From the archives

“Futile effort to burglarize Jewett’s Store last night,” asserted a headline in the Aspen Democrat-Times on July 26, 1909. “Late last night, or more probably early this morning, an attempt was made to blow open the safe in Jewett’s grocery store, corner of Galena and Cooper Avenue. The safe-blowers evidently entered through the front door to which they had a key, as when the clerk, Harry Lowary, went to the store this morning, the door was unlocked. This fact alarmed Lowary and an investigation showed five 50-pound sacks of flour piled up in front of the safe door and a three-quarter inch chisel lying on the floor. The dial of the combination had been beaten off with the hammer, nitroglycerine poured into the combination and a cap and fuse attached to the safe with a chunk of laundry soap and the sacks of flour piled up against the door presumably to deaden the sound of the explosion and the fuse fired. The explosion did not do more damage than blow a hole in the side of one of the sacks of flour. The safe door could not be opened as the mechanism of the lock had apparently been destroyed by the hammering on the combination dial. The plan to crack the safe was fairly good, but the execution was poor and would indicate the work of amateurs. The sheriff’s office and city police department are working on the case.