Deer Park Hotel Destroyed

New York, 1895

The Deer Park Hotel was discovered to be on fire Friday morning. The flames burst out of the building at 2 o'clock.

The inmates had to fly for their lives. The place is without a fire department, and the flames soon consumed the building. Some of the furniture was gotten out. The loss is estimated at $2,500, and is covered by insurance.


Shoe and Leather Bank Robbed

Samuel E. Aymar, a book-keeper in the Shoe and Leather bank, has turned out a defaulter in the sum of $20,000. He was arrested Saturday night in Brooklyn, where he resided. Seeley, who robbed the bank of $350,000, was Aymar's brother-in-law. Aymar has been with the bank about 20 years.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, April 26, 1895, p. 1.

Repelling Train Robbers

1895

A New Plan of Defense Outlined by an Army Officer.

It may safely be assumed that the "point of attack" is the engine and then the express car, writes Lieutenant Wright in The North American Review. Why, then, not separate them as much as possible by putting the express car the last in the train? Have alarm bells on each coach and sleeper, which can be rung by the express messenger when he is directed or requested at this unusual time and place to open the door of his car. In each coach and sleeper have, in a glass front case similar to those now in use for the ax and saw, two repeating shotguns, each magazine containing live buckshot cartridges, thus giving from 6 to 12 most effective weapons in the hands of the train crew and passengers. The alarm bells should be electric, though it is believed that the ordinary bellcord could be made to serve the purpose. When the messenger sounds his tocsin of war, there would soon be a sufficient force of brave men at the express car to give the robbers a warm welcome. For the latter to cover the engine cab and each door and side of each coach or sleeper would require a force of men too great in numbers to make "the divide" profitable. Besides the greater number of accomplices or principals the greater the chances of a capture and the possibility of some one turning "state's evidence."

Under such an arrangement in the makeup of a train, should the rear or express car be the sole point of attack, then the first step would be to cut this car loose from the train and then loot it. The automatic airbrake would give the alarm to the engineer, and he, in turn, to the coaches, or, better still, the concealed electric wire could be so arranged as to sound the alarm when the car parted from the train. Should the engine, as in the past, be the first point of attack, then the crew and passengers (armed) have the advantage of being between the forces of robbers, and with every probability can throw the greater number in the fight, and, Napoleonlike, repulse or defeat in detail.

Under the present order of things the crime of "holding up" trains has become one of almost daily occurrence. And why? Because two, three or four men can successfully effect it, and the ill gotten gains are large. Render the act one more difficult and dangerous of accomplishment, and the attempts will be less frequent. It matters not how invulnerable the car, so long as it remains in the train near the engine it will offer but slight resistance to the robber and his stick of dynamite.

The Corpse Had a Pistol

1895

A Telegraph Operator's Exciting Experience in a Texas Railroad Depot.

"Talk about being scared to death, why, gentlemen, you don't know your A B C's until you have served in the railroad business on the frontier, as I had to do when I was quite a boy."

The speaker was a man beyond the border lines of middle age, with iron gray hair and a strong, rugged face, which showed by its lines that he had seen the service of a hard life in some forsaken region of this mortal vineyard.

"When I was a young man," he resumed, "I was depot agent for a road that ran out into the wilds of Texas. The country was not well settled, and I had a rather lonesome time of it out there. I never knew any minute that I would not be attacked the next, and train wrecking was a frequent occurrence on the line.

"One night I was sitting in the little depot by the lonely railroad track, keeping track of the trains over the wires, when something happened that I will not forget till I die. There was in the depot a coffin that had been brought there on the midnight train, strange to say, unattended by any one. It was addressed to some party in the neighborhood, who, according to my presumption, had been detained by swollen streams from coming to the station after it that night, so I had the ghastly casket placed in the depot to await the man who called for it. It was a rainy night, and as there was but one room to the depot I had the corpse for a companion that night and had about made up my mind to make the best of the situation till morning. It was about 3 o'clock, and I was clicking away with my telegraph key when I heard a noise in the direction of the coffin. Turning with a shudder, I was crazed with fright to see the lid of the coffin burst and a live corpse pop his head up with a pistol in his hand and start toward me.

"What did I do? Why, broke through the back door and left the fellow in the depot. I don't think I stopped running until I was a mile in the woods. As soon as I recovered I went back and waked the only two citizens of the place, and we went to the depot. Of course the robber had taken all the money I had and fled." — Atlanta Constitution.

Old Soldier Choked and Robbed

New York, 1895

Abram Raynor, a veteran of the late war, was waylaid and robbed near Hempstead on Wednesday night. Raynor, who lives at Rockville Centre, drew his pension of $36 that day.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, Feb. 15, 1895, p. 12.

Bandits Slay Mine Boss; Get $11,000

1916

FIVE HUNDRED WORKERS HUNT OUTLAW PAIR.

