Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1896-11-05
THIEVES NEATLY TRAPPED.


Pint Them In Their Plight.
LAST April I was down in Mexico"
said a travelling salesman, ION BUSH
ness trip, and one night my partner and
/ had to remain over in small place
about so miles out of Mexico city. 1t
wasn't such a bad place either, but The
landlord of the hotel told us that
thieves were plenty, and If they were
cornered they might stick their knives
into people. Our room in the little tav-
ern was kind of a summer house at
fair, out in the yard, with door ON
each of two sides, and was only few
feet up from the ground on kind of
a platform veranda. We had several
hundred dollars which we had collected
and the safest place we could put it was
in our satchels in our room.
For a wonder the doors had locks on
them, but the upper part of the doorwas
made in Venetian shutter style, and
man with long arm could, by stretch
ing, probably reach the lock. We
weren't very much afraid, and merely
locked the doors without noticing the
shutter part at all. Besides, it was dark
when we went to bed, as we didn't want
a light to attract the insects. We slept
without disturbance until the first
gray streaks of dawn, and then we
were awakened by queer noise at the
doors.
1--WE suspected thieves at once, and,
rs quiet as mice, we slipped out of bed
and began to reconnoiter. When I got
to my door it kind of gave me the creeps
to see dirty yellow hand thrust through
I, eh,,4X nj 49, afo1 sfcalf oy.6
toward the lock, and I was tempted to
yell and scare the marauder away.
However, 1 kept my nerve, and in
second or two it was strangely fascinat-
ing to watch the efforts of the hand to
reach the lock. My partner was having
the same kind of an experience, and the
thieves were evidently intending to take
us 'a-comin' an a-gwine.'
I'VE stood irresolute for minute,
and then my partner made sign to me
to hand him an old lariat hanging on
the wall. This in a second he had
looped at each end, and I saw the trick.
The next minute we had a hand apiece
Hoped at each end of the rope, and
had pulled it tight inside. Everything
had been perfectly still up to this time,
and now it was stiller than ever. do
not know what the thieves thought had
happened to them, but they were
caught and as soon as we got the rope
kDotted we let go, and they discovered
that they were tied together and there
wasn't any way for them to get away
unless one of them pulled the other
through the knot-hole, so to speak.
'"Then it became funny, and we sat
there nearly splitting, but never MAX
ing sound. In minute or two more
we could see another hand coming
through with a long, ugly knife in il,
trying to cut the rope holding the first
hand, but we had drawn them far
through, and the other hand could NOT
reach. OF course we expected now to
hear yell, and have some kicking and
other disturbances, but the stoicism of
the Indian was in them, and they never
spoke a sound until the landlord him
self spoke to them when he came to
wake us up.
That was two hours or more later,
and we lad in the meantime gone back
to bed TO finish our morning nap, trust
ing to luck that they wouldn't get away.
The landlord, when he discovered them,
made more noise in a minute than all
four of us had made since theact began.
and when we got up il wac to find our
garden house surrounded by bali the
population of the town, and the two
thieves sticking to our doors as if they
bad been nailed there and nobody able
TO get them loose. "-Washington Star.
A Novel Punishment for Theft In Africa
We camped within a quarter of mills
of the village; groups of natives
brought meal, peanuts, eggs, ETC., and
traded with my men with the greatest
confidence. One of my men was bath
ing in pool near by, and left his cloth
and knife near the trail; a party of
natives passing seized the knife and
ran away; hearing of this, 1 quietly
took from man in the bona d very fine
spear, and refused to return it till the
knife was brought back. The natives
saw the justice of this, and trading went
on as if nothing had happened. This
morning the knife was returned. and
so handed back the spear.-.Glave In
the Heart of Africa in Century.
Adverse Testimony.
fra 40 I.