The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1894-09-29
"a YOUN G. !. ANDI|.T'..
Eighteen Year Old Ralph Conklin
Raids an Illinois Bank.
Tho Youngster, Masked and Armed.
Scares the Cashier and Grabs Over
04OO-Pursued by Citizens
and Caught.
A BOLD AFFAIR.

\ = 4 \ 3.
MOUNT STERLING, ILL.,, Sept 25.-
This city was the scene of a real and
thrilling western style bank hold-up
at 1890 o'clock Monday morning.
Ralph Conklin, aged IS, was the bold
desperado He is a native Of Brown
county, his parents residing a mile
and a half northeast of Mount
Sterling. Conklin. who is, given to
porting over such literature as s'The
Life of Jesse James, ''Deadwood
Dicks Last Shot," etc, left home with
an old-fashioned muzzle-loading dou-
ble-barreled shotgun Monday morning
and started Tor Mount Sterling. On
his way he met Mac Dunbar riding q
horse. The boy bandit leveled his gun
at Dunbar and commanded him to dis
mount. Dunbar slid off his horse and
Conkling mounted and rode into Mount
Sterling.
Scared the Cashier.
Going to the rear of the Bloomfield
Skiles bank Conklin dismounted, and
leaving a boy to hold the horse he en-
tered the bank by the rear door. wear
ing mask. Approaching the cashier,
j. d. Milstead, he ordered him to put
up his hands. Milstead refused to COM
ply at first and said:
'.What are you doing? What's the
matter with you?'
"Hold up your hands or I'll show you
what's the matter with me" spoke up
Conklin, at the same time placing the
stock of his gun to his shoulder
Cashier Milstead took to his heels
and left the bank by the rear door.
Con1lin lost no time and in moment
gathered up all the money in sight,
Sail. Edward Allison, who was
in the bank at the time Conk-
lin entered, ran out upon the
street and gave the alarm.
After pocketing the money Conk-
lin went out of the bank through the
rear door and was just mounting his
horse when Al Snodgrass, constable.
arrived upon the scene. The constable
ran up to Conklin and pulled him off
his horse. Conklin jerked away from
him. however, and ran down the street
in the direction of the courthouse.
Bandit Opens Fire.
John Nighswonder tried to catch
Conklin, who opened fire on him,
shooting through his coat, but inaict-
ing no bodily injury. Nighswonder
stumbled back blinded with smoke
and powder and the daring
robber kept on running in the
direction of the courthouse By
this time he was being followed by q
number of citizens, who had heard the
alarm given from the bank, and the
pursuit was hot one. Men and teams
dashed in the direction taken by the
robber and guns and pistols were
brandished in the air by all classes of
citizens
Reaching the courthouse Conklin
knocked off the cart by a well-directed
brickbat. A few blocks north of the
courthouse the masked man was held
up at the muzzle of gun by julie Cox
and compelled to surrender. The
mask was torn from his face and it
was then found that the Jesse James
was none other than Ralph Conklin,
whose days and nights have been
spent in reading dime novels and vel
low covered tales of outlaws and ban
dts. The money taken was all recov-
cred when Conklin was captured.
In jail Conklin said that four men
came to his house Sunday night and
drawing their pistols made him prom
Use that he would rob the bank. He
further stated that if given his liberty
he would give the names of the men.