Daring Robbery

CASPERSON, HURST

Posted By: Kelli Wilslef (email)
Date: 3/10/2011 at 07:30:51

DARING ROBBERY
Maquoketa Excelsior
July 26, 1901

On Monday night about 12:20 o’clock occurred one of the most daring burglaries which has ever been perpetrated in this region. At midnight the firemen at the Hurstville lime kilns had quit work, called the next shift, which would go to work about one o’clock, and gone to their respective homes. While one of these men, Rasmus Casperson was eating lunch, he heard a noise like an explosion, quickly followed by another. Theses sounds seemed to come from the office, and fearing that something was wrong, Mr. Casperson took his lantern and hastened down the hill. When he had reached the south side of the office a man leaped out of the shadow, and presenting a revolver at his head told him to keep quiet. But Casperson, seeing that there was a man in the office working with the safes, shouted loudly for assistance, whereupon another man rushed at him and clubbed him over the head with the butt of a revolver, knocking him down, but not silencing the brave fellow. The fellow who clubbed him then jumped on him, threw sand in his eyes and gagged him. After that he was knocked insensible, and when he recovered consciousness he found himself fastened in a box car, where he was compelled to remain until morning, almost suffocated with the heat.

The robbers then completed their work and obtained about $16.00 as the result of their pains, as Mr. Hurst always pays in checks and keeps very little money in the safes. Valuable papers were scattered all over the office, but it is not thought that anything of value was taken. An entrance was gained to the office by breaking the glass in the west door. Soap was very carefully worked in alongside the safe doors and into all the crevices. In all probability nitro-glycerin was used to produce the explosions, which was terrific, bending and tearing the heavy iron doors like so much paper, and sending shattered fragments of steel all over the place. There was a large Hall safe and a smaller on of Diebold manufacture. The former contained the money, but the cracksmen took no chances and both safes are now absolutely destroyed. It is evident that the men knew something about the time of shifting the firemen, but that it was not local talent is pretty clearly shown both the skill used and the ignorance of the fact that very little money is ever kept in the safe. Mr. Hurst will give a reward for the apprehension of the robbers, and it is hoped that they will be secured.