Pay Roll Carrier's Car Is Halted and Official Shot Without Warning — Driver Unhurt.

MARTINS FERRY, Ohio — Police and specially employed detectives are still out searching for the two masked bandits who shot and killed Lee Rankin, superintendent of the Youghiogheny & Ohio Coal Company, and escaped with $11,000 which Rankin was carrying to the mine to pay the employes.

Rankin was on his way back from the bank at Martins Ferry in a taxicab driven by Paul Pickens. At a lonely spot in the road two masked and armed men emerged from the bushes and without giving the two men in the taxicab a chance for their lives, began to shoot. Pickens threw up his hands and was spared.

The robbers quickly seized the money from a suitcase and disappeared. Rankin was hurried to a hospital by Pickens, but died without regaining consciousness. In Rankin's pockets was found $1,000 that the bandits overlooked.

Rankin was popular with the miners, most of whom are foreigners, and a posse of 500 men was formed as soon as the news of the robbery reached the mines. Armed with rifles and revolvers, these men hastened out to scour the country, declaring they would kill the murderers on sight.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Sept. 16, 1916, p. 5.

Small Lads Confess Murder

1916

Brothers, Aged 11 and 12, Rob and Shoot a Teacher.

BOISE, Idaho. — Lynn and Harold Lovelace, brothers 11 and 12 years old, have confessed to authorities at Twin Falls, Idaho, that they murdered F. Thomas Hamill, a teacher from Carson, Nev., whose body was found at his ranch recently. The lads, first taken into custody as runaways, were found in possession of Hamill's horse and wagon, pocketbook, provisions and eight guns and a revolver. Both have admitted the killing, which occurred when Hamill surprised them robbing his cabin.

He ordered them away, but they retreated into the house and covered him with his own guns. He parleyed and asked for food, and after they came out Lynn stood guard over him while Harold entered the cabin to get him some bread. Hamill grabbed the younger boy, and Harold then shot him in the head.

The boys then left in the wagon and drove 120 miles over a trackless country in six days, camping out at night. They were headed for Lebanon, Oregon, where they say a grandfather lives. The elder boy is moody and shows no regret, but the younger cries now and then and says he is sorry.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Sept. 16, 1916, p. 5.

Fiendish Mexicans Slug American Boy

1919

BANDIT ASSAULTS HIM WITH CLUB AFTER ROBBERY.

Victim Tells of His Escape After Three Days of Torture in a Lonely Shack.

DENVER, Colo. — After three days of terror in the custody of two Mexican bandits, who on the third day slugged and robbed him and left him for dead, Granville Coster, 18-year-old Denver boy who disappeared recently from Allison, N. M., has turned up alive at the office of the Allison Coal Company, by which he was employed as a truck driver, according to word received by his mother, Mrs. William Coster, of this city.

Five hundred and twenty dollars, which he was taking to Gallup for deposit in the Gallup State Bank, was taken from him by the bandits. According to his story, he reached Gallup and was driving his delivery truck into the suburbs when two Mexicans sprang from the side of the road into the truck, jerked the curtains down, drew their guns and ordered him to drive according to their direction. He was compelled to drive across the Arizona border, fifteen miles away.

"Just over the line we came to a farm house," said Coster. "The Mexicans told me if I made a sound they would kill me. We got out of the truck, and they made me walk the whole distance to Winslow, more than 100 miles. We arrived there the morning of the third day.

"They took me into an old shack on the outskirts of the town. They had already taken the money from me. One of them grabbed a club from the floor and struck me over the head with it. That's all I know."

The boy did not regain consciousness until evening. He staggered into Winslow, where he fortunately found friends, who supplied him with enough money to return to Allison. The bandits took everything from him except a bunch of keys, he said.

Coster has been employed driving a delivery truck from Allison to Gallup three times a week. The day before he was kidnaped he carried $5,000 to the Gallup bank.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 7.

Bound and Robbed, Now Thought Insane

Kansas, 1911

Chester King, the young man was bound and robbed over in Graham county two weeks ago, has been placed in the county jail at Hill City charged with insanity. It is said he tried to purchase a gun with which he intended to hunt up the two strangers who tied and robbed him the week before.

This is the young man found tied in his own buggy at about one o'clock on the night of January 6th, near a country store known as Corrickville in Sheridan county. The fright and the cold which was intense that night was a terrible strain on the young man and his present condition may be the result of the awful experience.

He is seventeen years old and is the twin brother of Charlie King who was adjudged insane about two months ago for acting queerly on the streets of Hill City.


Got The Limit

Tuesday morning there were three cases before Police Judge Howell. One for selling intoxicating liquor and the other two were for vagrancy.

Oliver Penny was the guilty person in the case of selling "booze" and plead guilty to the charge. He was arrested Tuesday night for selling the "dope" to the soldiers that were going through here, by Marshall Davis and put in the lockup over night. He was fined $100 and thirty days in the county jail, where he was taken Wednesday.

