The Daily Record

Safe Cracker
(Continued From Page One)
according to a large wall clock inside the building which was stopped by the blast.

TWO STICKS USED
The safe-cracker used at least two sticks of six per cent dynamite, tied to the combination knob of the safe, the chief said. The charge was set off by a spark from two dry-cell flashlight batteries. The chief and Sgt. A. A. Cobb, who is assisting in the investigation, found the batteries still attached to a 15-foot length of wire just outside the rear door of the building. The wire itself was made of six short pieces of cord taken from electric lamps.

There was some speculation that the safe-cracker may have been injured in the blast, since the wire and batteries barely reached outside the door, less than 10 feet away from the point of the explosion.

Chief Jackson admitted that he was baffled by a lack of clues, other than the batteries and wire. The surface of the safe, he said, will be examined for latent fingerprints.

BROKE GLASS PANE
The blaster gained entrance to the building by breaking a pane of glass in the rear door, then reaching in and releasing the night latch. He then placed the dynamite and ran the wires outside the door.

Chief Jackson said the weak charge in the small batteries made it necessary for the safe-cracker to rub the bare ends of the wires together to generate sufficient spark to detonate the dynamite. He surmised that the one who set off the blast was familiar with dynamite, but was no experienced safe-cracking artist.

The crime was discovered at 7:30 by Levander Moore, shop foreman at Sash, Door and Millwork Company. Moore then called owner Pearsall, who informed the police of the deed.

Pearsall said there was little money in the safe. Most of the damage was done to his personal and company records and to glass in the office windows, he declared. Pearsall added that the building is partially covered by insurance.

The blast tore the cover off a portable typewriter, took an arm off a chair and loosened panels in the ceiling. Every window screen on the building was knocked loose and a small desk calendar was sent flying 10 feet out into the yard.

WALL IS CRACKED
The front wall of the building was cracked most of its length on the inside, but the concrete block outer walls were left intact.

The safe itself is a large squarish block about four feet high, three feet deep and three-and-a-half feet wide. It was brought in three years ago to replace the former safe, which was badly damaged in an attempt to open it.

"This is the worst mess I've seen in a lifetime of police work," Chief Jackson declared. "This was done by some shyster who knew how to use dynamite."

Then he added:
But a man who really knew how to blow a safe would have drilled a hole in the door and used nitroglycerin.

Spared damage in the blast were six unmounted doors in racks. Somehow the shock of the blast spared the glass panels in the doors: but shattered the window panes beyond them.