St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-11-03


heard of such society until this Cronin
matter came up.
Joe Mannix is said to have met the
missing witness in the AlOee-PiOneer
Press libel suit on the street yesterday,
when the following conversation took
place:
He-Why, how do you do, Miss
Becker?
She-MrS. Becker. if you please.
He-Well. you see, you have been
gone so long we have missed you.
81
You can just bet your bottom dollar
that if burglar gets into my room in
the night and find out that he is there
he can go rs peaceably as he came, " re-
marked a well-knOwn Minneapolis law
yer the other evening III a social gath
ering. Il NOW what l am talking
about for have been there. One night
not long since | arose at midnight with
an Undefnable feeling that something
was wrong, and opening my eyes, l saw
standing at the foot of the bed the dim
outlines of which seemed to me
10 DE a man about eight feet high.
TO say that l was paralyZed
by the sight doesn't half express it. My
breathing apparatus seemed TO stop,
but my heart thumped in my throat like
the FOUNDER in an Old-faShioned oil mill.
1t seemed TO me that lay there for ten
minutes gazing at the shadow without
saving a word. but probably il was not
more than one minute, when L managed
To demand in the firmeSt tone L could
command, "Well, what do you want?'
The fellow Immediately started for
the door. ana l could hear him cropping
along the wall with his fingers, trying
to find it. Now. that door had a spring
lock on it which had a habit of locking
Just when you didn't want it to, and
that is Just what it did on this occasion.
The burglar was onto ii. and fumbled
away at the knob for some time, try
ing to get out. In the meantime l had
mustered more courage, ana l said,
Get out of here, and get out quickly,
for something Is going to happen"
This accelerated the movements of my
paternal visitor, and he tugged franti-
cally at the door. | could hear him puff
fling like a locomotive. Finally, he said:
Il can't open the door,"
AT this FL be blamed if didn't sit
up in bed and give him directions how
to manipulate the lock, so that he finally
succeeded in opening the door and was
gone.
NO. don't want any trouble with
burglar in dark room, thank you!
"This was months ago, and have
never fully gotten over that scare yet. L
never wake up in the night without first
looking at the foot of the bed TO see if
there is not somebody there"
Fl
That laStremark reminds me of my eX-
perience with the Barrett boys" re-
marked a well-known Minneapolis
business man, who was attacked by
them on his way home one night, the
result being lively fight in which sew
eral pistol shots were exchanged.
You may think | was not frightened
In that encounter, but | was, and badly,
too. l have not yet fully recovered
from the shock, and | often 60 through
the combat in my dreams, waking up in
a great trembe. l don't want any
more of that kind of experience in
mIne."
"I've had little experience with
burglars myself" interpOSed we'll
known Minneapolis lawyer.
when | was yOnng man L was a
telegraph operator, and as such was put
in charge of 4 night office i'll little
Illinois town, where l had to handle
express, freight and baggage. The train
from Chicago passed there about 2
o'clock in the morning. One cold night
it went by OH time. and / was on the
platform getting into the depot what it
had left, while the train proceeded on
its way. All at once, and when about a
mile distant, | heard the engine sound
the danger signal long and loud. l lis
tened to it as long as it was within hear
ing, wondering what the trouble was,
and then returned to my work.
''JuSt as ] was taking on the last
piece of freight, l heard two men COM
ing up the steps at the further end of
the depot platform. so | closed the door
and locked it. Just as | had done so,
one of the men came up to it and tried
to open it. Finding it was locked he
asked, cant l get in out of the cold"
Twas taken by the station by mistake
and walked back"
Il said. you can't come in here. This
Is not waiting room. There is hotel
Just two blocks down the street,"
AT that he went away, but l noticed
that l could hear the steps Of only one
man,
"A few moments later heard foot
steps again approaching, and by listen
ing closely l thought l could distin
guish the sounds of two pairs of feet,
but the men were evidently stepping
off together to make me think there was
but one. When few feet away, one
of the men seemed to stop. The other,
and the same man who was at the door,
came up again and said, i would like
to get in and warm myself, the hotel is
closed"
"'Who is with you% | asked"
Nobody said he. I am alone.'"
''JuSt then / heard the sound of what
] took to be the clicking of revolver in
the act of being cooked, and,I blew out
my lamp, leaving the room dark. /
told the man that he could not come i'll.
At that he took hold of the door knob
and made violent effort to break in,
but the door successfully resisted his
effOrtS.''
''Just then / heard my Office called on
the telegraph instrument, and answer
ing it in the dark [ received this mes
sage:
"'Look out for two men who are rob-
berS. Just after No. left your station
the express messenger discovered mau
in the act of saving hole in the front
door of his car. He pulled the cord, the
train slowed up and two men jumped
off and ran away"
Il knew. then, whom 1 had to deal
with, and you may be sure | quaked in
my boots, for did not have even a sim
gle -barreled pistol in the office.
1.-The other man then came out of COW
er and the two made several attempts to
break in, but warned them that / had
a shotgun and would shoot the first man
that came in. This seemed to alarm
them and they finally departed, while l
stayed there in the dark until morn
ing"
when the day agent came l told him
the story, went home and retired When
got up in the evening / learned that
the other depot in the town had been
entered the night before and robbed.
No doubt the thieves were my visitors.
but no trace Of them was ever found"
II
A tariff reform Republican from
Southern Minnesota, who was in Min
neapOlis last week, and who stands high
in the councils of the G. O. D., said to a
GLOBE reporter that he was in favor of
conducting the next campaign in this
state squarely upon the tariff issue. He
said: IF all the political elements in