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Tracking
Southern Oregon Safes "Here and There," Democratic Times, June 22, 1883, page 3 HANDSOME SAFES.--Several parties in this county have been investing in safes from the well known San Francisco house of Raymond & Wilshire, agents for McNeale & Urban, and in every case have been fully satisfied with their purchase. We have no hesitancy in recommending this firm, as we know whereof we speak when we say that they do as they agree to and furnish only superior goods. Democratic Times, Jacksonville, July 6, 1883, page 3 [Bank of Ashland receives safe made by Hall Safe and Lock Company] Ashland Tidings, July 11, 1884, page 3 Angle & Plymale of Medford have added a fine 2,500 pound, double door safe to their establishment which looks as if they were going into the banking business. "Local Items," Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, August 9, 1884, page 3 Angle & Plymale, the enterprising Medford merchants, have invested in a huge safe. They evidently intend to do a big business. "Here and There," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, August 15, 1884, page 3 The Sentinel of last Saturday says: An effort was made to break open John Orth's safe one night this week but the robbers were evidently scared off before they could complete the job. There was very little money in the safe at the time but Johnny says he objects to having his safe spoiled. "Brevities," Ashland Tidings, October 10, 1884, page 3 Three new fireproof safes arrived on Monday's freight train for parties in town. One was for the Ashland Mills, one for Hunsaker & Dodge and the other for Billings. "Brevities," Ashland Tidings, December 12, 1884, page 3 A. L. Johnson of Medford has put a vault in his new business quarters. "Here and There," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, September 11, 1885, page 3 A. L. Reuter has purchased A. L. Johnson's large burglar-proof safe, and it was brought up from Medford a few days since. "Here and There," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, December 24, 1886, page 3 Sheriff Dean has one boarder, a man charged with trying to rob Kenney & Worman's safe at Medford. "Local Items," Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, July 24, 1886, page 3 Says the Medford Monitor: We are pleased to announce that negotiations are pending for the establishment of a bank at this place with ample capital. Our safe, now in use, will be exchanged for a massive time lock steel chest for the use of the bank. "Here and There," Ashland Tidings, December 24, 1886, page 3 For sale--a first-class Detroit safe, almost new. Will be sold at a bargain. Apply to the Times office for particulars. "Here and There," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, March 4, 1887 et seq., page 3 Miller & Strang of the Post Office Store have just received a large and handsome safe. This betokens prosperity. "Medford Squibs," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, February 24, 1888, page 2 There is a prospect now of a $15,000 flouring mill being erected [in Medford], and our new bank is ready to receive its $1,000 safe, which will add much to the security of our little earnings. Excerpt, "A Sunny Land," Waukesha (Wisconsin) Freeman, March 1, 1888, page 6 Our bank recently received a fine safe, weighing nearly 3000 pounds. "Medford Squibs," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, October 11, 1888, page 3 The safe of Davis & France of the Medford roller mills was blown open by burglars Wednesday night but the box, containing but $40 as luck would have it, was captured by the burglars. Citizens should exercise unusual caution during the coming week. There are always a number of cracksmen following the fairs on the circuit. "Medford Squibs," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, September 26, 1889, page 3 Safe Cracked at
Central Point.
Central
Point is assuming metropolitan frills. It had a safe robbery last
Sunday night. The office safe in the hardware store of Sheridan Bros.
was blown open about midnight, and the burglars secured about $300 cash
which it contained. The job was effectually but not very skillfully
done. Too much powder was used and the safe was blown all to pieces,
portions of it being driven through the sides of the building, and the
rear end of the store building was shattered. An old gentleman living
in the nearest house to the store was awakened by the shock and the
noise, but was too sleepy to get up and see what was the matter, so the
robbery was not discovered till Monday morning. There was no clue to
the robbers, but some people think they did not come from a great
distance.Ashland Tidings, April 25, 1890, page 3 Safe Crackers in
Ashland.
