The Andrew County Republican. [volume] (Savannah, Mo.) 1871-1876, 1876-08-31
A Daring Effort to Rob the
Dallas State Savings Bank.

ing attempt OF TWO desperadoes TO MUIR
der the President Of the State Savings
Bank, and to plumber the institution
Yesterday, about 1 O'Clock, while Mr..
Z. II. Gruber, Pre- sident of the State
Savings Bank, was sittin g at the desk,
two men entered the bank and, spring.
ing over the counter, grappled with
him. When he got to the counter, one
of them struck him q blow with a
pistol on the back of the head, partially
stunning him. He made a brave and
desperate resistance, and held on to
the money he had in his hands. The
men grabbed up q handful of currency,
a few hundred dollars only, and ran
out OF the back door toward and over
the fence in the back yard, one of them
presenting a pistol at Master Gruber, a
lad of about fourteen years of age, who
pulled the door shut between himself
and his murderer's pistol. Tho men
must have had their plans we'll laid, as
they mounted their horses, one a bay,
the other a %sorrcl, and rode off; the
one on the sorrcl out Lamar street with
a pistol in his hand, the other, it is
said, went down Commerce toward
the bridge.
A pistol and part Of q false beard
were picked up in the back yard. One
of the mcn-the one who wore a long,
black, false beard-is described as
thick-set, with dark eyes. He rode the
sorrel horse.
The robbers went out through the
Cedars, on Ervay Street, toward Brow
der Springs and tho Central Depot, fol-
lowed by a party in pursuit.
Mr.. Gruber received a painful, but
not dangerous, wound in the back of
his head, cutting through the skin to
the skull, about an inch in length, with
n bruise in the face, all of which bled
profusely. The moment the robbers
jumped the counter he saw their OBJ
ject was robbery, and murder, proba-
bly,. Unfortunately, they happened to
get between him and the place where
his pistols were, otherwise he might
have killed one or both of them. Mr..
Gruber is a small mar compared to the
robbers, but he made a most gallant
resistance.
A gentleman who had rushed in found
him bleeding ~profusely and somewhat
faint with the loss of blood, but still
held the money grasped in his hand.
He was taken into the Directors room
of the bank, and had his wounds dressed
by Drs. Holland, Storey, Locke, and
other gentlemen.
A lady who saw the robbers after they
came out of the bank says that their
horses were tied in the vacant lot neal
the engine-house, which is Immediately
in the rear of the bank, and separated
by o scvcn-foot close board fence. One
rode a sorrel horse and drove a bay and
gray in front, evidently the horses of
the robbers who went into the bank, and
the one who staid outside and had been
taking notes OF the situation a few min
utes before the robbery, by pricing mil
linery in an adjoining store. The man
on the sorrel horse rode out of the lot
into Commerce Street, turning into La
mar Street. Before doing so the other
two men must have mounted the gray
and bay horses, as the one on the sorrel
horse was seen alone, going out Lamar
Street, pistol in hand, near the com.
press, by Mr.. Joe Record, and after.
ward to pass the colored school-house
beyond.
Mr.. Gruber states that when the rob.
bers presented themselves at the coun.
ter, he was sitting at his desk, and look.
ing up he saw them, and while approach
ing the counter they drew down on
him with their pistols, and scrambling
over the counter closed in on him, one
of them knocking him down with hi:
pistol. He thinks the shot was the re-
suit of the blow given him, or n o.
the men may have fired at him while
down. lie thinks they struck him ii
the face, hoping to blind him, and that
they did not anticipate any difficulty ii
etfecting the robbery, when they level
ed their pistols at him and climbed ovel
the counter.
This is the most daring robbery evel
committed in this city. In broad day
light, in the business center of the city
two men enter n bank, and a terrific
struggle, and a regular death grappl'
occurs, and it is not seen on a grea
thoroughfare. People are probabl.
passing at the time, but the p~late-glas
windows in front, covered with signs
and the bank counter and glass pane
prevented any one from seeing wha
was going on behind the counter whcl
the struggled took place.
Some days ago Hugh Stapp, a motto
rious desperate, was arrested here an
lodged in Jail. 1t is surmised these rob
bers may have been friends of his an
part of the John Wesley Hardin gang
As yet no clew has been discovered a
to who the robbers are. Anothe
theory, based on the robbers perfeo
familiarity with the suburbs, trails i
cedar brakes, country roads and shoi
cuts, is that they belong to the Young
er-James gang, the Ioungers havin
once resided in this county, nea
Hsught's store, east of this city.
, The affair created intense eXcitemel
, at the time, and the streets were GROVE
: ed with men for hours, discussing ii
, extraordinary daring and audacity
, the robbers.
q Sheriff Moon returned last night fro
a fruitless search for the bank-robber
, He knows what he is about, howeve
= and will leave nothing undone to brir
the villains to justice.
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