The times., 1897-11-12
BOY BANDITS CAPTURED
-Four Victims of Dime Novel Lit
erature Under Arrest.
ON THE WAY TO THE WEST
They Had Stolen S37o and Armed
With Rifles, Bowie Knives and
Pistols Were Starting Ont to Kill
Indians, Rob Trains and DO other
Bold Deeds.

-Four boy bandits, dime novel detective
heroes; armed with rifles, bowie knives,
and pistols. marched down Pennsylvania
avenue last evening to No. l station,
under the escort of u quartet or police
officers The experiences and adventures
OF these youthful criminals mould form the
plot of a stoly In real life, which would
eclipse anything contained in all Old Cap
Golfers Library.
They were registered at No station as
james Merlin Disney, dged fifteen Oscar
Gibbs, thirteen Arthur Baker, seventeen
aud Chester Wilfong, fourteen. Two others,
Lewis Hayes and Willie Brooks, aged
thirteen and eleven, respectively, who
Were originally Ill the gang, deserted tie
others after days roughing 1t and re-
turned, weeping, TO their homes The
others called them towards and babies.
A mare rough or hardened set OF a"-
breakers than this interesting quartet
1t would be difficult to flnd any" here
If they needed a leader, Disney was the
boy to act III that capacity.
The story or heir most recent adventure,
the one which brought them behind the
bars, began Y esterday morning when young
Disiiey rohbed his father of $370, and i'll
Yited the other lads to join hin III an eN
pedition 10 the wild West, there to shoot
10, The poor Indian, and wild beasts, and
incidentally to kill anyone who intercepted
them. Joshua b. Disney, the father of the
Youthful bandit, is IA hard working, indus
trious man, vito is foreman of gang oI
railroad woTkmen Oh the B, * o. ran
Road, and lives at Deanwood. The S370,
which he had carefully locked up i'll his
tIunk, represented the savings OF twenty
years OF hard work. No one except the
members of his family knew that he pos
sessed So much.
Yesterday morning after breakfast he
wen; out upon the track. As soon as
he had departed yunng Disney went up
stairs auo with a heavy hammer broke
the lock ON the trunk and extracted the
morey without being discovered. Two
| hours later his mother, in cleaning mp
tia room, saw that the trunk had been
broken into, and that the money WAS
gone. So was the boy. She immediately
reported the loss TO the father, and then
it was learned that Jimmy and his Com
| pa niciS had come To Washington. IA
uupany with Harry Richardson, Of Zen
! llirg Mr.. Disney came here a once and
! reported the ma tier to Inspector Mat
! tincly, and word was sent out TO all the
| stations ia look out FOR the boys.
Detective Baur was assigned to the case.
! Nothing was heard OF the lads until aeo t
| 6 o'clock last night, when, as Ricnardsf'n N
! boarded Columbia car TO go home, he
saw the youngest OF the sextet, Willie
Brooks. Willie had grown tired OF hunt
| ing Imaginary Indians nd cowboy life. and
was YEARLY vending his way hon,ewarl,
carrying a rifle over his shoulder. With 4
littlc urging, he told the whole story an!
SaiG the otEer boys had started for the
West and gotten as far a Jackson City. and
I camped out for the night near the brick
| yaIds, where they had built big bon
| fire. Detective Baur, Mr.. DisneY and
Richardson az once set out to gather them
in, [ IT befoIe they reached the Long bridge
! the boys bad decided to come back into
to spend the evening, and, il occasion
presented itself, hold up few citizens
and relieve them of their money and
| watches.
SOFT wa that before they had succeeded
that Policemen Judge and Oriani found
! Baker and Wilfong on Pennsylvania avenue
! and q little further on Policemen Hough
| land and BarteI picked up Disney and
| Gibbs. Each had bowie knife, a pistol
and q rifle, the latter they carried over
their shoulders. They also had a large sup
piy OF ammunition. when searched S2S6
OF tln. stolen money WAS found upon them,
OF v hich Disney had the major portion,
amounting to $3.50. Disney and Baker also
had each ANA SIX. All of these they had
| tui cha sed at Gross Iawn-Shop, a Eleventh
and L streets northwest. The remaindeT
OF the money, about SS5, they had spent
for shoes, clothing, equipments for war
fare. ard high living. The sixth lad, Levi
Hayes. was found later at his home in
Benning.
Tie Young bandits regarded their i'm
prisonment last night as a huge joke. 1t
would require no expert criminalogist to
read thelives and futures of those four hogs
Each one is the type of a hardened crinii-
naI ana their every. word and action bear,
out this character. In their cell they
cursed, smoked and appeared to be proud
of their achievement and the prospecJs of
prolonged Imprisonment. They viii be
a;raigned in court today.