N&W Safe #12

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N&W depot safes were numbered and the combinations for each were filed in an unknown Roanoke office.  Those files are assumed to no longer exist.

Safe number 12 is understood to have originally been at the Buena Vista, Virginia, depot.  I purchased it from Tom Akers several years ago and it is in the agent's office at Boyce.  It is locked and the combination is likewise unknown.  If there is a person who is skilled at listening to the tumbler movement or can otherwise open the safe without drilling the lock, I offer $100 prize.

This is not the first time that a safe-cracker will visit Boyce, but is the first invitation.  Here's a report from the CLARKE COURIER, November 27, 1930, p. 4:

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Burglars Enter Depot at Boyce
Safe Door Thought To Be Chiseled By Professionals - Detectives Without Clue

On the night of November 19 [1930], a group of unknown burglars, thought to be professionals, jimmied their way into the Norfolk and Western depot at Boyce and after opening the safe left without having obtained anything of value.
After one of the employees, Mr. R. E. Rogers  [the line is blurred on the microfilm] went to the station that morning to get his orders, he noticed that a rear doors had been pried open.  On investigation, Mr. Rogers found what had occurred and called station agent T. M. Sheetz who notified railroad detectives at once.  So quietly did the burglars work, so deftly were their strokes against the combination of the safe, and to completion, [the line is blurred on the microfilm] did they carry away their belongings that the detectives were without the least clue upon which to work.

Mr. Sheetz, the detectives and others who witnessed the scene of depredation shortly after its discovery [the line is blurred on the microfilm]  were of the opinion that the attempted robbery was the work of a gang of professionals who just happened to be passing through this section and took a chance at getting a small cash haul.  Fortunately for the railroad company, all money had been deposited in the bank the evening before and the burglars found nothing of value in the iron safe.  Mr. Sheetz was also of the opinion that perhaps the gang had been "tipped off" about a shipment of money that did not arrive until the next day.  It was quite evident, he said, that they intended to take nothing but cash, as the drawers and ticket box were ramsacked but not an article was found missing.  A couple of packages were also in the building and were left untouched and there was no evidence that the yeggmen had attempted to enter the freight or express rooms.

While breaking the combination, the depredators were careful not to interfere with the inside bolts, which automatically and securely fasten the door in case the knob is broken off.
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As information, the blurred microfilm name in the article is Hyrtle Edward Rodgers, a section foreman on the N&W Railway, residing at Boyce.

Best wishes for S.F.B. Morse's birthday,

Frank. 
f_scheer at yahoo.com