The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1896-10-12
Officers Capture Two
Hard-LOOkingPrOWlerS.
Deputy Sheriff C0lvin Was in
a Big Quandary.
Did Not Know Whether He Had
Bandits or Hunters.

Have the Scituate brigands been cap
tured or have they not? That Is the
question which Is troubling not only the
officers hut the residents OF the wilds OF
scituate, Foster and Gloucester, and al
though the officers yesterday afternoon
succeeded in capturing two desperate
looking men in the woods near the Fos-
ter line, they are not now certain that
they have corrallsd the dreaded banditti.
The excitement caused by the actions
of four strange men who had apparently
made their nome in deserted stone
building on the .Bi shop farm, and who
were supposed TO be the four highway
men who held up and robbed DIR. Eddy
some time ago has increased with each
rising OF the sun, and old hint-lock
muskels and antiquated horse pistols have
been taken from their resting places ana
furnished up and the honses OF the
farme have teen turned into veritable
arsenais, reminding one OF the time
when the men went TO work in the
nelds with guns In hand and their homes
were always ready To "stand off" and
Withstand a seige from the Indians.
For ths rast two weeks the officers have
been securing the country In search OF
the desperadoes, but the bandits have
,ot seemed anxious TO come to close
.usr:ers with the Representatives OF the
law, and la consequence the excitement
has not been aiiayed and as the result 1t
as been nlmost as much Gs strangers 9
life Is worth to ask al farm house for
directions in regard TO The roios after
dark. Yesterday forenoon Deputy Snerin
N,than Gown, accompanied nv officers
Iiersaadu EounGs and silas Smith, start
,ii ont wit the int, ntioA of making an
ether s,nrea of tie woons and capturing
lie eaudirs dead or slive. All day they
S on sd tie woods and fields OF Scituate,
rof IT and Gloucester, examining ana
ni ming every bsrn, hsysiacS, shanty
Lnf "a bin whttc IL WAS thought that tho
rrfg might Iske retnge. Until lite In
" sfl, n on their sea ch was unsuccess-
y lnf Do. uty heiiff Colvin was "out
( 0lpoam and Old not mean TO give mp
ssarch nn;i, ne ut least found some
sc"s Of the desp,rldoes. Finally the
rr was rewarded. for just before
* two men were seen in the wooas
IT q po,i; hnm farm, in Scitaste, near
no Foster line, who answered the de-
ycription ol tn men who have been
lsrrurixing the country. Sheriff Cclvin
inmediately called on the mon TO halt,
hut init ssd OF obeying his order, they
took to their heels and calling on the
other officers to follow bim he COM
menced chase after the men at a gait
which would have done credit TO pro-
fssionaI sprlnter. The men ran through
the woods, followed by the officers and
showed no inclination to obey the re-
yeated commands to stop until Sheriff
Colvin threatened to use his revolver if
his orders were not obeyed. The fugi-
tiyes evioently did not wish to be made
q target OF, and the officers soon had
them under arrest. At first they had no
doubt but what they had captured the
bad men who have been frightening the
farmers families nearly out of their wits,
but the men seemed TO speak very good
English for Italians, and one OF the
officers soon recognized the men as two
brothers, Elmer and Henry Hopkins,
who live near Hopkins mills in Soituate.
The men siad that they had been hurting
skunks for the past week and that when
they were ordered to stop by the officers
they thought that they themselves we're