The safe crackers who have been plying their trade at different places
in Oregon along the line of the S.P.R.R. have come as far as Ashland,
and on Wednesday night gave the people here a sample of their
handicraft, and taught us how easy it is for a professional man to go
through an ordinary fireproof office safe. At some time after the
electric lights were put out Wednesday night the burglars effected an
entrance to the post office through he window at the rear end, and
apparently had all the time they needed to do their work. they drilled
a half-inch hole through the front of the safe near the combination
knob and then inserted a strong cold chisel or some tool of that sort
and broke off short the shaft which held the tumbler of the lock. This
let the lock turn without any difficulty, and they were not compelled
to use any powder at all. They obtained about two hundred dollars in
cash, but did not take any postage stamps, of which a considerable
quantity was in the safe.When Frank Hammond opened the office in the morning he saw an old purse and the brace the burglars had used lying on the floor, and also found a candle that had given them the light they needed. And then he discovered that the safe had been opened and robbed. Thus far there is no clue that can lead to the detection or capture of the robbers. They are old hands at the business, and no doubt are safely out of the country with their spoils. It is not known whether Postmaster Hammond will have to stand any of the loss or not, but a postal inspector will probably be here tomorrow to look up the matter. (The latest is that the suspicion points strongly to a certain individual who has been in town for a day or two and left yesterday, and that Deputy Sheriff Taylor is on his track.) Several tramps were searched by Marshal Mayfield at the depot yestermorning [sic], but had nothing suspicious about them. Ashland Tidings, February 20, 1891, page 3 Chas. Strang's new safe is in place in his drug store and is a beauty. "Local and General," Southern Oregon Mail, September 23, 1892, page 3 A new and much larger safe has been added to the necessary office furniture of the Hotel Medford. "All the Local News," Medford Mail, July 28, 1893, page 3 An up-to-date, modern safe was received by the First National Bank, of Medford Monday. The safe weighs 2,400 pounds. Medford Mail, June 9, 1905, page 5  The
Pacific Banker, February
2, 1907
New Safe Installed
The Central Point State
Bank received a new fire and burglar proof safe this week and had it
installed in the bank Tuesday. The safe is one of the very latest in
design of manganese steel fitted with time lock and all the latest
improvements. It weighs almost two tons and is as nearly an absolute
protection against fire and burglars as it is possible to buy.
Central Point Herald, August 8, 1907, page 1  The Pacific Banker, February 2, 1907 "The Oaks"
Mr.
Geo. M. Bordeaux, recently from British Columbia, where for several
years he has been the general manager of the liquor and cigar
department of the Hudson Bay Co., has recently purchased the Murphy
& Downing cafe, in Medford, adjoining the Hotel Emerick, and is
having the place refitted and improved to such an extent as will make
it one of the very neatest and most up-to-date resorts in that city. A
new departure in places of this kind is a large fire- and burglar-proof
steel safe, in which are provided a number of safety deposit boxes for
the use of customers and others who may arrive in the city after
banking hours and wish to place their valuables in a safe place
overnight. Each box is provided with two keys, both of which are
necessary to open it, one being given to the customer and one retained
by the proprietor or manager of the house.
Excerpt, Central Point Herald, February 25, 1909, page 1 Armistice night Brown's Electric Shop on South Bartlett was entered and the safe broken open and robbed of $80. Entrance was gained through a side window. ----
Shortly before
four o'clock Sunday morning Rankin Estes' place on South Front Street
was entered and the safe blown open. Entrance was gained by boring
holes in a panel of a rear door and forcing the panel out. The work was
evidently the work of amateurs, as a gigantic charge of explosives was
used, blowing an inner door and box of the safe clear through into the
barber shop in the rear. It also broke out the window in the front of
the store. An army overcoat was used as a muffler and had a large hole
shot through it. About $2,000 was in the safe. Bills and checks were
scattered all over the floor and shot to bits, so evidently the robbers
did not get very much of the contents of the safe. The explosion awoke
guests of the Nash Hotel adjoining the building and was also heard by
the night help in Bob's Restaurant on West Main Street.
