The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1902-01-31
PRINTER BY DAY;
! BURGLAR BY NIGHT
Mystery That Long Puzzled
kankakee Police Is FL
naIIy Solved.
CAUSES ARREST
For Nine Months This TYPO" Mys-
titled the kankakee Authorities
Set Up Stories Of His
Own Crimes.

Jobs as a burglar at night" This is the
advice which Frank King, former
makeup a in the Kankakee Daily
Times office, handed out to the citizens
of that town through a cell door in the
county Jail yesterday.
MT: King also has another adage
which he intends to have framed when
he gets out of Jail. It is this:
IF you must be a printer and a
burglar both don't act as though you
know more tina the reporters when
the city editor asks you to set up type
on a nice, breezy account of the way
you broke into a store the night be-
fore. 1t looks suspicious, especially If
you wear better clothes than your sal
airy as a printer entities you to-"
Moves In Society Circles.
Frank King was a nice, gentlelnanly
typesetter in the office of the Kanka-
kee Daily Times until last Monday. He
lived at the Central Hotel, and moved
somewhat in society circles after his
paper went to press in the afternoon.
lie always got up early in the morning
and before breakfast read the burglar
aeWs In the papers. When he found a
burglar story that was particularly eX-
citing he often read it aloud to the 9TH
ar boarders. He was specially inter-
ested in whether or not the police
thought they were going to catch the
- A"A' AAAA6 ' adSlSu O0l
ioud when he read:
The police have no cleW to the per-
~petrators Of the outrage"
When the local reporters faxed a few
"details on the burglaries King used to
exclaim: That is not SOL" to the other
5oarders, who were reading aloud
Sometimes he looked scared and
glanced at the door after saying this,
as though he had spoken without think
Ing. The patrons of the Central house
lsed to wish that King was chief Of
police. They knew he could catch the
burglar. He was so wise.
Calls 1t a Slow Town.
King landed in Kankakee from
Louisville nine months ago. There
hadn't been a burglary in the city for
almost two years when he arrived.
King often exclaimed in the Daily
Democrat office, where he first worked,
that it was "a slow town for news"
Last November the first burglary oc-
Cured. The Daily Times, where King
was working then, had a full account
Of 1t next afternoon, and King, it is
said, set part of the type on the article.
He also read proof tc see If it was
right, and when the paper came off
the press he got one of the first copies
and sat down in a corner and read
the burglary story all over again.
The next burglary vas on Christmas
eve. Smiths drug store was entered
through the. cellar door and $22.5O in
cash, a pocketbook, some postage
stamps, and a quantity Of toilet soap
was stolen. King went down to the
Times office the day after and created
n sensation among the printers by
washing his face and hands with per-
fumed toilet soap. Such extravaganza
never had been heard Of in a Kankakee
printing office.
Gives Purse to Waitress.
Kings toilet soa did not make half
as much sensation, however, as his
Christmas present to Miss Kittie
Jones, who is a waitress at the Central
hotel. King went down to breakfast
Christmas morning and after reading
the. story of the Christmas eve bur-
glary motioned to the waitress. She
thought he intended to order oat meal
and pan cakes. Instead, however, he
handed her a brand new pocketbook
with the cost mark Of Smiths drug
store still on it. There were six new
postage stamps inside, which King
explained to Miss Jones were "a little
Christmas remembrance all for you"
That same Christmas night there
was another burglary. Morris store
was entered and $50 in cash stolen.
When King got to the newspaper office
he was given part Of the story of the
robbery to set in type. He coaxe c.
"A. Livingston, the city editor, to
change one or two statements in the
article which he thought Impossible
He also thought the paragraph which
read: There is no clew to the robber,"
ought to be played up.
Then a strange thing happened in
the Daily Times office. Chief of Police
s. j. Jackson sent over to Braidwood
n borrowed two ~bloodhounds.
Just at that hour King, SO the. story
is in Kankakee, was setting type on
an obituary notice. Ee was bending
b over his type case when c. A. Living
stone, the city editor, rushed into the
composing ROOM.
Keeps Nerve In a Crisis.
Say, King" Livingstone is said to
have shouted, drop that obit. Here's
q first-page story that the ~bloodhounds
are on the trail of the Kankakee burg
lar I've just got a'phone that they've
struck he right scent"
Kings type stick dropped and pied
the obft.
Hey, what did you say, Charlie?"
he is reported to have answered.
King took the copy OF the bloodhound
story, and, according to one report,
got can of water n sprinkled the
floor around his type case Then he
resumed his setting type. According
tosone story. King had NOT set five lines
of type when one of the b~loodhonnds
hayedgin front OF the Times office: 1t
was like Eliza just before she crossed
aason the ice@Only King did not crouch.
He drew his legs under him and
hEnFned, Pm on Dickie's land and
81 Dickie amt to nome
bloodhounds didn't enter the
newspaper office. however. Trhey van
dered all around the business part of
IL Kankakee, and, according to ii re-
port, brought up In the front yard OF
the chief of :poice.sS@e5ext day theyswere