The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1896-12-26

nv LA'
were going to buy q farm. That night
at ten o'clock while Uncle Billy was
taking a smoke on his o near the
vault before going to sleep, he heard
suspicious sounds in the vault. He
listened and listened again, and
after a few, minutes was sat-
isfied that robbers were within.
They could have got there only through
a hole cut through the floor Of the Office
above. The old man was not a bit rat
tied. He had been appointed burglar
catcher in the bank and here were the
burglars. His idea was to catch them
instead Of driving them of. 1t was a
lucky thing for the First national that
some of the officials with a key to the
front door had left it lying on a table.
Uucle Billy saw it as he wondered how
he would get out on the street. He
saw the night Waterman down at the
end Of the. block, but had no use for
him. The way to catch the burglars
was to get into the rooms above, and
the old nan crcpt softly upstairs and
tried the door of White & Gregg's Office
to find it locked. He lifted the sash Of
the hall window, crept along the cor
nice and one of the Office windows vas
found unfastened. He crept in, tip
toed across the two rooms and into the
rear one, but he was not at all surprised
at what he saw.
A square hole had been cut in the
center of the floor, an opening made
through the brick vault and the men
had descended by a rope. Uncle Billy
could see a light down there and hear
men at work. His first move was to
draw up the rope. 1t was not missed
for several minutes by those below,
When it was missed a man was boosted
up, to find the muzzle of q shotgun
thrust into his face and hear Uncle
Billy say:
You try that again and I'll blow
your head off"
The man dropped back. and~the next
minute Uncle Billy was hailed by
White from the bottom Of the vault,
He explained that he had discovered
1 the hole in the floor, made during his
absence from the Office, and had de-
scended to investigate. Mr.. Gregg was
there with him, he said, and also a
friend. He talked glibly and coaxing-
ly and asked the old man to lower them
the rope. When ne refused they
offered him $40, $40, $50. Then they
turned to threats, and finding him still
Arm and determined, several shots
were fired at him from revolvers
He was on his guard against them and
suffered no injury. Half q dozen times
before daylight came one Of
the trio was boosted up, but
always to find himself so men
aced that he was glad to droI
back. They could not get ont of the
vault by the door, and. Uncle Billy and
his unloaded shotgun prevented es-
cape from above. No burglars were
ever caught in a neater trap, and this
was their own making, and they hat
planned it from the day they had rent
ed tho office. They were held in the
vault until morning, and help came
land Parkville will never have anothel
such sensation. Gregg and White
turned out to be two bad men, wanted
by the police of three or.four different
cities, and the third man was still more
prominent. They had everything ar
ranged to the smallest detail, but wer,
brought to grief by a man who didnA
know a bank burglar from the man n
the moon. The fellows got long sen
fences in prison, and Uncle Billy go
a pension for life and died less than hvl
years ago.-Philadelphia Press.