Wichita eagle., 1888-10-02
HORSE THIEF TRAPS.

Nowadays when you compare man to
horse thief you wish to degrade him. Thirty
years ago first class horse thief excited
certain amount Of admiration and respect.
In these days Of rapid transit, telegraph,
telephone and police one can scarcely realize
the SUCCESS which horse thieves won before
the war. They were the dread and the
scourge of the farmer and the villager. They
were better organized than any other class Of
criminals, and not only stole with nerve, but
with system. In 1856 there was gang with
headquarters in Ohio, which numbered at
least fifty members, and which had agents in
almost every state In tho Union. 1have seen
legal documents TO prove that horses stolen in
New Hampshire found their way to Georgia,
and that horses stolen in Kentucky were
Traced to points in Maine It was no hap
hazard business Spies were sent out 30 10
bate horses, and then men followed to steal
them When horse was taken he was sent
to certain agent, farmer or livery man,
kept a certain length Of time, disguised, II
necessary, and then forwarded to a second
hgent still further away. In this manner he
was passed out Of the state and hundreds of
miles beyond, and not one was recovered
where five were successfully run of. While
the crime was made a very serious one under
the law Of almost every state, it was never
looked upon by participants as being any
thing compared to burglary, highway rob-
berry or arson. This accounts for the fact
that men who were honest in all else were
caught passing along stolen horses
The years 1878 were the p2lny days Of
the horse thief In 1858 general movement
was mado against the fraternity all over the
country, breaking up and scattering organ
izations, and the beginning Of the war fin
ished the business. Except IN the far west,
the horse thief now acts independently and
alone, and it Is rare that one gets safely of
with his prize During the two years have
named my father had farm In central In
diana. was Is years old, and my health
was so poor that could do no work. Be-
tween 1856 and 1867 we lost six horses by
thieves, not one of which was recovered. One
day a sheriff who was on tle trail Of O thief
visited our place and gave ME some pointers,
ard he was no sooner gone than | began to
plan and scheme We had at that time seven
good horses, and among them was span of
grays which had taken state fair premium
The sheriff said we would have to stable them
in bedroom in the house to keep them, and
the impending peril set my wits to work.
Father had large mercantile business III the
village three miles away and the farm was
in my charge all day. We had good barns
and the best of locks, and we also had a
couple of watch dogs, but our horses had
been stolen just the same Indeed, when the
last horse went, the thief coa1ed away the
best dog The stable door was double locked,
but he had used skeleton keys
On the third day after the sherifs visit a
couple of strangers drove up in buoy. One
of them carne in and introduced himself as
tho agent of Cincinnati lightning rod
company, and asked the privilege Of inspect
ing the rods which had been put on the horse
barn the year before. He said they were his
companys rods, but did not seem to be prop
erly affixed. This was one day in May, and
the span of grays were in the stable. The
strangers seemed honest and straight, but the
sheriff had warned me to look out for all
corners, and I therefore had my eyes open
He not only looked at the rods, but he in
spected the staples and examined the doors
and locks Several things occurred to satisfy
me that he had como to spy out the situa-
ton, and after the pair had driven away l
began preparations for a visitor. There was
what might be called q vestibule to the
stables. As you opened the door there was
space Of about nine by twelve feet before you
reached the first stall I got a piece Of green
hickory six feet long, and shaved it down to
the size Of an ak handla One end was
pushed into hole bored in q grit Of
the stable, and by means Of a piece OF
cloehesline drew the other end back until
the wood would stand DO more. In front of
this bow or sweep rugged a cord running
across the vestibule 1t ran up partition
and then down to the end of the sweep, where
Irigged catch. When the trap was set the
cord was about four feet inside the door and
across the way 70 the stalls. The cord ran
across knee high, and a moderate pressure
against il pulled down the catch and let the
bow spring back This bow was arranged at
height of five feet from the floor, and after
a few experiments l was satisfied that 1t
would work all right. From the end Of the
bow, as it was bent back, ran string over
the hen house and pig pen to my chamber
window, 200 feet away. / there fastened it TO
q bell, ard ring Of the bell would mean
that the bow had been sprung. The hired
man slept near by, and both OF US had fire
arms. Ny father, who drove home each
night, was quite taken with tie invention,
and was to turn out with US at the alarm.
-Four nights passed without an alarm. On
the fifth night it was dark and rainy, and
felt SO sure that somebody would come that
did not L dress. Neither did the hired man.
We sat reading, when, at quarter to IL, the
bell suddenly rang and lifted US out Of our
chairs We seized our guns, ran down and
awoke father, and lighted the lantern, and
In four or five minutes the three Of US were
at the barn. The stable door was wide open,
and on the ground outside lay the body of q
ua haI yN.ce aJ ybsa1 nfsl-S
and he had struck the cord and sprung the
sweep. 1t had caught his throat, and he waS
as dead as a herring. He was man OF
about 50. well dressed, and had $50 in his
wallet From letters found on him there wal
no doubt that he was one of the agents Of an
organized gang Indeed, there were two Of
them. The other sat in buggy in the road
and as we came out he drove OF. No one
could identify the dead man, and, after ar
inquest, no was buried IN a corner of the
village graveyard
The papers had q good deal to say ebou.
the adventure, and Of course gave away my
invention The next man who came would
be informed, and would take care TO avoid
it must, therefore, have recourse 70 some
thing else ! sent off TO st. Louis for bear
trap, and a, soon as it arrived we planted il
ii front OF uas stable door. It was monster
trap, intended 10 hold anything which got il
foot between the Jaws. and we had 70 use
levers 10 bear down the springs Not one oa
our Beighbors nor one Of the day workers on
the farm knew Of the arrival OF this trap; but
all knew that the hickory spring had been
done away with N the stable We pretended
to believe thar the one lesson would keep ths
fellows away for months to come. Ore dav,
shout three weeks after tie burial of the
horse thief. a man who bad come along ard