The Estevan Mercury is the oldest business in the Energy City, as its first edition was printed in 1903.
And now a link of another kind to the paper’s past has been uncovered, and is being restored.
An old safe that belonged to the Mercury has been uncovered, and is now located at Cactus Auto Body, where it is being restored by Yancey Hagel. Hagel began his restoration efforts on Thursday.
The safe was created by the J & J Taylor Safe Company, which Hagel said was a well-known business at the time.
“They made safes for all over North America,” said Hagel. “They’re very, very high quality safes. They could withstand fire.”
This particular safe was made with metal on the outside, and had a concrete lining in the interior.
The words “The Mercury” are painted at the top of the safe.
“The safe could be anywhere from 80 to 100 years old,” said Hagel. “It’s kind of an interesting bit of history. When I got it, I just thought this Mercury was the type of safe that it was or a name. Then when I started doing research on them, I found that they put this name on for the company’s that they made them for.”
A friend who is an antiques expert noted the artwork on the safe was designed sometime between 1900 and 1910.
Hagel noted he has another friend who used to deliver papers and fliers for the Mercury. That friend recalls seeing the safe all the time back when the Mercury had a building at the intersection of 13th Avenue and Sixth Street, where the Fas Gas service station is located today.
“All there was (in the building) was a desk, this safe and printing equipment,” said Hagel.
The safe somehow eventually found its way into the basement of Gibby’s Pub on Fifth Street, which is a few blocks from Cactus Auto Body. Gibby’s wanted the safe removed, but had no way of doing so.
“I went over there with a forklift, and they gave the safe to me, and I brought it out with the forklift,” said Hagel, who noted that Dave Dayman provided assistance.
A forklift was needed because the safe weighs at least 600 pounds.
The next challenge became trying to open the safe. Through Google and some research, Hagel found out how to determine a combination for the safe, but the safe had a mechanism.
“One of my friends from Calgary was down, and he knows a lot about safes,” said Hagel. “He was in the military and … he actually knows how to break into them.”
Hagel believes someone tried to break into the safe at one point. They cut a hole in the concrete and the metal at the top of the safe, and then they welded the metal once they were finished.
“I’m going to fill this up with concrete again, and make it just like it was,” said Hagel. “I already have the patch for it, and I’m just welding it in today.”
Hagel’s not sure who tried to break into the safe, or why. It’s possible somebody lost a combination and needed to retrieve some contents.
Hagel estimates it will take about 40 hours of work to restore the safe. He’ll dedicate time to the project when he isn’t working in the shop or doing other work at Cactus Auto Body. He wants to restore the safe as close to its original condition as possible.
Once he is finished, the safe will be stored at his home.
