The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-06-25
CAUGHT, Though sKREWD
Burglar Henry Ably Who Has Oper-
ated In Three States.

1 FAIRMONT, MINN.--Henry Ably, who was
arrested to answer the charge of r0bbing
the stores OF Bradley & sMetcalf at Granada
and Of Willard poty at Kanetta, MINI, is
an old offender and one Of the shrewdest
burglars in the country. He was discovered
by mere accident. Doty missed some shoes
from his store one night last week and the
sheriff in looking for evidence discovered a
shipment of shoes had been made from
1mogene. town six miles away, to ABLY at
Mason City. He and Doty went to Mason
City and identified the goods which were
found in Ably's gun shop.
For more than year previous to Nov. q,
1897, petty thieving was going on in Sheffield,
Iowa, and surrounding towns. No clue could
be obtained to the guilty persons.
Finally Henry Ably was suspected from the
fact that he offered for sale shoes, pants and
other articles Of merchandise at very low
prices. The supposition that he was either
the thief or in, with the gang became SO
strong that scheme was laid to track him.
He was seen to enter stores, it is said, on a
few occasions previous to his arrest, but the
Identification of the goods could not be es-
tablished for some cause Abbey always re-.
moved all cost marks, ETC., before offering
them for sale. go. e, s., 30
(. Planned Robbery With Marshall.
On the night of Nov Fl, 1897, it was
planned by Ably and the town marshal
Archie l.. Clock. who had worked himself
into the confidence of Ably, that they would
rob the general store of rSchaefer & Reynolds,
Marshal Clock had previously arranged with
several citizens to remain in the nearby bust
ness houses until signal should be given
when they were to come to his assistance.
The, plan worked we'll Between and 2
o'clock Ably and the marshal appeared at
the store and Ably took from his pocket a
bunch Of keys and selected the one that read
lily unlocked the store door. 1t had been
stated that he had a. key to every business
house in town and after =. his arrest the
search revealed such to be the fact <,
On entering the store Ably turned down
the night light and went to work. He took
down boxes containing shoes, shirts, etc., and
after removing an article from each care
fully replaced them. After he had goods
amounting to about $50 he was ready to CO.
The marshal stood by and watched the work
They went out of the building and as Ably
turned to lock the door the marshal caught
him by the arms, at The same time signaled
for assistance. ft.2 = :
The day following officers searched Ably's
house and goods to the amount Of between
$500 and $500 were found, the goods compris-
ing about everything-shoes, n1ittens, cloth
ing, overcoats, brushes, silverware jew
elry, etc. "a,
Served a Three-Year Term.
After the arrest Ably was at once taken
to Hampton and confined in Jail. The grand
jury indicted him on eleven counts He was
tried in February, 1898, on the first charge,
that of robbing Schaefer & Reynolds store,
and was convicted. His sentence was three
years at Anamosa, which he served In the
meantime the other indictments were con-
tinued from time to time and finally dis
missed. -.. ,@r.--t
Ably is an expert 1ocksmith and gunsnith.
His shop in this place was equipped with
every kind of tool for this class of work.
Several cigar boxes were found which con-
tanned keys OF all kinds. These were marked
with series of ''dots,'' which evidently In
Dictated what building they we're intended for.
The statement has been made here that he
was in! trouble in 10 Davis county, Illinois,
because he had hand in the killing of his
father but this has not been confirmed def
initely. -
After his release from the. penitentiary, he
returned to Sheffield. In "a few months he
was again in trouble and was arrested and
taken to Hampton, bat the case against him
was not strong enoughiito count and he was
released. He then moved to Mason City.
The story Of Marshal Clock regarding
Ably's plans was that he would never break
into a store. He preferred to unlock the
door and remove such goods as would not
be missed. He also: preferred windy night
always dressed In black and never used a
light. His specially was shoes.