Bliss Heine, "News Notes from Medford," Central Point American, November 19, 1926, page 5 Farmer's Fruitgrowers Bank
Building Sold;
"There
was gold in that
safe--raw gold and coined gold which made men feel rich and secure in
the early 1900s," the man said.Old 'Gold Safe" Remains Unopened in Vault By EVA HAMILTON Mail Tribune Staff Writer He was looking at the round contraption, slightly resembling an old washing machine, which stands today presumably empty and abandoned within the vault at the Farmers and Fruitgrowers Bank Building at the [northwest] corner of West Main and Grape Streets in Medford. The building was vacated last weekend when sold to Pacific Power & Light Company by Bayard Getchell of Medford and his sister, Mrs. Valerie Howell of Honolulu. Its tenants, Beatty and McDougal Insurance and R. W. Dean Lumber Company, are now comfortably located across the corner at 134 W. Main St. They didn't use the gold safe during the more than 20 years they were located in the bank building. They didn't have the combination to open it, Robert C. Beatty explained. What is to become of the safe made of manganese steel and copper-jacketed to defy all bank robbers' tools, past and present--the file, the drill and the torch--no one chooses to say. Getchell, whose father, the late Delroy Getchell, was president of the bank for many years, only knows that when the bank was sold to U.S. National Bank after his father's death, the new owners of the bank properties were not interested in the "gold safe." They knew of a number of them in the state, Getchell said. So the safe remained in the vault when the building was rented to other tenants. They couldn't have taken it through the door, anyway, according to Roland W. Dean, who assumes that the vault was built around the very heavy safe. Getchell recalls that it went off the blocks once and getting it back on was a major project which caused the whole building to shake. Getchell is convinced there is no gold in it now. His father had great respect for gold and the gold standard. He was very unhappy when gold was called in during the Roosevelt administration, but he responded to the call. The safe held gold and currency, never silver. The copper jacket made it torchproof, because copper absorbs the heat. The Farmers and Fruitgrowers Bank opened in Medford as the city's fourth bank Dec. 23, 1909, according to an advertisement in the Mail Tribune. Gold safes were used by most banks when gold was in circulation. Dean remembers a smaller model which was placed in the window of the First National Bank when it was located on South Central Avenue. It is now in the Olsen Confectionery at Eagle Point after a series of ownerships. From the bank it was moved to Johnson's Jewelry Store on East Main Street, owned and operated by the late Johnny Johnson. Goetz Lumber Company was its next owner. The lumber company sold to Red Blanket Lumber Company, and that company sold the safe to the City of Eagle Point. According to Jake Olsen, who now uses the impregnable device for safekeeping of money and other valuables, the city staff couldn't get the safe to work. He took it apart, cleaned it and put it back together again. The safe has two dials and two time clocks and he got them all back into efficient operation. Like the safe reposing in the vacated building in Medford, it is made of manganese steel, copper-jacketed. The man who moved the safe for Olsen estimated it weighed 6,000 pounds. Olsen considers it a "very valuable safe." To make one like it today, he volunteered, would cost a fortune. He has had it for about six years. Excerpt, Medford Mail Tribune, December 14, 1968, page 3 ATTEMPT TO ROB CREAMERY SAFE
An attempted safe blowing at the Gold Seal Creamery last night resulted
in a badly damaged safe and the loss of two dollars from the office
till, police reported today. The safe door was battered as a result of
efforts to break it open, and drilling was necessary to open it this
morning. No clues were left behind, authorities said.
Medford Mail Tribune, March 30, 1930, page 2 HEAVY SAFES ARE MOVING PROBLEM FOR COURTHOUSE
All county offices Saturday were in the midst of moving into the new
courthouse. Business went along as usual despite the disorder and the
hubbub. The chief problem in the moving is the handling of the heavy
safes and vaults. Eads Brothers were busy all day Friday moving the
safe in the treasurer's office. The safe in the clerk's office also
promises to be a difficult job because of its size and weight.
Excerpt, Medford Mail Tribune, August 21, 1932, page 5 YEGGS TRY AGAIN TO OPEN S.P. SAFE
On the night of July 16, 1936 unidentified marauders broke into the
office of the Southern Pacific freight depot on Front Street here, and
hopelessly damaged the heavy steel safe in an effort to get to the
contents. The safe had to be sent to San Francisco for repairs before
it could be used again.
Last night the freight office was again broken into, and a steel crowbar used in an effort to jimmy the repaired strongbox. The combination lock handle was battered half off, but the intruder, or intruders, were frightened away before their job was completed or else gave up in disgust. The joke, if there is any, is on the persistent crook. Southern Pacific officials announced today that the safe is not used as a money depository, but merely as a fireproof box in which to keep valuable papers, which, however, are valuable only to themselves. Medford Mail Tribune, October 30, 1936, page 1 Last
revised November 17, 2009
*For more complete names of persons identified by initials, see the Index. |
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