Daily Republican., 1889-05-01
edition.



A systematic and regular robhe,u
the store Of Rankin Armstrong Of
Caskey Building, Newark, Ia, hesa ls
ried on for a month past, aud il wa, , gs''
on Monday thut Mr.. Armstrong 10y, on
out how IL was done The gronni '' "u'nd
OF the Caskey Building Ia 1.yiI'i 'oor
three stores, two OF them occ,,J., ,I'p
MI, Armstrong and the other ,' Wy
E. Is. Frazer for drug store M mt
over month ago, Mr.. Frazer ,Iys,, ,''.e
In the Philadelphia papers fir e'.'ei
clerk, when an Irishman hy bn - 1tuS
OF John A. McGaw applied inr Inc ' ,''le
ton and was accepted. N.C,ny 'i'',
been only about three months utl
country. He is 35 years of AGO. ,'.s
edncate', and has thurou. IA kno.I "el
OF chemistry aud the cOmpnni,,t,H
medicines. Mr.. Armstrong, tDE OF
rooms are connected by an s,ri''
about The middle of the room ''"T
About \ week after McG4w r.,.. 4.
Frazer's store, Mr.. Armstr.u, SAD 20
wearing pair OF pat Is that he w.. "''l
had been stolen from HE store H..
TO MIR. Frazer about the discover, b.fpp
made, but he thought that Nj 1au
strong must be mistaken, as M,t,sw ,"
peared TO be man who would ia, ~
such business rs petty pi.ir..uy ~,
Armstrong, however, did not ,isoi. a..
subject 50 easily, a. he had been ~.
qucntly broken into before aud rD.r.i..
lied, aud he was somewhat srn,,'s.
upon that point. McGaw wore that r.,
oil pants about two weeks oui uti in H..
drug store Into Mr.. Armetrnip', .tn,.
aud across the street to his io,rl.rs
house, whera he was readily seen nulu,s
pants easily recognized by Mr.. Arm.
strong.
Mr.. Frazer, however, had asked Aln IN
the meantime where he got those pan,s,n
way not To DO suspiCioncd, aud Mct,aw
said he bought them from man rniurl
Webb IN Philadelphia, and as they diI
not ft him, he had intended To return
them.
In about two weeks aferwarl NJ,
Armstrong noticed him with another ps.r
OF pants on that had been taken from liz
store. He then came to the concluann
That something lad 10 be done, as he WA,
well convinced that the man WAS thic,
His desk was at the rear end OF the slote
behind screen, where he could pla,uly
sec McGaw come in, but McGaw could
not see him. On Monday he came into
the store for needle when Armstrong.
clerk met him At the archway aud TOOK
him In aud supplied him, after which he
let McGaw de- art out into the other
store without following him, knowing
that Mr.. Armstrong was there 10 valcI
him. He went deliberately to where tho
pants were and wrapped up IS pIf.
elapped them under his coat and vent
out.
In about twenty minutes aiterward Ne.
Cav came into the store again 10 get IS
pennies changed into silver. The clerk
changed the money, and let hun depart
second time into the other store, where
Mr.. Armstrong saw him deliberately
gather up another pair of s. pants aud
depart,
He then went TO Squire Smiths Office
and mad a warrant sworn out and had
McGaw arrested. Afterwards he had a
search warrant sworn out and searched
McGaw's room where he boarded.
There were found there q pair of pants,
two pair of kid gloves, and number of
haudkerchieis aud tollars-the property
OF Mr.. Armstrong. A farther search IN
in the rear OF the drug store revealed
another pair oipants that hal
been stoloa.
When arraiRnei before the Squire
McGaw acknowledged to taking OIL
pair OF pants, but Mr.. Armstrong pa n
ly saw him take two pair while he ret
ogniZed two other pair that he bal
been wearing. In default OF $500 bal
McGaw was taken over to New CAST
and lodged ln jail.
McGAw had conducted himself In sucl
manner outside OF his thieving propeu
sities us to gain the esteem OF quite Z
large number of people. Am 'ig
them was Rev. Mr.. Bond, who Wa
made TO believe that he had strong
church tendencies, but to Others lt
Avowed the strongest iniidelisuc princ
Piles.
His friends, some OF them thought
that he was a kleptomaniac, but the grow.
ing opinion now is that he belongs to 4
dangerous gang OF thieves, and Il 10 be.
lleved that he was preparing and waiting
for chance TO make a big pull, as Sir,
Armstrong sees now why he was 90
anxious about how his safe was los kel.
Since McGaW came to the town, II Is well
known that an attempt was made to
Jimmy" the bank, but II is not known
that McGaw made the attempt. The re.
commentators he brought that secured
him the situation with Mr.. Frazer he has
acknowledged were but iac-simlles Of the
original, which he said he could produce.
At any rate, the people OF Newark feel
safer with McGaw In jail than they would