The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1890-03-13
STOLE EVERYTHING IN SIGHT.
A Ranchman Appropriates Other Peoples
Goods, Even Their Floors.

DENVER, Col, March 7.-For months
past the residents of Colfax have been
the victims of petty thief. Bed
clothing, stoves and farming nipple
ments were taken, one man even
losing the flooring of his unfinished
house. The thief, ranchman named
James Bleibel, has at last been ar
rested. His captor, Deputy Sheriff
Stocton, tells the following story of
the arrest:
"The way I happened onto it was
funny enough" said he. 81 was out
on Colfax road, some fourteen miles,
a week ago to arrest a man named
Topper, who had been doing some
shooting around, and l had to lay
there for him two days. 1t was dull
enough sitting around little country
store, till the people began to tell
about the robberies that had been
going on for two or three years. There
was hardly anyone in the country
about who had not lost some articles
and had no clew to the discovery OF
them. Of course there were two or
three suspected parties, and after lis
tening to what was said made up
my mind to take day off as soon as
l could and look the matter up.
~ went out there, and one of the
ranchers named McGill very readily
signed paper that he had lost GER
tain articles and suspected Bleibel.
Then with search warrant we pro-
ceeded to search BleibePs house and
told him what we had come for. He
was mad enough, but read him the
search warrant and we went into the
| house.
"The interior was just filled with
things. 1 believe you could have
found anything there from a needle
| to a threshing machine. never saw
such collection in my life and l
n?ver saw madden man than Blei-
bel.
ave went looking around and Nc
Gill very soon recognized his property.
That bed is mine,' said he, and that
mattress and that rocking chair and
those pie plates
"'No, them pie plates amt yours
roared Bleibel. IN bet $40 on it and
1 can show you just where your pie
plates are.'
awe continued the search, finding
all manner of property that he had
stolen from the neighbors. There
was gun belonging to Mr.. Morse.
There were dishes of odd kinds, not
matching anything else in the house.
Knives, forks and silverware we found
stored away in odd cracks and crev-
ices. Other neighbors joined us, and
nearly everyone found something that
he owned. One man had had floor,
nicely painted, disappear in one
nights time, and he found it doing
service in BleibePs stable.
~ had meanwhile noticed that the
house, which was story and half
high, had no stairs leading to the up
per part; the lower story WAS ceiled
and plastered. Going out found no
way of getting up from the outside.
So drew one of the men little apart
and said to him:
"Eacock, you are a carpenter
where is the place to get in under the
roof"
"He looked around and said: There
isn't any,
ave commenced new branch Of
the investigation then, and getting a
ladder placed it against the gable end
of the house and assembled above the
caves. And there was very neat
little bit of carpenters work. A slid
ing door, secured by spring screws
above and below, was so accurately
fitted in as to leave almost no line OF
iointure. The door could not be seen
from the ground. We worked it open
and crawled into the loft, and great as
was the conglomeration down stairs
it was not a circumstance to what we
now saw"
"There were stoves and bits of ma
chimes, anu hoes and shovels, all
manner of things that he had picked
up in a long course of robbery. There
was clothing and tin pans and tucked
away behind the joists were found a
number of watches. 1t was harvest
spot, and the accumulation of years.