The Savannah morning news., 1904-03-28
FOR STEALING
PURSE ON TRAIN
L. O. GREGORY ARRESTED.
PURSE CONTAINING sG5 WAS sTOL-
EN ON $. A. l.. TRAIN.

Gregory Denied Taking POcketbOOI<
and offered TO BE Searched on
Train, when Charged With Theft.
search Was Made and no Pocket
hook Found, but Because of Bills
in His Pocket and Evidence of
Train Hand, Was Taken I'm Gus
tOdy When Train Reached Savan-
nah-Wns on Way to Join His
Wife.
Charged with stealing a pocketbook
containing sos from another passenger
on a Seaboard Air Line train. just this
side of Jacksonville, Saturday night,
l.. o. Gregory was arrested upon the
arrival of the train in Savannah.
He was en- route from Ocala.
Fla, to Augusta, where he has
a position with a jewelry firm.
His wife preceded him to Augusta two
weeks ago. and he expected to join
her there yesterday. He is now held
at the police station. pending an inves-
tigation by the authorities.
1t was only a short distance this
side of Jacksonville that w. r. Nc
Connell, who was coming through from
Miami, discovered that he had lost his
purse. He had left his seat and gone
to the writing desk at the end of the
car. 1t is thought the Oocketbook
must have been left on the seat. There
were several men sitting together and
Gregory had a seat just behind Nc
Connell.
Charged With Theft.
When the pocketbook was missed
Mcconnell returned to the seat and
made a search. He asked those
around if they had seen anything of
the purse. A train hand stated he
had seen Gregory with the pocketbook
and he was charged with taking it.
He denied having had the pocket
book and offered to submit to McCon-
nell going through his pockets. This was
done, and the pocketbook was not
found, but bills were found on his
possession, which led the owner of
the pocketbook to believe Gregory
had taken the purse and thrown it
out the window after getting the
money out of it. There was a great
deal of excitement in the car because
of the robbery. When the train came
into Savannah, Gregory was taken in
charge and was turned over to Pa
trolman Hartley and officer Nose
Davis.
Was "A Secret Pocket.
There was SOS in the pocketbook lost,
six $40 bills and one S., according to
the owner. Gregory, had over $50 on
his person. There were six $40 bills, but
no S. bills. He also had a $40 gold
piece, silver dollar, and quite a lot
of change. The owner of the pocket
book, however, reported to the officers
that he had one $40 bill and one S.
bill in a secret pocket in the money
case, which was a large one made es-
pecially for bills.
The theory upon which Gregory is
being, held is that he took the pocket
book, when Mcconnell left it
on the seat, took out the five
$40 bills and threw it away. The Sc
cret pocket, it is said could not easily
be found and it is thought he over
looked that. If he did get the
money, he had an additional $40 bill
on his person, for six were found.
StrenuOuslys Denies Guilt.
Gregory denies taking the money
He says he had over $50 when he left
Oeala. He will prove that he
had over $50 before he left Jackson
Vile. He claims Ed Carmichael who
came up on the same train, saw the
money in Jacksonville. Gregory ex-
poets to prove his innocence, and Is
very much exercised about his arrest.
He says he is a jewelry worker. He
has been conducting a small business
of his own in Ocala, but recently Sc
cured position with an Augusta firm.
He sold out his business in Ocala
and that was the way he got the
money he had with him when arrest
ed. His wife went to Augusta two
weeks ago. Gregory is 20 years of
age. He has been in Ocala for about
two years. He says he has known Nc
Connell slightly for some yeS"s, having
often seen him in Florida
Gregory, of course, cannot be tried
here, as the crime If there was any on
his part, was committed in Florida.
There will be an investigation of the
matter to-day, however.
HEADACHES FROM COLDS