The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1897-06-14
CRANSTON.
An Unsuccessful Chase After Horse
Thieves.
Many Clothes Line Thsfts-0ther News
and Notes Of Interest.

About 10 o'clock Saturday night Officer
Ballou of Silver Hook drove up TO j. w.
Mays saloon, opposite the entrance to
Narragansett Park, and after tieing his
horse In she'd went into the saloon.
| Shortly afterward a team belonging to
tho Narragansett Brewing Company was
| driven under the shed. the horses were
tied and tho occupants OF the carriage en-
tered the saloon.
The men who tied tho horses under the
shed did not notify the proprietor of tho
saloon that they had horses with them,
consequently no watch was kept
About 80 Mr.. Ballou went out TO get
his horse and buggy, but could not find it.
search revealed the fact that both
teams had been stolen.
Chief Of Police Bigbee was Immediately
notified. Mr.. John Hamilton and Mr..
Dodd started on their bicycles down
Cranston street and through many streets
OF the city but met with no success In
the meanwhile Officer Patrick Trainor
had secured a fleet footed horse and a
buggy. and started with n companion
toward Warwick. On that lonely. stretch
OF road bewteen Pawtuckot and Shaw
NUT Beach the officer overlook n buggy
driven by two men. The late hour, the
sweated horse and the suspicious look
given by the men, instinctively told the
officer that here might bo his men. Driv-
ing up TO the carriage Officer Trainor
said: Hello, that looks like Mr.. Ballou s
horse" His sentence was scarcely MT
tered when whiz. whiz, went tho whip
upon the strange horse and down the
quiet country road began an exciting
chase. Officer Trainor had a good horse
and he knew how to handle him. BY slow
stages he gained upon the fugitiyes.
and coming alongside the strange
horse he grabbed one rein. Both
horses were going at high rate of speed.
The only hope tho officer had was to
slacken the speed Of both teams slowly
and induce the men to surrender. He had
hardened criminals to deal with. Ono
seized the whip and beat the officer over
the face with the heavy butt and the COM
panioD desperado fired two shots at the
officer. Mr.. Trainor says he felt the air
stir as the bullets passed his face. Beaton
almost into insensibiIity and made a tar
get of by desperate thief, the only thing
20 do was TO change tactics.
Had Trainor been in his own town he
would have used his revolver. The officer
was persistent and wanted to follow the
thieves, for by this time he had concluded
that the team was Mr.. .Ballou's and the
occupants Of the buggy were the men who
had taken IL. At the moment another
drawback came The officers companion
rememD DereG that he had promised to be
home early He hated to break his promise
and so insisted upon returning. The brave
man said he would have been willing 10
have followed those devils TO the end OF
the earth, II he hadn't made that promise.
Officer Irainor recognized one of the
thieves rs tough from Olneyville
The officer was on duty yesterday
although his nose and forehead are black
and hlne from the beating -he- Received
Last week sufficient clothes were stolen
from clothes lines in Cranston to stock
small store. Complaint after complaint
was made TO the police. The knowledge
WAS kept quiet in order that the thieves
might not be put upon their guard.
The people are inclined to suspect the
band of gypsies encamped near Oak Lawn,
because they were seen in and
about Cranston on the days in question
The residents of Dyer avenue are the
heaviest losers.
Mrs James Ellingsworth. Mrs. Massey.
Mrs. Burke and Mrs. Dodd, all Of Dyer
avenue are losers tho latter of milk
pitchers and the others of clothes from
their clothes lines. Mrs. Hughes and Miss
Minnie Cuff of Maple street in the village
also had clothes stolen from their lines
Mrs. Patrick Mclaughlin of Cranston
street had clothes stolen from her clothes
line the night that most OF the other steal.
ings took place.
Contractor Leroy II. Whitman has q
force OF men at work making the town
clerks Office larger. The PARTITION, which
separated the clerk s main office from the
small Office in which the assistant clerks
worked, has been removed An additional
window has been cut into the room on
the Cranston street side
Forty members of the Pocasset Fire
Engine Company have given orders for
costumes. Tho costume will consist of
plain red shirt a belt and cap The
men have decided that block pantaloons
will be worn rs part OF the costume
The knightsville Congregational Sun
dav school enjoyed an outing Saturday.
They took the trip down the bav on the
steamer Mount Hope with their parent
Sunday school, the Broad Street Con
gregation0l sunday school. An enjoy
able time was spent.
A paper balloon passed over the town
yesterday afternoon. lt is supposed TO
have come from Crescent Park
a good sized snake was killed near the
Cranston depot, Yesterday afternoon. A
number of the reptiles have been killed in
that vicinity, lately.
The Cranston Wheelmen enjoyed
spin Yesterday,