The best thing that can be done with these unlawful people is to give them the limit every time they violate the law.

—Ellis Review-Headlight, Ellis, Kansas.

Arizona's Stage Robbers — Dan Elkins and Wilbur

1896

Histories of Two Men Who Terrorized the Southwest

One Man "Holds Up" a Stage Load of Eight Passengers — Tracked to Their Hiding Place by Apaches

DAN ELKINS is remembered as the original lone bandit of the Southwest, because, single-handed, he once held up a stage load of eight passengers, besides the driver, all of whom were armed. For weeks the exploit was the talk of the men in and about Tombstone. Judge Bennett, now of San Gabriel, Cal., was one of the passengers, and he tells how the robber worked his desperate game.

"We on the inside of the coach had just been talking," says the Judge, of the robberies that Elkins and his partner, Wilbur, had committed in the Territory, and the shame it was that an organized effort was not made to go and keep after the villains until they were killed, even if it took a year, when we heard a rifle crack, and a man shout to the driver:

" 'Come, now, stop those horses or you'll drop dead.'

"We were traveling through a rocky region along the foothills, and each of us knew instantly that all were in for a hold-up then and there. Every one wondered what his neighbor would do with his pistol.

" 'I'll be hanged,' said a big man from Texas, 'if I'll stand this nonsense,' and he snatched his big shooting iron up from the seat at his side.

"The driver put on the brakes and the stage was stopped at once, when we heard a voice outside saying:

" 'Now you fellers on the inside get out on this side. The first man who gets out on the other side will drop dead as a smelt. Don't be lazy. All of you throw down your shooters as you file out of the coach, for there's a lot of sure rifle shots that's got their eyes on you and are hiding in these here rocks to lay you out cold dead if you don't mind what I'm telling you.'

"When I got out of the stage I noticed that the highwayman wore a wire mask contrivance over his face, and had a big black beard and a whole arsenal of weapons in a belt about his waist. He stood on a commanding boulder, and kept his Winchester repeater moving slowly over us. I took particular pains that he saw I threw down my two pistols on the ground, and I noticed that every one of us, including the Texan, did the same thing.

" 'Throw up your hands, gents, said the masked robber, when we were all on the ground and our pistols lay there in a pile by the side of the coach wheels. 'Now get in line there, quick and face this way. Keep your hands above your heads, don't move; keep your months shut or you'll know how quick a man can go plumb to death."

"We got in line facing our commander in a moment, and none of us could extend his hands quite high enough.

" 'Now, you young fellow with the monkey whiskers,' said the highwayman, 'you just shell out there where you stand. Turn your pockets inside out, so me and my pards can see that you're dealing fair. That's right. Now, while me and my pards keep you in gun range, you search that next man, turn his pockets out. Keep your hands up high, gents, and save trouble. Don't speak.'

"In a few minutes that seemed like ages of an awful silence, each man was searched," and we all stood there in a row with our pockets turned out and flapping in the morning breeze, our hands a full foot above our heads, and a small pile of wallets, watches, little pocket leather and cloth bags of coin lay at the feet of the young man of our party, who had been compelled to search his companions.

" 'Now, you driver, throw that money box off quick, while my pards keep you in range,' said the robber when we had been searched. 'There; that's right. Be lively. It may cost you your carcass. Get that ax under the back seat and chop the box open. Hurry up. Don't speak, and don't get behind that coach, or you'll drop.'

"The ax was got, and the driver chopped open the box near us while we stood there like metal forms in front of clothing stores. When the box had been split apart and the valuables thrown out, the highwayman, all the time keeping his rifle slowly moving up and down our line of silent, hand-uplifted men, said:

" 'Now, driver, get up on your seat. You gents get into your coach. Don't let me hear you peep. Driver, lick your horses up fast and get out of this.

" 'Now, gents,' said he, as the last of us had got back into our seats, weaponless, 'you can brag that you've been held up by a single-handed in the profesh. I don't mind telling you that I'm all alone to-day and that I need your money awful bad. Tell them Tombstone fellers that Dan Elkins has a new trick in his line of business.'

"The horses were whipped up, and the last we saw of Dan Elkins he stood there on that big boulder keeping his head still on us until we turned in the foothill road a mile away. I think the rascal must have got $1000 that day. You see we did not carry much money on our persons in those days when there was danger of highway robbery."

During the winter of 1879 and 1880, the recklessness and bravado of Elkins and his partner, Wilbur, became unbearable, and people began to see that the stage robberies were hurting the name of Arizona, so an unusual effort was made to get the rascals. An extra reward for their capture was offered, and two or three detectives from Los Angeles, Cal., began work. Several half-breed Apache Indian trailers were hired, and after a few weeks the trail to the bandits was found. These Apache trailers are the most wonderful of their kind. They sometimes follow a man's tracks across a desert of sand, even after a windstorm, when the tracks have become obliterated to white men's eyes. They can follow at break-neck speed on a horse the trail of a man who has run in moccasins and taken pains to leave only the faintest traces of his course. They see signs of a trail through cactus and sage brush that no white man would recognize.

