Washington telegraph., 1901-02-15
LEFT TRACKS IN THE SNOW.
safe Containing Forty Thousand Dollars
stolen from n Truck at q
Railway Station.

Sioux City. Ia. Feb. f1.-Prompt
and active work by the authorities at
Manila, Ia, resulted in the arrest of
three men who are accused of having
been implicated in the theft of a
United States express safe, said to
have contained $4,000. The Chicago,
Milwaukee &c ST. Paul train, on which
the safe was taken from Sioux City,
arrived at Manila at sos p. m. Sat
lrday night. The Omaha train was
ate and James Sturtevant of Sioux
City, the express messenger, did not
hurry in unloading the goods and
safe, with other articles, was unloaded
and placed on a truck on the depot
platform, and then Sturtevant and
the baggageman went to the other
end of the platform to get another
truck load.
When Sturteyanu returned he no.
ticed that the articles on the truck
were disarranged, and a glance
showed that the iron box was gone.
There was great excitement and no
time was lost III spreading the alarm.
City Marshal Farrell hastily assem-
bled posse and vigorous work was
begun. Snow lay thick on the ground,
and it did not take long time to
lind the tracks of two persons, who
evidently had been carrying some
heavy object directly from the truck
rs it stood on the depot platform.
They carried the safe a distance of
about two blocks, and then loaded it
into a wagon, which had been left
driven about a mile and a half out
into the country. There the safe was
forced open and the contents abb
stracted. The men there abandoned
the safe and went their way on
new track. 1t was not difficult to
trace them, however, and this morn
ing three arrests were made. The men
arrested are John jackson, John Sto-
vail and Charles Hayes. All are men
who live at Manila, and are well
known. Their regulations heretofore
have not been bad. They stoutly pro-
test heir innocence, but the authori-
ties believe the evidence against at
least two of them will prove conclu-
sive.
20 In tnh Ctn
| tanned in the Deighborhood of $4,000.
! Twelve thousand dollars was in cash
and the remainder in drafts, checks
and various valuables.
! While the robbery was undoubtedly
deliberately planned, as the horse and
wagon were in waiting in convenient
spot, it is not believed that the men
| knew they were making so rich a haul.
They had no means of knowing the
contents of the safe only that it was
used for carrying valuables. They
found an unusually favorable oppor-
| tunity when Sturtevant left the safe
on the truck and had it not been for
the telltale tracks in the snow, it is
not likely the arrests would have been
made so promptly.
Jackson, Stovall and Hayes have
been in the habit of hanging about the
depot at train time, but that was not
considered significant, as it is the Gus
| tom of number of townspeople at
Manila.
Mrs. Jackson, the wife of John Jack
son, also was arrested, but at a pre-
liminary hearing held last evening she
was released. The examination will
be continued to-day. The three pris"
oners are in Jail, having been unable
to furnish bonds of $4,000 each.
The authorities say the shoes of two
of the men exactly fit the tracks in
the snow at the depot where the safe
was carried off. None of the money or
yalua bles has been recovered.