The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-01-21
POPULAR WITH THE POLICE.
George Lewis Under Arrest Without Being
Tabled.

George Lewis who was under arrest last
fall for stealing clothing from Norman, Haus-
man & Co.. and who was recently discharged
from the workhouse after serving ninety
day sentence, is again behind the bars. He
has been imprisoned at the central station
for several days, but is not tabled, nor is
there any formal charge against him. He
is suspected, however, of completely in the
robbery of Epperly Wagner's cigar store
West Third and Franklin streets, two weens
ago, and the police are endeavoring to lin
huence'' him to tell where the 1900 cigars
can be found. II he gives satisfactory infor
nation he may be set at liberty without
trial, as Lewis has heretofore been on friend
ly terms with the police.
Lewis, as was predicted in the above
account. is said to have given the de-
sired information and was accordingly
set free. AS to whether or not the case
was one of "compounding with roo
berry" is perhaps. best judged from the
story of Mr.. Wagner, Of the firm
which lost the cigars.
Several days after the robbery"
said he, in speaking to a reporter for
the G o b of the affair, 81 was called
to the central police station and told
that one of the men suspected of rob-
bing the factory was under arrest.
The police said that detectives had
! learned that the suspect had endeav-
ored to sell quantity Of cigars at low
tsprices and that an investigation con-
vinced them that Lewis was concerned
! in the burglary. They declared there
was little doubt but that the prisoner
was the right man and then began the
negotiations which resulted in his be-
ing set at liberty.
Il was told that If I prosecuted
Lewis there would be little or no
! chance to get back the stolen cigars,
| but that if 1 would agree to drop the
! case the goods would be returned to
me- This statement and promise was
made by the police officials and not by
Lewis I thought it queer way to
/ deal with burglars, but, being more
concerned in getting my property ack
| than in prosecuting the thieves,
| promised not to prosecute if the cigars
er of Lewis brought 400 of the stolen
cigars to our factory and paid me for
| the 1000 which were not returned"
The negotiations of the police to keep
| Lewis from being prosecuted seem to
present a violation of Mayor Doran's 8
| order, but can, in measure, be under
| stood. when it is known that he has
| long enioyed police friendship. In re-
! gard to the Epperly & Wagner rob-
| berry it Is said that there were two
| local thieves concerned in 1t and that
! the detectives are fully aware who the
| second party was. This person Is
! also said to stand in with the police
and was not even taken to the station
for investigation.
An Illustration of Lewis pull can
be CLEANED from his experience last
| fall, when he was arrested, with an
other man, charged with stealing sew
eral pairs of trousers from Norman,
| Hausam & Co.'S store on the West
side. The men were caught by Capt.
! Getchell and identified by Mr.. Norman,
but nevertheless the case was carried
along in the police court for nearly two
months without a trial. In the mean
| time Mr.. Norman received anonymous
! letters, he said, threatening dire VEN
| geance unless he withdrew the charges
against the men. Mr. Norman told a
reporter for the G o b that city Of
ficials tried to prevail upon him to
withdraw the charge at the time, but
he refused and insisted on the prisoners
being tried. Finally, however, Lewis
and his companion were permitted to
plead guilty to petty larceny and each
received but a ninety-day sentence to
| the workhouse.
| When Mayor Doran issued his strin-
gent order it was generally conceded