After a short period of more trailing and questioning of the few white settlers in the region Elkins and Wilbur were located. Their hiding place was thirty miles south from Benson, among the granite foothills, where no white man but they had probably ever been. Indians were hired to go to the spot, and to act as if they were out hunting and had unwittingly stumbled upon the bandits. Then when the Indians had engaged Elkins and Wilbur in conversation they were to give a signal. A posse of twenty men was to ride at once to the scene. Each man in the band was to take his chances of getting shot by the robbers.

The plan worked well. The bandits were asleep when the Indians came to them one warm afternoon. The Apaches asked for food, and while Wilbur went to get a knife to cut a slice from a deer hanging in the mesquite brush near at hand one of the Indians, pretending to be interested in one of the white stranger's pistols, discharged it. A few minutes later the posse rode up pell mell from behind a low foothill that impeded the view half a mile away.

"We're trapped! we're trapped!" shrieked Elkins as he jumped from his couch of leaves and saw the horsemen encircling about his hiding place.

In a second he and Wilbur were behind two great oaks, and were prepared to fight for their lives. They forgot the Indians at their rear, and no sooner had they turned their faces toward the advancing posse than they were shot dead in the back by the Apache trailers.

There is good reason to believe that if the men had been captured alive they might have been induced to tell where they had hidden the greater part of their stolen money and gold, for no one thinks that, living as they did, they spent more than a small part of their ill-gotten gains. Both the robbers were buried where they were killed, and to this day there are people who go out from the now well-populated town of Benson every little while to the scene of the old camp of Elkins and Wilbur in the hope of finding the secret storehouse of stolen riches among the boulders and foothills that surround the spot. — New York Sun.

His Own Banker — Kept Barrels of Money

Wisconsin, 1898

A Merchant who Kept Barrels of Money In His Store

George Hiles came down from Wood county, where he had a store, saw mill, large tracts of pine and other interests which later made him several times a millionaire. At that time and for many years before, Mr. Hiles was his own banker. He kept his money loose in flour barrels. It was not an unusual thing for him to have a barrel of silver and gold and another of paper money in the back room of his store, says the Chicago Times-Herald.

Later he became an official of a Milwaukee bank and put aside his Dexterville methods of banking. It was always the boast of Mr. Hiles that be never lost a dollar by his old-time banking ways. Once, however, he had a close call. A rough river man who had heard of the barrel of bills in the back room hung about the store until it was time to close and all had gone but Mr. Hiles and a boy.

The rough customer knocked the boy down and made a rush for the president of the bank. Mr. Hiles was something of a rusher himself in those days. He met the river man more than half way and in less than two minutes the would-be bank robber was in the middle of the road with two broken ribs, minus several teeth and blind of one eye. No one else ever attempted to rob that bank. Hiles died in Milwaukee two years ago.

An Old-Time Hanging Remembered

Philadelphia, 1878

Samuel Hulett, whose death at an advanced age was reported a few days ago, was one of the passengers in the mail coach between Philadelphia and Reading in 1830, when the horses were stopped and the passengers plundered by Wilson, Porter and Potete, whose arrest and trial, and execution of Porter were causes of much public feeling at the time.

The mail coach was on its way to Reading, and had reached Turner's lane, a mile or two above the built up portion of the city, when the lead horses were suddenly brought to a stand and a pistol put at the head of the driver and one or more of the passengers, to intimidate them and prevent resistance. The money and jewels were surrendered upon demand, and no violence was used. It was supposed that the bank messenger, William Miller, who held for many years the situation of bailiff in the United States district court, would be in the coach, but he had been unable to reach the White Swan Hotel in time to take son were captured in Philadelphia, but passage that morning.

Porter and Wilson were captured in Philadelphia, but Potete was arrested in Baltimore, and, upon being brought on here, consented to take the witness stand against his confederates. Samuel Hulett was a material witness, and Porter and Wilson were convicted and sentenced to be hanged. The robbery of the mail was then a capital offense, when the lives of passengers or any one was put in jeopardy, as was done. Wilson was saved through the intercession of influential friends, but Porter expiated his crime upon the gallows, having on the day of the execution ridden upon his coffin from the Arch street prison to the hanging ground, not far from the Eastern penitentiary. Potete, who had committed a crime in Baltimore, was taken back there and served out a term of imprisonment. Wilson became an exemplary citizen, and was living when last heard of a few years ago. — Philadelphia Ledger.

