The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1898-01-06
THE GANG ROUTED
FAKE, VAIN AND BALDWIN
Thievery Will Probably Be Dis
continued for the Present.


thievery in this county for some time
have been captured, and now await
the action of the grand jury which
meets the last day of February.
Since the numerous complaints of
robbery have been made, County At
torney Crandall and Sheriff Anderson,
having pretty good idea as to who
was carrying on the reported thefts,
have kept their eyes upon certain
parties, and they have been rewarded.
The first one to be taken was Chas.
Baldwin, who was arrested here and
taken to Spirit Lake short time ago.
A Lake Park correspondent of the
M ars h a ltown Times Republican
gives an interesting account of recent
depredations in that section. We
quote:
Lake Park and vicinity is thorough
~ aroused by confessions made by
Charles Baldwin, who was recently
arrested for stealing over 100 bushels
of oats from Henry Farr. For long
time past den of thieves have been
lurking about this place, having
headquarters near by. Wheat, oats,
flax, grain of every description, turk
eys, chickens and whatever this gang
could get hold of was promptly ap-
propriated and carried away. No
one could swear or prove who the in
dividuals were, but it was pretty gen
erall known, and several attempts
have been made to ferret them out.
But these desperadoes are at last
rounded up, and Lew Bennett was
the first one to make answer to the
law. Christian Horn, farmer, swore
out search warrant for the purpose
of searching Benefits premises. The
thieves had made two visits to his
hennery by night, the last time clean
ing everything up in the form of
poultry. The officer and posse found
the entire flock secretely hid in a
dark pit carefully covered over with
straw. Bennett was at once arrested
and taken to Lake Park, where he
gave bail. He denies knowing any
thing about the matter, but his little
boy gave him away by stating that
he had had turkey for dinner.
After Baldwin had pleaded guilty
and was turned over to Sheriff Marcy,
he soon began to make a clean breast
of tbs thing by stating just. who the
individuals were engaged in the bus
mess. Baldwin stated that a band
of lawless characters has been formed
for the purpose of stealing every I'M
aginable kind of property that could
be successfully disposed of for the
purpose of gain, and would divide
profits. That they would take this
plumber secretly by night to some OBJ
scure place and dispose of it to some
one of their members; that there
were no less than twelve desperate
characters whose business is to find
every accessible hennery and gran
airy in the surrounding country, and
that they are accountable for the
many depredations that have aroused
the people. He states that Lew
Bennett is the ring leader of this
crowd, and his premises is a rendez-
vous for tho culprits, who continually
set out by night on their nefarious
exploits Bennett sends his boys
along to learn the art.
This gang is associated with a SIM
liar band located over the Minnesota
line, doing business principally at
Bigelow. One Boards, Baldwin says,
is the ring leader there, and tends to
handling and shipping the plumber
the others bring in. This confirma-
ton given by Baldwin has caused a
wholesale issue of warrants.
Ed Davis has been arrested, among
other things for stealing goods from
the firm of Strathman & Beh, and is
now awaiting trial. Davis has a hard