. The culprits were evidently “onto the job,” for the safe cracking had all the signs of being done by experts.

“The blacksmith shop of G.F. Berggren was entered and some of his tools stolen, which were found afterwards in the saloon. The thieves first broke off the dial of the combination lock, drilled in and put in a charge of dynamite. The explosion completely wrecked the safe, blowing the door several feet against the partitions. The glass in the door and also the cigar showcase was shattered, while the oak woodwork of the door and partitions was demolished. The sum of $51, which was in the safe, was gone.

Suspicion for the burglary rests on two young fellows who were seen around town Thursday afternoon, but who could not be found the next day. One of them is a son of respectable parents living near town and the other resides in the neighboring town. They were in the saloon in the afternoon and in the early evening were seen down the track having a very confidential conversation with each other. Late in the evening one of the youths applied to Liverman Brown for permission to sleep in the barn but was refused. Brown, however, offered to pay for a bed at the Clifton, which the fellow accepted. There he told Landlord Dodge that he wished to get up at 5 o’clock and was given an alarm clock. The next morning he was gone and the alarm dial of the clock showed that it had been set for 1:45 a.m.

The county attorney was notified of the case the next day and with Sheriff Vick is now hunting up the burglars. It is quite likely that they will be captured.