Murderer on Death Row Says He's in "Don't Worry Club"

Pennsylvania, 1920

COLLINS NOT WORRYING

Clarence R. Collins, confessed murderer of Geo. Bushman, of Gettysburg, and sentenced to die on the electric chair, occupies his mind with art and music in his cell in the Adams county jail, where he has been confined for 16 long months. He is an able decorator. The youth told a "Times" reporter that he takes things as they come and concentrates his mind to keep from worrying. Collins remains well physically and mentally, and keeps his appearance tidy. He has drawn artistic pictures on the cell walls and has attractively arranged various ornaments. Collins is learning to play the violin and mandolin. "Does it become monotonous to you," the reporter asked, "to stay in this one place all the time?" "Some days it is and some days it isn't," he replied. "When I first came in here I walked the floor every night and worried all the time. Then all of sudden I joined the 'Don't worry club' and since then I have been getting along fine. The only thing to do is to take things as they come."

—New Oxford Item, New Oxford, Pennsylvania, Feb. 19, 1920, p. 9.


MURDERERS EXECUTED

Adams County's youthful murderers, Clarence R. Collins, a native of Mt. Joy township, and Charles C. Reinecker, a native of Highland township, went calmly, without a trace of fear, to their death on the electric chair in the Western Penitentiary near Bellefonte, Monday morning. Collins was the first to die, the current being turned on at 7:06 a. m. and being declared dead at 7:13 o'clock. Reinecker's body received the shock at 7:20 and he was dead at 7:25.

When, after the hard fight, they were informed that the electric chair was inevitable, the boys prepared for the end by singing hymns and writing letters to friends and relatives. They were taken to Rockview on Friday from Gettysburg by Detective Chas. Wilson, Sheriff Hartman and Horace E. Smiley. Neither Collins nor Reinecker showed the slightest trace of emotion. Only once Reinecker remarked. "Well, it has to be. We have to pay the penalty for our crime."

The surprising fact that both Collins and Reinecker were able to go through that terrible ordeal without once breaking down was due to a large measure to the efforts of Dr. J. B. Baker and Dr. Harry Daniels, their spiritual advisers. For many weeks these two pastors labored for hours in the cells of the condemned murderers persuading them to think of the world beyond and to forget the stern realities before them. Dr. Baker talked and prayed with the doomed murderers during their last few hours on earth.

The only official Adams county representative in the death room Monday morning was Arthur C. Sentz, constable of Mr. Joy township. He requested to be assigned the duty and was chosen by Sheriff Hartman. Clarence Bushman, sergeant in the Marine Corps, a son of the murdered man, had expressed a desire to see the execution but he wasn't permitted to do so.

Collins was buried in St. Mark's cemetery near his former home, and Reinecker was buried in the family plot in Evergreen cemetery, Gettysburg on Tuesday. The funeral service in each instance consisted only of a short commitment at the grave. John C. Shealer, of Gettysburg, went to Rock View Monday for the bodies. The two boys, so far as is known were the youngest pair to be electrocuted in the history of Pennsylvania. Collins was 19 years old and Reinecker only 17 years when the crime was committed.

At Rockview, an execution is an every day duty and little attention is paid to the feelings of prisoners. When Collins and Reinecker were being turned over to the warden Friday evening, the latter said to Detective Charles Wilson:

"Have you sent up the caskets from Gettysburg?" In answer to a reply from Detective Wilson that he was not familiar with the funeral arrangements, the warden stated:

"Well I hope the caskets arrive soon. We usually ship out the bodies the same day."

This conversation took place in the presence of both Collins and Reinecker. The tragic ending to the lives of the most cold blooded murder in the history of Adams county. On the night of October 16, 1918, the pair of Gettysburg youths hired George Bushman, local automobile driver, to take them to Carlisle. Near the boundary line between Adams and Cumberland counties, Reinecker drew a revolver and shot Bushman in the back of the head. Collins then drove the machine through Carlisle to the river road in Harrisburg where the pair dumped the body along the bank of the Susquehanna. Robbery was their motive, but only a small sum was secured. On October 24, Collins was arrested in Waynesboro by Detective Charles Wilson on the charge of automobile larceny. The next day the prisoner broke down and confessed that he and Reinecker had not only stolen the machine, but had murdered its driver. Wilson immediately arrested Reineekcr in front of Reichle's meat market. Reinecker also confessed his part in the crime.

During the January term of court in 1919 Collins was convicted of murder in the first degree. On February 9th the jury returned a similar verdict against Reinecker. Then started a long series of proceedings which lasted over a period of more than two years.

—New Oxford Item, April 28, 1921, p. 1.

Note: Bushman's wife, Mary L. Bushman, 73, died Sept. 19, 1933 near Gettysburg. Mrs. Bushman was buried at Evergreen cemetery.

A Chinese Trick Explained — "Melican Man Do Findee Out"

1878

George III, it is reported, was once puzzled when eating apple dumplings to know how the apple got inside the dumpling.

