Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-01-02
A Thief in a Box,
Or an Embezzler in Sara.
toga Trunk.
BEING A TALE OF SIN AND SORROW,

D u1Nu n 1hbb VI Win hNO ROlISOW 3
Told by q Man Who Fell Victim to a
Desire to Grow Rich Suddenly-HOw
Thomas Vines Circumvented the Chi
cago sieuths and Took an Exceedingly
Uncomfortable Ride, and How He Re
pented of His Rashness.
ST. LOUIS, Jan. 2-Thomas W. Vines. Of
Chicago, was fully competent last night to
lecture on the Delsartean movements as APP
piled to Saratoga trunks. For twenty -four
hours the principals of the poetry OF melton
had been called to his attention in such a
way that an impression deep and lasting
had been left The impression was not
alone confined to his head, but extended to
his body and the extremities thereof Vines
is the man who left Chicago very suddenly
last week with the weeks pay of the hands
OF the Adams & Westlake Manufacturing
company in his pocket-about $4,000. The
fugitive discovered that the exits of Chicago
were so well watched that any attempt to
escape would be fraught with con-
siderable danger. Then he planted"
himself aud cogitated. He called
to his assistance confederate, now
unknown, and the pair evolved a novel
scheme. A big Saratoga trunk was pur-
chased by the confederate and Thomas aud
most of his "boodle" deposited in the trunk.
Thomas is six feet high, weighs $50 pounds,
and the trunk was pretty full of defaulter
when Thomas was packed in. Holes had
been bored under the handles, and through
these the bold Thomas inhaled air. The
trunk was carted &c the station and checked
to this city Monday night. The confederate
took the check, and was to have claimed
the Saratoga as soon as it arrived.
Then began Rider Haggard adventure
for Thomas. The first baggage-smasher that
seized the trunk stood him on his head, and
then with the assistance of another fiend
pitched him twenty feet into car. His head
swan and swelled but he was game. Arriv-
ing in the and bringing up with a violent
conclusion, the first words he heard were:
"This is a fine looking box to be out on the
road this time of year." and with this another
pair of trunk thumpers picked him up and
tossed him half way across the car. In
minute a big sample trunk came laundering
down on him, and shook all the pluck out of
him. Then ne was stood on his head and
bombarded with trunks and other pieces of
baggage until he was threatened with apo.
plexy and suffocation. He says
"They banged and slammed it around in a
frightful manner, and made existence mis-
cradle for ME. | was tossed about in all
manner of ways. Sometimes was standing
on my head and sometimes on my feet
While the trunk was standing still | was all
right, but when they threw it about / suf-
fered. Ny hands were scratched, my head
bumped, and body bruised by the way in
which | was tossed around I'm my cramped
quarters. had taken bottle OF water with
me and had il in the back pocket of my
pam A toss of the trunk by one of the
enuerprising handlers OF baggage broke the
bottle, and the water poured down my neck.
You can imagine what sort of condition |
was thrown into. The first 100 miles or SO
in the car | got along nicely, aud the air was
all right. Then it became thick,
and after going another fifty or
seventy-five miles l began to yell and
kick. l could stand it no longer and de-
termined to get out of the trunk at all haz
ards Ny kicks and yells finally attracted
the attention of the men in the car, and they
pulled out the trunk, which had another
trunk on top OF it, and broke it open They
were long time finding me, however, and
thought they never would come. thought
l would be arrested, but to nv surprise they
did not do anything to me at all They did
not even put me off the train, but let me
ride to St Louis. i don't know where my
partner has gone guess he became fright
ened and left, as he has not claimed the
trunk"
When discovered, Vines told the aston
ished baggage manipuldtors that his name
was Burke, and that he took to the trunk in
order to beat his way. He won the men
over, and when the train reached the station
-.sll = OIL
to tongue, ana so much sympathy was de-
veloped for The poor youl :, man that a sub
scription was taken up and he was pre-.
thing to eat He took breakfast
at the Union Depot hotel and
told some of the waters he was Tascott.
This information reached a policeman, and
he took a look at the young man. At this
time Vines was looking for the friend who
checked him. in order to get the check and
claim tue trunk, but the friend was incon-
veniently missing, The officer by this time
became convinced that the man was Tsscott
and arreS ed him.
Vines and the trunk were taken to police
headquarters, where a search of both brought
to light a., 800 He was identified as Vines
by one of the detectives, and then he con-
fessed He would say nothing about his
missing friend, but told of his adventure
with the trunk as portrayed above He said
he first tried to escape from Chicago by
painting himself with iodine He went out
on the street in the iodine Disguise and
every body looked at him so hard that he re
turned to his place of concealment He was
checked on the Wabash train. and the check
was l,7l3. He will go back Thursday