Rogue River, April 14.--Two cracksmen dynamited the safe of the Star Mercantile Company at Rogue River at 3 o'clock Friday morning and escaped with $150 in cash. Officers north and south are on the lookout for the men, while Deputy Sheriff Sandry with a posse are on the trail of the men. They made their getaway on a railroad speeder stolen from the section house.
    The men made a thorough job of cracking the safe. They fired four charges of dynamite after piling mattresses over and about the safe. The explosions completely wrecked the strongbox, its door being blown a distance of 20 feet. Windows in the store were shattered and goods jarred from the shelves.
    J. W. Jacobs, who formerly owned the store, heard the explosions and set about an investigation. He soon determined that the store was being robbed and immediately went for help, summoning Sam Sandry. When they had returned to the scene the men had left.
    The cracksmen were traced to the Rogue River depot, where they stole a speeder and escaped. It was first believed they had gone south, but a tramp later in the day stated that a speeder had passed him about 3:30 o'clock going north.
    Word was dispatched at once up and down the line and officers notified to keep a lookout for the two men. No description was secured, the only thing left behind being a searchlight which they overlooked in their hurry.
Jacksonville Post, April 19, 1913, page 1

    Jim and Walter Garvin of Talent engaged in a shooting duel Tuesday night about midnight with three yeggs, who were attempting to rob the Talent post office. When discovered the robbers were preparing to crack the safe, and had secured 30 cents left in a money drawer. One of the yeggs cut his hand in leaping through a back window, and this morning a man with his hand tied up was seen going on a freight towards Ashland. The Ashland police were notified.
    The Garvins first heard the safecrackers when they were breaking into the S.P. section tool house, where they secured a couple of picks and a sledge hammer. They took their Winchesters and followed the trio. For a time they lost track of their prey, but finally located them hammering away at the post office safe. While they were deciding on a line of action, the lookout of the gang came out from the doorway.
    The two watchers ordered him to halt, and he replied with a shot from a six-shooter. The Garvins returned the fire, and seven or eight shots were fired. The two on the inside kicked out a back window and made their escape, being joined by the lookout, who ducked around the side of the building under the Garvin fire. The three ran towards the railroad track and escaped.
    The shots woke up the town, and a posse was organized. The police of Medford and Ashland and the sheriff's office were notified and a watch kept for the criminals.
Medford Mail Tribune, June 24, 1914, page 2

    Further developments in the cases of Fred Chipp and George Rold, arrested Thursday by the sheriff's office and the police, indicate that they were outfitted for an extensive campaign of criminal operations in the Rogue River Valley and are highly undesirable citizens. A search of their possessions this morning brought to light enough nitroglycerin to blow the business district of Medford to smithereens and a set of steel drills of high-grade texture and penetrating power. They also possessed automatic pistols.
    Though goods belonging to the Robinett store at Central Point and a general merchandise store at Eugene were found in their possession, the police are holding the men for participation in safe-blowing escapades and holdups at Roseburg. Rold was arrested by Sergeant Pat Mego Thursday night after he had tried to sell a pair of shoes on the street. The third member of the gang escaped.
    It now develops that when Sheriff Singler and Constable Al Hammond swooped down upon the gang in the Bear Creek "jungles" Thursday morning they were engaged in making "soup," as nitroglycerin is called. "Soup" is the boiled extract of dynamite, the explosive being put in a pan of simmering water. The grease comes to the top and is skimmed off, being emptied with extreme care into small bottles.
    The police received a tip that the men were quartered on Bear Creek, but the prey was flushed before all were caught. The gang is thought to have had out peddlers disposing of their stolen goods and collecting data on the location of safes, back doors, etc.
    The authorities looked for dugs in the camp of the trio, in the hope that they would find something to connect them with the robbery of the Rogue River bank. The description of one of the arrested men tallies with that of the gent who a week ago held up three operators in the Southern Pacific depot.
    The arrested men refuse to talk.
Medford Mail Tribune, June 4, 1915, page 6

    According to Ralph Jennings, Jackson County sheriff, who was a visitor in this city this morning, an attempt was made sometime during the night to rob the Farm Bureau Office in Medford. Jennings was in Ashland searching the railroad yards for a man likely to have committed the burglary.
    The safe in the office was badly wrecked by the burglar, according to Jennings, but it is not known as yet whether the robbery was successful, since the Farm Bureau officials have not as yet been able to open their safe.
    The dial was badly smashed, and the handle on the safe knocked off, according to Jennings. It appears that some nitroglycerin was used in the robbery, but it was not exploded. A substance that the officers believe might have been used to hold the "soup" in place was found on the outside of the safe when the robbery was discovered. For this reason the insurance men who have viewed the safe declared it dangerous to open it, for it is their belief there may be some of the nitroglycerin in the container. An expert will be sent for to open the safe.
    According to the Farm Bureau officials, there was little of value in the safe, since most of the money was banked last yesterday afternoon.
Ashland Daily Tidings, January 20, 1925, page 1

    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