During a recent Chinese banquet at San Francisco an orange was laid at the plate of each guest. The fruit, on being cut open, was found to contain five kinds of delicate jellies. Colored eggs were also served, in the inside of which were found nuts, jellies, meats and confections. When one of the Americans asked the interpreter to explain this legerdemain of cookery, he laughed heartily, shook his head and replied: "Melican man heap smart — why he not findee out?"

The orange "trick" is easy to see through. A hole about of the size a ten-cent piece is made in the skin, through which the pulp is taken out; then one kind of jelly, warmed so that it will run, is poured into the orange; when it has cooled another is poured in, and so on until the orange is filled. When the jellies are different colors, the effect on cutting the orange is very striking.



He Made a Mistake

A Michigan farmer, named Harris, has had so many adventures with burglars that he never dares in go to market, in Detroit, without having a gun behind him in his wagon.

Soon after daylight last Tuesday he saw something on the highway that looked like a horse blanket, and while he was getting out of the wagon to pick it up a man confronted him and cried out: "I was waiting for you to come along." Without delay the cautions farmer seized his gun and fired a charge of bird shot almost in the face of the enemy, who retreated in great disorder, screaming and yelling.

The farmer drove on very complacently, thinking that he would have a good story for the boys at the tavern, but discovered a few yards down the road a broken wagon loaded with poultry. The man whom he had stuffed with bird shot was not a robber, but a small farmer who had lost his horse blanket and gone back to look for it.

The repentant marksman went back and tried to comfort his unfortunate fellow-traveler, and found him sitting on a log and counting the wounds — some thirty or more.

Note: "Last Tuesday was sometime in January 1878 or perhaps 1877 sometime. By the way, how do you like the guy's policy of shoot first and ask questions later? Not so good. He could've pulled the gun and had the guy state his business.

Joke Hold-Up Real Club Room Robbery

1920

Masked Gunmen Strip Members of $1,000 in Valuables

DOYLESTOWN, Pa. — Thinking it was a joke, twenty members of the Bristol Republican club responded to the wishes of three masked gunmen, who entered the club's headquarters late at night and robbed them of jewelry and cash amounting to approximately $1,000. They escaped before the police arrived.

Chief of Police Sackville of Bristol police station holds to his belief that the robbers were New York gunmen.

A member of the club, explaining the holdup, said: "The club members thought someone was playing a joke on them when a masked man entered the room. But when he insisted that they respond to 'hands up' and when he summoned two assistants, the club members became suspicious, but some of them still insist that it was a joke, although their valuables have not been returned."


Toting Gun His Big Mistake

So Says Youthful Slayer Given Life Term in Prison

BOSTON, Mass. — "All my trouble came from carrying a gun. I had no business having it," said Joseph Sammarco, 22-year-old slayer of Patrolman William G. Clancy, as he left for Charlestown prison to start serving a life sentence as penalty for the crime.

"There is nothing to this gun business. No one ever gained anything from carrying one. I can see how terribly wrong it was, now that it is too late."

Sammarco was sentenced by Judge John F. Brown of the Superior Court. He accepted the sentence passively.

Charge of Burglary Halts Man's Wedding

1920

Intended Bridegroom Is Accused of Part in Bank Robbery

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — Love may laugh at locksmiths, but not always when there is a reinforcement of iron bars and a jail cell.

This was brought home to Miss Nettie Dorothy Irle and Lowell H. Mills, prominent in social circles of central Illinois, when the latter was arrested the day before the marriage of the pair was to have been celebrated. He was accused of being a principal in the robbery of the bank at Mansfield two years ago, an occurrence which has always been shrouded in mystery.

Protesting his innocence, Mills was taken to the Platt County jail at Monticello, where he was held until friends could furnish $5,000 bail. He then hurried back to his weeping fiancee, who was ready to marry him, even with the charge of burglary hanging over him. But the girl's father, George C. Irle of Champaign, peremptorily forbade the union until the defendant was formally acquitted.


Peace Treaty Is Slow Seller

PARIS, France — Copies of the treaty of Versailles sell for 25 cents in Parisian book stores. There is little demand for it, however, and the price is expected to drop to a nickel a copy.

—Published March, 1920 but events did not necessarily occur immediately near that date.

Breaks From Jail; His 180th Escape

1920

Notorious Roy Dickerson Is Again At Large

Alleged Ring Leader of Gang Which Looted Bank at Girard, Ala., Defies Prison Bars

LOS ANGELES, Cal. — Roy Dickerson, charged with aiding in the robbery of a bank at Girard, Ala., made what is said to have been his 180th escape from jail here, when he used a crude key on his cell lock in the city prison, climbed up a ventilator shaft and fled.

