Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1888-10-11
EARLY HORSE THIEVES.
Their Complete Organisation and
Work.
How oRe 10y Helped TO Break tip
the Fratersity-Ha >a~r~--fpiIy Plans
aa'g >-t. rhF~- Trap. To Catch
Horse Thieves

Horse Thieves
Nowadays when yon compare man
"a HORSE thief you wish to degrade
him. Thirty wears agO hrst-class
horsr thief excited a certain amount Of
aim ir.ltiou and respect. In these. days
~ rapid Transit. telegraph. telephone
and Foiir-. ore car scarcely r,.alize
the -rrrr-- -airh hor-.. thieves won
h~for- th- wur- They were the dread
an's th. -.71u-ge ~ the farmer and
vAla--r- They were better organized
thsH any nth-s- clss- ~ criminals. and
nos only stole with nerve. but with
system In I~JS there was gang
with headquarters in Ohio. which
numbered AZ least ffty members. and
whirh haI agents In almost every
state in tb- Union- have seen legal
docurseHt- 20 prove thai horses stolen
in Ne~ Hampshire found their way To
'Feoggia. and that horses stolen in
kentucky were traced to points in
Maine. II was M haphazard BUSH
ness. Spies we're sent ont to locate
h0rssss- and then men followed
10 steal them When horse was
taken be- Wa sent to a certain agent.
farmer or livery man, kept certain
length Of time. disguised. il necessary.
and then forwarded 20 a second agent
still further away. In this manner he
was passed out Of the State and hun
dress 1t miles beyond. and not one was
recovered. wher,. FIVE were successfully
run OF. While the crime was made a
very serious one under the law Of al
most every State. il was never looked
upon By participants A. being any
thing compared TO burglary. highway
robbery or arson- This accounts for
the Tact that men who were honest in
all else. were caught passing along
stolen horses
The year, Of 1878 were the palmy
days Of the horse-thIef In 1853 a gen
eral movement was made against the
fraternity all over the country. break
ing mp and scattering organizations
and the beginning OF the war finished
the business Except in the far West
the horss-thicf acts independently and
alone. and it i rare that one gets safe
ly oil with his prize During the TIVE
years have named. my father had a
farm in Central Indiana | was fifteen
years old. and my health was So poor
that | could do no work Between
1858 and 1851 we lost six horses b,
thieves. not one of which was re
covered One day n sheriff who wa
on the trial OF thief visited on
place and gave me some pointers, an,
he was no sooner gone than
began to plan and scheme. We ha,
at that time seven good horses, an,
among them was span OF grays whicl
had taken "A State fair premium. Tn
sheriff said we would have to stabl
them in bedroom in the house L
keep them. and the impending peril So
my wits 10 work. Father had Iarg,
mercantile business in the viIIag
three miles away and the farm was i
my charge all day. We had goo,
barns and the best Of locks and W
also had couple of watch dogs. bu
our horses had been stolen lust tn
same. Indeed when the last hors
went. the thief coaxed away the bes
dog. The stable door was doubl
locked. but he had used skeleton KEYS
On the third day after the sheriff
visit couple Of strangers drove up i
buggy. One of them came in aud in
Produced himself a. the agent OF
Cincinnati lightning-rod company, an,
asked the privilege of inspecting tn
rods which had been put on the hors,
barn the year before. He said the
were his company's rods. but did no
seem to be properly affixed. This wa
one day in May, and the span OF gray
were in the stable The stranger
seemed honest and straight, but tn
sheriff had warned me to look out 70
all corners. and therefore had m,
eyes open He not only looked a
the rods, but he inspected tn,
stables and examined the doors an,
locks Several things occurred I,
satisfy me that he had come TO spy ou
the situation, and after the pair had
driven away began Preparations fol
visitor There was what might b.
called a vestibule to the stables. A
you opened the door there was a spac,
OF about 9xI2 feet before you reashs
the first stall got piece Of gree.
hickory six feet lon4 and shaved /
down 10 the size OF an axe handI..
One end was pushed iatO u hole bore,
IN girt OF the stable. and by mean.
OF piece Of clothesline I drew IN.
other end back until the wood would
stand no more. In front Of this bow
or sweep | rugged a cord running
across the vestibule- Il ran I'd ,
partition and then down 20 the end o
the sweep. where rugged catch