Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1903-11-20
TOWN HELD UP
md BANK ROBBED
Bank Of Green Mountain Rob
bed Of $1,000 EARLY This
Morning
c,r,zENs WATCH THE WORK
compelled to Remain Indoors, Upon
Throat Of Their Lives, by Guards
Who Ar posted While Their Com
pan;ons Blow tho Safe Building and
oaf, WrseksdHEscaps on Handear.

Imprisoned within their homes, at the
+ .,c,nt ~ reyolyers the people of Green
Mountain, at an early hour this morn
ing, we're forced to watch the destruc-
tIon Of their new bank building. and
the robbing Of the safe. by party OF
l,ye robbers. Three OF the men did the
work. while two others terrorized the
citizens by firing at windows where
Lights appeared. and threatening the
HIVES Of any who might offer resistance.
The building and safe were completely
wrecked, and the $1,000 In cash was
stolen.
The robbery was accomplished Le-
tween i: 80 and o'clock this morning,
and the robbers were watched at their
work by practically the entire popu-
lation OF the town within seeing dis
&ance. The robbers had posted their
guards before beginning their work, one
of them being at the home OF Sylvanus
Dickerson. owner OF the bank The first
efYort Of the guards to warn the people
from interfering was at the E. Colby
boarding house, directly across the
street from the bank. The inmates were
awakened by rap at the door. and the
admonition to keep In bed and lie still
or their heads would be shot of. Shots
were fred here and there and the
warnings to stay indoors were shouted
80 that no one dared to disobey. Dr..
J. F. Strain. who lives on block north
of the bank, was awakened by one OF
che iirst shots, and heard the calls to
keep In or be shot. DIR. Strain got his
revolver and, while not venturing out,
raised the window and fired several
shots at the guards. He also tele-
phoned Mr.. Dickerson, who lives two
blocks from the bank.
oiekerson Told TO Stay In.
Mr., Dickerson got up Immediately
upon receiving the telephone message.
HIS sleeping apartment Is upstairs, and
he had no sooner arisen than he heard
Z noise on the roof Of the porch, to-
ward which one OF his chamber win
dows faces. The voice Of a mantwarned
him to 20 back to bed and be quiet, or
ne would .1et daylight thru him.: The
man then left the porch and went into
the street, where he, Aired several Shots.
Whether the gun was aimed at Dicker-
eon or not is not known, At any rate
he was not hit, but the warning was
sufYicient to keep him indoors.
Robbers Very 0eIiberate.
dalfhA,>o a
and went about, their work nlethodic-i
ally. They had stolen sledges, ham,
mers and crowbars from, the section
ehanty OF the Great Western, and were
prepared for heavy work should 1t be
required. They also took large jack.
which is used for lifting rails. They
prled open the bank windoy with the
crowbar. the marks showing plainly
on the window sill. Once inside they
went to work in q manner that showed
their experience in the business. They
did no drilling. hut usel nitro -glycerine.
"A large quantity of soap was used to
form the. cup into which the explosive
was poured. Three shots were fired.
and each time. before the robbers were
ready to touch the fuse. they left the
building and could be seen by the
frightened people who were watching
them from their windows. The first
shot proved too light. but the second
blew or the big door Of the safe. The
third cracked the vault. whore the
money was contained. The $1,000 se-
cured was largely in bills. Nothing
but money, so far as can be learned,
was taken. A large packet of notes
was found among the plaster of the
wrecked building, badly burned.
Pieces Of bills, burned from the ends of
the rolls in which they were kept. We're
also found The property loss to the
benk will be at least $1,000, in damage
to safe and. building, aside from the
money stolen. The safe was a modern
one, purchased only a few weeks ago.
stood seven feet high and was about
four feet in diameter. 1t weighed
nearly three tons, and Is a total wreck.
A large hole was blown in the side OF
the bank building. also one thru the
floor. All OF the bank furniture was
more or less damaged, and the large
plate glass window was completely
shattered.
Visit Grain Elevator.
After the robbery had been accom-
plished. the robbers appeared TO ne IN
no hurry to get away. They went tc
the grain elevator office of Homer S.
Thomas, cut a hole in the panel Of the
door and turned the Yale lock. They
went prepared to blow the safe as a
quantity OF soap and nitroglycerine was
found in the office. They changed
their plans, however. and. after batter
Ing the safe with hammers and chisels,
gained an entrance. Nothing was se-
cured here.
Make Their Escape.
After visiting the Thomas building
the robbers made for the railroad
tracks, where they had placed hand
car in readiness. having taken 1t from
the section house The noise OF the car
was heard by number. as 1t was
worked by the men toward the south.
(Continued on Seventh Pagel