Dickerson's wife, who is in jail here, said her husband formerly was a vaudeville performer, making a specialty of freeing himself from handcuffs and other restraints. She told the police he had escaped 180 times and that he never had been imprisoned successfully longer than two months.

Dickerson's cell mate was found asleep after the escape. He told the guards he had not heard Dickerson's movements.

Had Escaped From Atlanta Pen

Dickerson was the alleged leader of a band of bandits who were involved in the looting of the Phoenix-Girard bank of Girard, Ala., and obtaining about $30,000 in cash. He had previously made his escape from the Fulton County penitentiary, in Atlanta, Ga., along with three other inmates.

The gang, after making the raid on the Girard bank, it is claimed, scattered and met in St. Louis for a division of the spoils. Subsequently detective shadowing the bandits arrested Dickerson here, who, with his wife, was living in a twenty-four-apartment house that they had purchased.

They were going under the name of Mr. and Mrs. George W. Lynch.

The sum of $10,000, supposed to have been a part of the bank robbery loot, was recovered by the detectives. They had an equity of $8,000 in the apartment house.

Charge Wife Aided in Escape

Detectives declare that Dickerson had been in the penitentiary several times before in Missouri, Oklahoma and Kansas, and that he had made his escape each time through the aid of his wife. When Dickerson escaped from the penitentiary in Atlanta his wife was living in a hotel in that city.

After the meeting of the bandits in St. Louis the various members of the band were shadowed and the apprehension of many of them was effected. Seven of the gang were taken at different parts of the United States.

Dickerson's wife was seen in St. Louis by detectives and the pair were traced to this city. Waiting for an opportunity to take the pair and get the money at the same time, they continued shadowing Mrs. Dickerson and they were taken about two weeks ago in their apartment house here.

Highwayman, Dressed as Woman, Aids in Hold-Up

Washington, D.C., 1913

Two highwaymen, one attired as a stylish young woman, held up John McLain of 1108 Florida Northeast, he told the police of the Ninth precinct the other night, and at the point of a revolver demanded his cash and jewelry.

McLain was going to his home, when he was accosted at Montello avenue and Morse street Northeast by two men, one dressed in woman's clothes. Both had their faces smeared with lampblack. The one in man's clothes pointed a revolver at McLain, and demanded his money. He only had 26 cents, so the highwayman took that, and pointing his revolver at McLain told him to "beat it." McLain did.

Hastily turning a corner, he met Policeman Steele about to mount the steps of the Ninth precinct station. "There's a couple of hold-ups down the street," he yelled at Steele. The bluecoat spied the pair about four blocks away and started after them on the double-quick. The two heard his footsteps and vanished around a corner. No more was seen of them.

Before they disappeared, however, Policeman Steele saw the "woman" pick up "her" skirts and do 100 yards in about ten flat. Underneath the skirts "she" had on a serviceable pair of trousers.

McLain expressed doubt as to his ability to identify the pair should they be arrested. He said the lampblack they had on their faces made it difficult to remember their features, in addition, the beskirted member of the team had on a heavy veil.

A blue broadcloth suit, furs and muff, tan shoes, and a big black picture hat comprised the attire of the one who masqueraded as a woman. The police are wondering just what the game was.

—Syndicated feature article


ROBBER WAS IN SKIRTS

With Companion, He Gets Enormous Sum of 25 Cents.

SO MR M'LAIN REPORTS

Two Masquerading Youths Lead Policeman a Merry Chase — Quarry Lost in Alley — "Highwayman" Stumbles Over His Skirts — "Victim" Is Employed in One of the Government Departments.

Held up, the police say, at the point of a revolver by two white youths with blackened faces, one dressed as a woman and wearing a heavy black veil, John McLain, of 1108 Florida avenue northeast, late last night gave up 25 cents under threat of death at Montello avenue and Morse street northeast. McLain had more money in his pocket, but told the alleged robbers that that was all he had.

Passing by the corner a few moments later, Policeman Steele, of the Ninth precinct, was hurriedly told of the robbery by McLain, and gave chase. They were less than a block away. Hearing him coming, he said last night, the one dressed as a woman picked up his dresses and both ran quickly away.

Gathered His Skirts and Ran.

Policeman Steele threatened to shoot, but the two continued running and dodged up one street and down another, After following them for about four blocks, they evaded the policeman in an alley, and he was forced to abandon the chase.

McLain, who is employed in one of the government departments and is 24 years old, told the policeman he was sure both of the young men were white and not more than 21 years old. He plainly saw the blacking on their faces, he declared. The one dressed as a woman stumbled over his dress several times, he said.

McLain was returning to his home shortly after 11 o'clock, he said, when he noticed what appeared to be a negro man and woman approaching him. He paid little attention to them until they got within a few feet of him, and then the one dressed as a man suddenly whipped out a revolver and shoved it in his face. "Give us all the money you have or I will kill you," McLain said the one dressed as a man muttered, as though trying to disguise his voice. The other one, he said, told him to hurry up in a voice distinctly masculine.

