Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1899-05-18
orrnIr1oNs or o urLAr,.
belief That the Gang Which Has Beer
Operating on the Peninsula Has Gone ts
Canada.


belief That the Gang Which Has Been
Operating on the Peninsula Has Gone to
Canada.
1t is believed by some people who
have given the matter careful con-
sideration that gang OF desperate out
laws has been operating on tho Penin-
sula, and also TINT the robbery at the
Bavarian brewery, 10 this city, was
their last job in this section Of the
country. II such is the case, it is
probable that the desperadoes have left
the Peninsula, and there is an impress
sion that all or some of them are now
operating in Canada.
Between the early part Of March and
the time of the brewery robbery, May
9th, there we're incendiary fires In
several towns on the Peninsula, and in
each case it looked very much as IL the
object was robbery.
The first fire of sufficient Importance
/ to warrant the belief that burglars had
u hand in it was at Salisbury, Md, on
| Monday, March 18th, and from what
could be learned shortly afterward some
Of the citizens suspected that the fire
had been started by strangers who in
| tended to plumber while the conflagra
tion was in progress, and 1t is altogether
| likely that some plundering was done
4 After the fire ut Salisbury there were
suspicious fires at several other towns
1 in the lower part of the Peninsula, but
| in each case the blazo was discovered
in timo and checked before reaching
| serious proportions, with one exception,
AT Vienna, Md. on May 9th. 1t was
evident that the Vienna fire was started
by people who had robbed the post
office, the object being to cover up
their tracks, Strangers had been in
the town for several days and on the
night of tho fire one of them dropped a
significant remark He had engaged a
boatman to row him across the river,
evidently being in n hurry to get away
from the town, The fire was mentioned
to him by the boatman, and the reply
of the stranger was to the effect that
there would be fires at several other
towns on the Peninsula in the neal
future. Since that time q mysterious
blaze was discovered at Delmar, but nc
serious damage resulted. Similar evi
dences of incendiarism have been de
tected in other Peninsula towns.
Early in the morning of Friday, Apri
2Sth, the residences OF John E. Oskins,
John NJ. Mendinhall and A. a. Price,
at Newport were entered aud an at
tempt was made to set fire to Mr.
Prices house. Whether the Newpor
dcpredations were committed by tn,
same gang that had been operating
down the State is not known, but thert
is suspicion that they were.
On the night of the brewery robber.
an effort was made to effect an entranc'
into house on Eighth street nea
Monroe and suspicious characters wer
seen in the vicinity of Eighth ant
jackson streets, and 1t is likely tina
several minor jobs were attempted b,
members of the same gang that operated
at the brewery.
Since the brewery robbery report
have been received from localities out
side of the State which indicate tina
the men implicated in il left imme
diately in northern direction and ar
now in Canada. Last Thursday nigh
: a postoffice safe was blown open an,
t robbed in town near Carlisle, Pa.
and on Saturday night several maske
men overpowered and gagged the watch
man at the Standard Bank, in Bowmans
} Vile, Ont, and robbed the institutio
5 Of sl2, ZOO.
3 1t is believed that the depreciation
I are being committed by large gan
of outlaws and in each case they hav
4 an advance guard who arranges th
Q "details with some local crook, wit
4 whom the plumber is shared.