Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1900-08-30
many PURSES stolen
Seventeen Rifed Pocket Picked
Up at Ono Place at State
Fair.
Unusual Amount Of Thefts Take
Place on the Grounds-A
Small Riot.
Wednesdays Attendance Nearly
5000 More Than the Same
Day Last Year.

Day Last Year.
Des Moines. Aug. 3O.-In a
vacant lot at East Thirtietn and
Walnut streets, just opposite the state
fair grounds and near the loop of the
Des Moines city railway. Officer H. Il.
Wilson, of the city police force. this
morning found seventeen pocketbooks
which had been rified by pickpockets.
together with numerous private papers
and return trip railway tickets to
points in the state. BY far the most inn
portant part of the find were two drafts
of $3.50 and $3.50, together with a note of
$3.50 and a real estate mortgage of $500,
all belonging to DIR. William Fisher, of
Idick, Ark, who was robbed in the jam
outside the gates at the state fair
grounds last evening of the above valu-
able papers, together with 800 in cash.
The cash. however, was not recovered.
The drafts We're issued by the Citizens
Bank, OF Decatur, Ia. and were drawn
Chicago. DR.. Fisher is about 40 years
of age and was visiting the fair in
company with his nephew. G. w. Cow
ger. of Decatur, and the party is stop
ping a 1914 Capitol avenue. The rob-
berry occurred about O'clock last ev-
ening. In a crush man passed his
hand over DR.. Fishers shoulde. and
reaching into an inside vest pocket ex-
5tracted the pocketbook containing the
drafts. When the crowd surged back
DR.. Fisher discovered his loss, but the
thieves had escaped. Officer Allen,
hearing of the matter, accompanied DIR.
Fisher to the police station, where the
doctor told his story and Informed the
police of his loss Payment on the
drafts was ordered stopped by tele-
gram, but their discovery this morning
5precluded any loss in this manner. The.
drafts We're torn in two and With
bunch of receipts, private papers, rail-
road tickets and souvenirs from the
score of pocketbooks We're scattered in
discriminatory over the lot.
Officer Wilson, who made the find,
was attracted to the spot By noticing !:
.pocketbook partly hidden in the grass
from the sidewalk. He made an inves-
tigation and found not one, but nearly
twenty While the scattered papers told
"a graphic story of the wholesale pocket
picking which has evidently been going
on at the grounds this week.
" With the assistance of small boy
Officer Wilson gathered up the pocket
books and the stray papers and at
once made his way to the police sta
ton. OF the seventeen. but one Was a
lady's pocketbook, altho two or three
others might possibly have been carr
Sried by ladies'. Nearly all We're the or.
binary Clasp pocketb books. with two and
three compartments, generally carried
by working people. The one ladv.s4
pocketbook contained a number of per-
sonal cards With the name Mrs Al
Zimmerman, Sioux City. Ia In this
were a number of tickets for chnaware,
but no money.
In one dime remained which had
evidently been overlooked, While an
other of the purses contained a lady's
plain band ring. Still another purse
had half of round trip ticket Owe, the
Northwestern from Cedar Rapids to
Dies Moines. Among the pile of scat
tered papers were three tickets over the
Chicago. Burlington & Quincy from
Dies Moines to Corning via Osceola.
These tickets are supposed TO belong to
A. b. Turner, because among the pa
pers YVES a receipt or bill bearing Tur-s
ner's name, with the address OF Corn
ing, Ia.
A telegram signed by j. H. Hughes.
of Carroll, to a machinery firm in Au-3
dubon, ordering two harvesters, was
among the papers recovered, While pa
Epers bearing the names of James
Moody, Audubon, and L. A. FOLEY, Di-
sagonal, We're also found. With the rest
was letter without date#li contain
ing personal Information, beginning
Dear Uncle, and signed Your loving
niece, Elite a meal ticket issued by
C. Z. Talbott's restaurant, of Audubon
with one meal punched, and tooth
brush with plain black handle We're
also found in the pile of debris.
There is no way of telling just how
much the thieves secured, as no one
but DR.. Fisher had reported their loss
10 the police. Fisher lost 500, while the
combined sums from the other pocket.
books, in all probability, netted much
more than that sum.
In close proximity to the pocketbooks
anu papers MdS flOulld tiItlSts Will
which the pockets had undoubtedly
been rihed. 1t was short, sharp, one
bladed knife in black ebony handle,
very thin and easily concealed in the
hand or about the clothing. 1t resem-
bled lance in appearance very much
and was evidently designed especially
for the purpose for which 1t had been
used. 1t was probably dropped by mis-
take, or else the thieves made Il good
enough haul so that they thought it
unsafe. to take the chance of having
any tell-tale tools found upon their per-
sons in case of arrest.
The police and detectives are looking
for man answering the description
obtained from DIR. Fisher but there is
small hope of arresting the men or of
recovering any Of the money, except by
catching the men in further operations.
THE CROWDS INCREASE.
Perfect weather again brought out
an immense crowd at the fair grounds
early in the morning Wednesday. BY 10
o'clock it was estimated $4,000 persons
had passed the gates and by noon it is
believed fully 1000 more had entered.
All incoming railway trains and street
cars We're packed full and hundreds of
teams passed thru the Grand avenue
gate. AT this time of day it gave prom
inence of being the heaviest attendance
T in the history of the agricultural society