100 YEARS AGO IN THE SARATOGIAN
Sunday, Aug. 4, 1918. The track is idle on the first Sunday of the Saratoga racing season but Saratoga Springs is still a popular destination for weekend visitors.
“Broadway was lined with automobiles,” The Saratogian reports, “Touring parties from all parts of the country stopped over for an hour or more and the springs were crowded from an early hour until late at night.
“There was the usual Sunday night crowd at the City Park. Every seat was taken early and the music furnished by Noller’s Troy City Band was heartily applauded, several encores being demanded.”
Mrs. Edward B. Ashton can hear the band playing from her bedroom at 721 North Broadway. “The lights in neighbors’ houses were burning brightly and automobiles were scurrying up and down the street” as she and her husband retire for the night.
Mrs. Ashton is still awake in the darkness when “suddenly she was blinded by the glare of a flashlight in her eyes and she was terrified by the appearance of a man who pointed a revolver at her and exclaimed in a low voice: ‘Give me those jewels and money, quick! Don’t say a word!’”
The flashlight awakens Edward Ashton, who jumps to his feet, only to be ordered back into bed by the burglar. “Get me your clothes, quick,” the intruder commands.
“Get them yourself, they’re over in the closet,” Ashton answers as he reaches to turn on a reading lamp. In response, the burglar pushes his revolver in to Ashton’s face.
“Put out that light quick! I know your game. I know you’ve got a gun,” the burglar snarls. Threatening the family dog as well, he asks for Ashton’s clothes again, and Ashton again tells him to grab them himself.
Finally, Mrs. Ashton appeals to the burglar. “Don’t do any killing around here. I’ll give you my jewels if you’ll get out.” The burglar takes the offer, warning the couple to stay in bed for fifteen minutes after he leaves through the front door.
“No bolder robbery has been perpetrated in years,” a reporter writes tomorrow morning. The Ashtons estimate their loss at $2,000, or nearly $33,000 in 2018 money.
The burglar’s entrance was extremely stealthy. Investigators believe that he picked the lock on the Ashtons’ kitchen door, then went upstairs without disturbing Mrs. Ashton’s parents, who were sleeping in another room a few feet away from the bedroom.
The Ashtons describe the thief as approximately 25 years old with a smooth, unmasked face. He stands approximately 5’ 7” and wore a straw hat during the breakin. He remains at large as the Monday paper goes to press.