The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-05-08
SEVEN BURGLARS IN A TRAP.
TVO WE'RE CAUGHT AND fOkED
TOGETHER LIKE OMEN.
Farmer Found Their Dynamite Under
His Hay and Four Men waited for the
Thieves to Come for It-A sitting Hen
Was the Cause OF Their Downfall.

SPRINGFIELD, n. j. May just because
Farmer Henry Compton's best laying her
stole her nest to hatch out brood of her
own. regardless Of the general scarcity oil
eggs. the post office at Springfield, n. j..
was saved from robbery two burglars
are In Jail nursing buckshot wounds. and
five Of their pals, also more or less full OF
lead, are in hiding in the Orange Noun
tahns
Farmer Compton's place Is out on the
Westfeld pike, about half mile away
from sprin gfeld Four Corners and the
post office. Eggs have been 30 scarce
lately that he suspected his favorite Wyan-
dotte Of laying hers in a secluded and I'M
usual place to DO fat on at her leisure for
family purposes. So yesterday afternoon
Mr. Compton went out to the barn to hunt
for eggs The hired man. Ephraim. went
along TO help
Finally" said Mr.. Compton, II stuck
my arm way under the NOV whore there
was just about room for hen to set, and
swan! II didn't pull out a revolver. Well.
Eph just roared,
by golly. boss, he said. you must
have crossed that Wyandotte of yourn
With a son Of a gun. and she's gone and
layed a pistol
well, ! didn't pay any attention to what
Eph said. He's likely enough behind a
plough. but he never takes anything
serious felt under again. and | swan
i'll didn't pull out three jimmies. tied to-
aether with st-ap Then | dragged
out dozen sticks at dynamite
"That lot Of truck under the NOV
Humped even Eph for words. Come to
think of it, though, he did say, Wha, a
hell of henl He's just as given to strong
language sometimes as he is handy with
his fool Jokes.
- But give the devil his due. Eph worked
hard enough the rest of the day, mailing
up sheets OF tin on the sides and ends of
Ne stable, because we knew there'd be
some shooting going on before daylight
around my place, and we didn want to
lose any Of the critters by stray bullet,
while Eph was making all the stall,
armorolad and laughing about the lay OF
the hen Farmer Compton drove into the
village to report his find and his suspicious
TO Chairman John Denman Of the Town
ship Committee. Denman called the COM
n,ittee together and there was long SEES
sion, which couldn't be executive because
the rest OF the village was mounted on the
window stills and peekng in the doors,
John Sutphen were finally appointed spe-
ciAl deputies to re enforce Constable Clau-
dius Baker and TO lie in ambush with him
at Farmer 'Comptons barn 70 await the eA-
pected coming of the burglars. 1t was
then O'Clock in the afternoon No time
was to be lost. hut at the critical moment
somebody discovered fatal defect in the
plans there were no badges for the
deputies.
Sutphsn threatened to throw up his COM
mission at once. He said that nobody
ever heard OF a deputy in Jersey or any
where else without badge. Farmer
Ezekiel Swain, who owns the fastest mare
in the village, came to the rescue and volun-
and get back with three badges Of some
sort before shutdown. That would do,
because nobody expected the burglars till
after dark.
Reassured by SWANS promise. colster,
Heckel and Sutphen joined Constable
Gaudius Baker, and the four men, armed
With shotguns and reviewers, concealed
themselves in the barn where they could
gel. bead on the spot where the dynamite
had been found.
Al @ o'clock Mrs. Compton tiptoed
ttealthily across the barnyard with basket
filed with enough hot supper for four
and passed it through the door, just al
dusk Farmer Swain drove in With spent
three Immense, secondhand badges bear
ing this legend Always where the danger
S-yamps, Valance. Veritas.'
ANS well, whispered Sutphen hoarsely
through Knot hole az ne CLICKED the pm
al his badge into its catch
Everything WAS ready then for the burg
larr. They came, seven of them. all
masked, at II o'clock. stumbling across
lots by the light OF half moon. Just as
q hen full OF mother love had led to the
almost spoiled the plans for the capture.
At the moment the leading burglar Was
carefully opening the barn door an inch at
a time. that horse stamped on dry corn
stalk. For All honsst man in broad daylight
that wouldn'. have made much Of a noise.
But for "A man behind a mask and with
designs on the safe of the village post office.
il was as bad an ii burglar alarm.
The seven thieves sneaked back to the
road single file and as fast As they could
without making noise.
The constable and his deputies slid down
from the haymow and left the barn in
pursuit.
Stop" yelled Baker.
Surrender, OF fire." yelled Sutphen.
haahine his badge in the moonlight.
Three ofthe burglars jumped the fence [ n
the other side Of the road and ran through
an orchard in the dire elton of the Orange
ties and stopped long emo ugh to Are Two
volleys from their revolvers withou, hitting
ffhe cfacers Fred back with better aim.
The two burglars who We're afterward capt
used were slightly wounded and AZ least
one Of those who got away was hit. because
blood stains were on the orchard fence
who're the fugitivrs climbed over.
This unlucky two didn't take TO the ORCH
ara. but ran along the Westfield pike half
a mile, then across an acre or 10 Of swamp
and were finally captured, after hard fight,
ns Inc 0'oe'0'O'' "s'' way up s'''As"F''
For some reason possibly to live up TO
chased the two men who went west and
paid no attic nton TO the five in the orchard
Tho consta bles were followed in the chase
by half hundred villagers who had been
invited up by Mrs. Compton o see the killing,
and who had watched for the climax through
the parlor nd sitting room windows.
Baker captured one of the two men after
nnocHing him down with u club. Charles
heckei got the other. who was headed on
by Sutphen and Coster, or by their badges.
Makers prisoner had been shot through the
right hand and had dropped his pistol
TIE other crook had lost his gun In the
scuh1e, but both men we're full OF fight
ana how to get them down 20 the village
was n problem. The officers didn't want TO
shoot them up so they would be Just able to
walk. bun. not to fight. and nobody had any
rope or handouts. But Isaac Brown
had an idea. His place L. lust at the foot
of the hill about half mile west OF Comp
TONS He thought OF n yoke he had In the
barn that had never been OF any use TO
shybody. because II was too small for any
Joke u oxen ever seen in Union county.
'Just right for a pair OF crooks, thought
Isaac, and he ran down the hill and got II.
The yoke was fine At and there was