Woodville Republican., 1903-03-07
JUST A SCRAP Of PAPER.
1t Proved, However, a Valuable
Clew to the Whereabouts of
Rudolph and Lewis.
THE UNION BANK ROBBERS PRISONERS.
They Were Captured Rt Hartford,
Conn, by Pinkerton Detectives
and Hartford Police aud Ss,0so of
the stolen Money Recovered-Pin-
kerton's Assertion Made Good.


and Hartford Police aud Ss,0so of
the stolen Money Recovered-Pin-
kerton's Assertion Made Good.
ST. Louis, March 2.-"The world Is
not big enough TO hold the murder
er of Charles j. Schumacher" was the
statement of William A. Pinkerton,
head of the finkerton detective agen-
cy, during the pursuit of Bill Rudolph
and Fred Lewis.
"If live, win get them," was an
addition to this statement that mdi-
Gated how determined the great Grim
inal catcher was in the hunt.
Rudolph and Lewis are now in the
hands of the officers of the law in
Hartford, Conn.,, and will be brought
to Missouri at once TO answer to the
crimes of murder and bank robbery.
The Bank of Union, Franklin coun-
ty, was robbed on the night of De-
cember 26, 1902, by two men, one OF
whom stood outside and fired at per
sons who appeared on the streets with
q rifle, while the other blew open the
safe and secured about $4,000
Detective Schumacher was assigned
to the case by the Pinkerton agency,
representing the American Bankers
association, and his Investigations led
to the Rudolph home, four miles from
Stanton, Mo-, where he ate dinner as
hunter and located the robbers.
January "a he returned with a sher-
iff's posse to arrest the men. In the
fight that followed he was killed,
Immediately on receipt of the news
Of the murder additional Pinkerton
men were assigned to the case, and
Assistant Superintendent George ID.
Charlesworth was sent to Stanton.
Mr.. Charlesworth tells the following
story of his efforts, ending In the find
ing of the two men in the east.
Names Written i'm PEN Practice.
II got into the Rudolph home Sum
day, January "a, while the chase
across the country was in progress,
and there found the scrap Of blood
stained paper that led to the arrest OF
the men in Hartford, Conn.,. Sunday.
II looked into a stove and pulled
out a folded sheet of note paper, hall
of which had been burned, but one
half was good. Someone had been
practicing penmanship on it, and
knew on reading 1t that he had been
writing his thoughts.
Comparison of penmanshipshowcd
that Lewis was the man who had
done the writing, and Lewis Laplant,
Hartford, Conn., was the name and
address that i fixed upon as the key
| to the story, and so it was.
ION this scrap Of paper were other
names that were put into the reports
sent out from our St. Louis Office and
looked into. One name was that oi
Fred LeDoux, Hartford, Conn., and
who proved to be the sergeant OF
Company M, Thirty-fifth United
States Volunteers, under whom Lewis
had served in the Philippines, and
who was killed in action in that coun
try, and name that Lewis assumed
''The charred portion of the papel
was carefully taken from the stove
and examined under a glass, and i
proved to be similar penmanshiI
practice.
aside from these names, there wal
but one other, that Of George Collins
a name that we noted and one thai
Lewis later assumed. The rest of hi:
writing was merely parts Of old song
and verses and penmansbip scrolls.
"With the descriptions we had Sc
cured, we were in position to follow
them. They took an Iron Mountain
train OH of Potosi, after being fol
lowed in there. At Bismarck the,
took the head end of Cotton Bel
train. On this train baggagema,
saw then in the dark, and Lewis, wht
had bandage around his head, drew
a revolver and drove the man back II
his car.
"Reaching Memphis they went t.
Birmingham, then TO New Orleans
from there TO Boston and TO Hartford
where our men have been watching
them for several days.
CIew Saved From the FLAMES.
"Lewis was wounded in the fgh
with the posse, and it was easy 4
trace him about the house. He wen
TO the windows frequently to lool
out while preparing for the escape
and you could see his blood on tn
walls. On a table where he hai
picked up the note paper, blood wa
sprinlSled freely. Some Of il droppe,
on this paper.
'There had been good fire in tn
stove, and he had no reason to doub
that the paper would be burned, bu
IL fell too fer back"
w. II. Minister, who has just beei
transferred to st. Louis as superin
tendent of the local Pinkerton Office
said:
1--WE were so sure on Saturday tina
we would get the man that we calle'
up Franklin county authorities ani
had then make out the warrants, Sc
cure all Of the papers necessary, ant
sent them to the officials at Hartford
under special delivery stamps, am
they were undoubtedly Delivers
there Monday morning.
"At no time has the Pinkcrtol
agency been excited about the trail
that were being talked of in the coun
try hereabouts.
"After the robbery the men were a
Hot Springs. and it was from Tn