Wichita eagle., 1888-10-02

70 this, and whenever the jaws spranS tne
bell would sound an alarm as before. The
ditch digger slept In room on the other side
Of the house. and we did not set Che trap
until he was in bed. On the third day after
hts inspection Of the stables, he announced
that he must go to the village in the evening
to make some purchases. We set the trap
at Q o'clock and at half-pas. 10 the bell
rang. We were waiting for it, and we were
out In two or three minutes. The bear trap
had its victim, and the victim was our ditch
digger. OF all the bowling, yelling, ours
Ing and praying you ever heard mixed To-
gether this fellows utterances took the cake.
BE was caught by the right leg, end such
was the pain that he was almost crazy. He
had unlocked one Of the big padlocks on the
door, and had bunch of about fifty keys with
him. Tho sudden surprise and the pain broke
him in two, and even before we got him out
of the trap be confessed that he came to
work for us with the sole idea Of stealing the
gray horses He was sent to jail, and when
his trial came on he went to prison for three
years. That was not his full punishment,
however His leg was so injured In the trap
that 1t had to be amputated to save bis life.
The papers gave my bear trap away, as
matter Of course, and l must now look for
some other defense The thieves would
hereafter keep clear Of the stable door. DC
tober haa now come, and the long nights
were the glory of the horse thief. There
was an underground stable to the horse barn.
and the doors Of this were never locked, as
we were not afraid of our cows being taken.
The only doors to the barn proper were
pair Of big doors and the stable door. The
1 rail- facfa-,ad ont tho inside
that no one could open them. All attempts
had been made by the small door. l now
figured that the next conner would enter the
stable below and ascend to the horses above
through one of the hay boxes running down
for the COWS. There was one empty stall,
and this happened to contain the largest
aperture above Once up stairs the thief
could lead the horses from the stable to the
main floor, and then out Of the big doors.
One ascending by the hay box would pass
under beam out on the main floor. 10 this
beam fastened two poles eight feet long In
an upright position and six feet apart l
then sawed off two inch plank to the right
length, bored hole in either end, and with
the help of the hired man and rope and
pulley, hoisted it up and slipped it over the
poles We arranged it to have fall OF
seven feet, and increased its weight by fas-
tening block Of stone at either end. When
drawn up by the rope and pulley we ran the
rope through ring in the floor, attached a
wire, and ran this wire to catch. A pres
sure Of a pound on the wire released the
catch and let the plank down with a smash.
We were undisturbed for about four weeks
after the sentence of the bear trapsvictim
Then stranger who said he was drover
from Cincinnati called one day to look at some
of our stock. We were stall feeding three or
four steers, and the drover was shown to the
underground stable was watching all his
movements and | saw that he gave the
empty stall and the big hay box particular
attention. He had heard of our adventures,
and when gave him to understand that we
feared no danger except by the small door be
had O twinkle in his eyes. He praised the ar
rangement Of the stables, and thereby madn
an excuse for stepping on the edge OF The
manger and. looking up the hay box. He
could see that one climbing up there would
come out on the main floor, but he could not
see what had in store for any one who tried
it. On that night everything was in readi-
ness; but it was five nights before the victim
appeared had a string running from the
plank to the bell in my chamber, but this
alarm was not needed. 1t was, believe, the
9Th of October. The weather had been
threatening all day, and at dark drizzle
set in. About o'clock in the evening some
thing disturbed tho hens, and the hired man
went out to investigate the trouble.
He heard somebody calling from the
barn, and we went out to dis
cover that we had prisoner under the
T. or bo Jrox-ar yx-hn CALLED tn
see the fat steers, but tough looking fellow
about 25 years of age who had got the
pointer. He had come early, SO as to get a
long start before daybreak. and under the
idea that no trap would be set until our bed
time. The heavy weight had come down
across his back, and he had been SO badly
hurt that he could hardly move. When we
removed him we sent for doctor and before
10 O'Clock the thief was told that he could not
live until morning. He was at first very sui
len and defiant, but as death came nearer be
began to weaken. At midnight he asked u;
to send for the sheriff, and WI hen that official
arrived the thief made startling confession
He gave away the names and residences OF 6
score of agents, told the officer where to find
fifteen or twenty stolen horses, and, in brief
made a complete exposure of the whole busi
ness. Our horses, had he got them, were x
have been sent to New York or Boston. Ht
died about o'clock next morning, while die
tating letter TO his mother in Chicago.
! The confession was windfan for the
sheriff He moved rapidly, and within {
week almost every member Of the gang il
the state was in limbo. Arrests followed il
( Ohio, Illinois and other states, and hors'
+ thieving as a business received its death blow
before Christmas. In our village the hote
keeper and the hveryman were arrested
tried and sent to prison, and in other towns
it came our that lawyers, doctors, and ever
postmasters had been in with the gang In
diana recovered at least seventy-fvc valuabl'
horses which had been run out Of the state
and at least thirty men were sent to prison
It was as / said, the breaking up OF tn
whole business. and it was all brought abou
through the fall of o plank which q country
boy and a farm hand had hoisted into posi-
! tion.-New York Sun.