Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-11-13
RlTCHIE
ARRESTED
May be Same Man Triedin OF
tumwa for Eldon Bank
Robbery.
SAY HE LOOTED A BANK

Bloodhounds and Pinkerton Detectives
Locate Five Men Suspected of Hav-
ing Robbed Bank at Gardner, III.
Ritchie Said to Be Leader of Gang.
Charged with robbing the Exchange
National bank at Gardner, ILL.,. two
weeks ago, Samuel Ritchie supposed
ly the same man who was charged
with the Eldon bank robbery five years
ago, was arrested in Chicago yester-
day in company with four other men
who are suspected of having been i'm
plicated in the crime. Ritchie is said
to be the leader Of the gang, which is
also suspected of connection with the
train hold up at Savanna, Ill. The five
men were arrested yesterday in
building on Madison street which was
thought to be rendezvous of the gang
by Pinkerton detectives who suspected
Ritchie and his gang of the robbery
from a description given by the Alton
trainmen. who with the men rode from
Gardner to Chicago on the morning of
the robbery. The cracking of the safe
in the Gardner bank was one of the
boldest robberies ever perpetrated in
Illinois and netted the robbers sum
variously estimated at from $4,000 to
$4,000. The five men were taken to
the scene of the robbery today where
it is thought the identification will be
made complete.
Bloodhounds After Ritchie's Gang.
The search was begun two weeks
ago with bloodhounds and has been
kept up persistently ever since. Four
days ago the officers located the sus-
poets, of whom Samuel Ritchie, said
to be well known to the police, was the
leader.
Ritchie is said by the Chicago Off
GERS to have been sent to the Michi-
gan state penitentiary in 1890 for a
burglary committed at Cairo. There is
little doubt in this city but that he is
the same man who was arrested in
1897 and tried in Ottumwa for COM
plicity in the Eldon bank robbery He
was acquitted after hard legal bat
tie of that charge, but it will be re-
membered how his Chicago friends la
bored in his behalf at that time, when
Richard Wade, the Chicago attorney,
who was arrested on Monday at ST.
Louis for completely in a fur robbery
at Clinton, was sent to Ottumwa to
assist in his defense. He was spoken
of as the leader of the Eldon bank
robbing gang and there are many peo-
pie in Ottumwa who yet believe that
he did not receive his just deserts.
In the robbery at Gardner, however,
for which he has just been arrested.
it is said there is an accumulation of
evidence against him which was
greatly strengthened when he and the
otner four men were identified by the
Alton trainmen as the men who rode
from Gardner to Chicago after the
robbery.
Long Watch; Then Capture.
The capture was the result of a
search which was begun by the Pink
ertons the day following the robbery
Bloodhounds that were put on the trail
of the robbers lost the scent in Bright
on Park on the morning of the robbery
and when this effort failed the Fidelity
and Casualty Insurance company of
New York which had insured the
Gardner bank, turned the case over to
the detective agency.
The descriptions furnished by the
trainmen who had seen the five robbers
on the Alton train, together with a
minute description supplied by Marshal
| Nels Edmundson. who was bound and
gagged by the cracksmen, indicated
that William Edwards was one of the
robbers. Edwards is well known to
thief catchers, and search for him
revealed that he was living with his
wife at 404 West Madison street.
For several nights the entrance to
the building was watched by the
agency operators. who called Detec-
tives Larkin and Buggy of the city
force to assist them. The detectives
felt certain that the other suspects
would "show up at Edwards flat
sooner or later, and the watch was
kept up for more than a week.
| Yesterday morning the vigilance of
the detectives was rewarded when the
suspects one at time appeared and
made their way to Edwards apart
ments. When the conference broke
up the first man to leave was Mitchell,
who was quietly placed under arrest.
Houser, Blake and Edwards came
from the fiat in the order named and
We're taken in custony. Ritchie, who
is thought to be the leader of the
crowd, did not leave the building and
Detectives Larkin and Buggy went in
side ana arrested him..
| Mer and Their Records.
The suspects We're taken to the cen
tral station as quietly as possible and
/ Sheriff Johnson was notified Pend
ing his arrival the suspects were sub
mitted to examination at the bureau
of Identification and later their rec
ords We're given out as follows:
Hugh Blake. also known as New
York Sim Al years old; gives occu.
patton as railway brakeman
Charles Mitchell, known as kid
Mitchell, Sc years old; says he is a
| baker.
William Edwards, aslo known as Fo-
lley % wears old saws he is a waiter