Gave "Highwaymen" 25 Cents.

Fearing that the man would enforce his demand, McLain said he took 25 cents out of his pocket and handed it to the one dressed as a woman and told the pair that he had nothing else valuable. The sound of an approaching man frightened the "highwaymen" at this time, and they took the quarter and hurried away, he said.

Policeman Steele had just left his home and was on the way to the Ninth precinct police station to begin his night's work. Seeing the policeman, McLain rushed up to him and told him of the robbery, pointing out the two forms rapidly disappearing into the darkness along Montello avenue.

Followed by McLain, the policeman rushed after the couple. He had gone only a few steps when they began running, evidently having heard his approach. They went a block on Montello avenue, and the policeman was rapidly gaining on them. Then the one masquerading as a woman picked up his skirts about his waist, and both began running faster.

Decided Not to Shoot.

Policeman Steele blew his whistle as he ran, but got no response. He also called to the couple that he would shoot unless they stopped, but they only ran faster. He did not actually fire.

Returning to the Ninth precinct police station, Policeman Steele sent out a general lookout for the two robbers, but up to a late hour last night no further trace of them had been found.

McLain described the two as being both young and smooth-faced. The one dressed as a woman was entirely in black, and had on a black veil, he said. The other was dressed in a dark suit and slouch hat.

—The Washington Post, January 13, 1913, page 3.

Armless Man Commits Robbery With Gun Between His Toes

1903

HOLDS GUN WITH HIS TOES

Armless Wonder Cowes Roomful of Men By a Threat to Shoot.

Butte, Mont., March 4 — The most sensational and novel holdup known in the West was perpetrated when Chas. Payne, an armless man, entered the California club at the corner of Main and Broadway and with a 44-calibre revolver held between the toes of his right foot compelled a faro dealer Richards to return him $5 which he had lost during the night.

There were only a few players in the room at the time and they made a rush for the doors when Payne swung his gun into action. Richards begged him not to shoot and Payne said that all he wanted was the return of $5 which he had lost. It was cheerfully restored to him and he hopped out of the club while keeping the dealer covered with his gun. The robbery was not reported to the police till in the afternoon and after Payne had been arrested for taking a shot at another man in a boarding house on West Mercury street later in the day.

He resisted arrest and tried to cut the officers with a razor which he held between his toes. He was overpowered, disarmed and taken to jail. Payne was formerly a vaudeville performer, but has been out of engagements for more than a year because of dissipation and he is said to have been crazed with drink at the time of the robbery and shooting.

—Davenport Daily Republican, Davenport, Iowa, March 5, 1903, page 2.

List of Criminals Cleaned-Out, They're Headed for Prison

Iowa, 1903

EXODUS OF BAD CHARACTERS FROM DAVENPORT

Four Departed Yesterday and More Go Today — Pope Starts Sentence.

There was an exodus of bad characters from Davenport yesterday and while it was not planned or voluntary on the part of the exiles, yet it will probably not hurt the city much. Sheriff McArthur left yesterday morning for Fort Madison taking with him James Pope, sentenced to life imprisonment for the crime of rape committed on his 13-year-old daughter; and Fred Gross sentenced to two and one-half years at hard labor for receiving stolen property, he being implicated in the Gross case. W. D. Petersen accompanied the sheriff on the trip and they expect to return today.

Deputy Sheriff Eggers left yesterday morning for Anamosa, where he takes Daisy Lister and Gertie McDonald for terms of five years each in the woman's ward of the penitentiary. The women were convicted of robbery from Simon Myerson, a rag buyer. The Lister woman, on account of extenuating circumstances and a probable evidence that she was of better former character than her co-partner, was promised the assistance of the judge and county attorney if she showed at the end of year's time that her behavior at the penitentiary had been good, in securing parole.

This cleans out the list of criminals sentenced regularly during the last term of court. Young Frank Boswell, who made such an astonishing confession of the crimes that he had been guilty of, will be taken to Eldora either today or tomorrow to enter upon the service of his sentence in the state industrial school for boys situated there.

—Davenport Daily Republican, Davenport, Iowa, March 4, 1903, page 7.

Prison for Poison Booze Men

1920

HARTFORD, Conn. — Nathan Salzberg was given a prison sentence of from eight to twelve years, Frank Rose three to five years, Saul Joseph three to five years, and Jacob Bronerwine one to three years. The four were charged with the sale of wood alcohol whiskey which resulted in thirteen deaths here at Christmas time.


Three Robbers Get $368,250

Two Safes Are Blown After They Chloroform the Watchman

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — Police authorities said they had no clue to the identity of three men who during the night chloroformed, bound and gagged a watchman and robbed two safes in an office building of $368,250 in securities, of which $118,000 are negotiable.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, March 20, 1920, page 1.