Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1901-02-11

| A very bold attempt to seal dia
mond in crowd in broad daylight
was unsuccessfully made at the B. & {
station yesterday morning, and was
| followed by two exciting sprint races
| which ended in the capture of the
! thief.
When the Hempfield train from
| Pittsburg arrived at the local station
about ten o'clock there was a crowd OF
newsboys waiting for the Pittsburg
papers. The porters, passengers and
depot officials made good sized crowd
Among the passengers who alighted
were three well dressed men. One OF
the number espied a large diamond in
the shirt front of B. & O. Yardmaster
w. Fl. Jamison.
The man pulled a handkerchief from
his pocket and pretending to stumble
against Mr.. Jamison, threw the hand
kerchief over the diamond and attempt
ed to pull it from the shirt. Mr. Jami-
son dealt him blow in the face, and
no further attempt was made to get the
gem.
W. T. Henke, local agent for the
Pitta5urg Volksblatt, observed the at
tempted theft, and when the stranger
took to his heels he started after him.
| The man ran to Main and up Main
| street with Henke at his heels, a big
crowd following behind. Several times
when Henke was closing in on him the
man threw his hand to his hip pocket
as if to draw revolver.
/ At Main and Fourteenth street Henke
caught his man. The stranger assum-
! ed an innocent expression and asked
what was wrong. A B. & o. gateman
came up and assisted Henke in march
| ing the prisoner back to the depot
Here the man was turned over to the
| depot authorities, and a blunder was
apparently made, as it is supposed that
| one of the thief's confederates tooh
| charge of him and marched off with
him, representing himself to be ar
! officer.
Mr.. Henke, believing the man to be
| safely in custody, started to his Office
on Twentieth street. At Market street
somebody called his attention to the
! fact that the three men were together
Henke threw the key of his office tc
one of his newsboys and jumped or
the car. Mr.. Jamison was also on the
| front part of the car, evidently believ,
ing that everything was all right. Mr.
| Henke says one of the men attempted
to push him off the rear platform, but
he threw him to the street. When the
car stopped at Sixteenth street there
was another chase.
| The thief took to his heels and rar
out Sixteenth street and down toward
the engine house, Mr.. Henke taking the
short cut through the Hempfield yard
! The fugitive ran through the yards just
i east of the engine house, and Mr.
Henke was about exhausted when ex-
Officer McCausland came along ant
took charge of the prisoner, who wa;
also exhausted.
He was taken to police headquarters
where he gave his name as Charlie
Wells, and his residence as, Pittsburg
Justice NJ. J. Fitzpatrick made out com.
mitment papers and Wells was taker
| to Jail to await hearing>
When Wells was confronted will
Mr.. Jamison he attempted to argue thai
the fact that he jostled Mr.. Jamisor
| in a crowd should not be regarded as
suspicious. why did you rum" ht
was asked. Wells had the audacity tt
say he did not run, and it was at this
point that MIR. Henke, who was still
gasping for breath, interposed an ab
lection. The charge against Wells is
attempted robbery