The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1905-04-14
A Bank Robber Confessed to
Many Robberies in this
AND OTHER STATES.
He duplicates Two Charleston Merchant.
In the Different Robberles the Gang
Committed In South Carolina.
Chris Rabens and II. R.
Rabens are the Two.

RaDens are the Two.
A story that causes the operation
Of Raff1es, THE Gentleman Burglar,
to appear tame and suitable for tn,
nursery; story that made the Ncl
Carter and Diamond Dick series tt
pale into insignificance; tale that
held the .throng Of spectators breath
less with attention, was told in the
United States Circuit Court, of Char.
lesion Friday afternoon, when John
f. Mccarthy, alias John o. Darrell
now serving sentence in Vermont
State prison. was put on the stand to
testify In the Latta postofflce robbery
case. When District Attorney Capers
asked Mccarthy If he knew John King
and Edward Morgan, alias Murphy,
he replied: "Oh, yes, 1 know them.
l co-operated with them In the rob-
berry OF the postoffice at Latta on
February 25, 1904" On further ex.
animation Mccarthy gave full &C
count Of the movements Of the gang
which infested this State some two
years ago. In part Mccarthy said: II
met the two Rabens, Rudolph and
Chris, in Charleston in 1908, and saw
King and Morgan at the house OF
Rlbens frequently"
When asked to give an account OF
| the robbery at Latta Mccarthy, in
part, said: well, after conference
with several members of the gang 1t
was decided to have a try at The post.
Office or bank In Latta. Two of us
went up there to look over the ground,
and then the rest of us followed
Morgan, King, myself and one other.
We went to Dillon and got breakfast
In house in the factory district. Nor
gan and Shorty, who had been over
to Latta, came up to us and reported
that it looked good. We cooked din
ner and supper In the woods, near the
track, between Dillon and Latta, and
after dark set out for Latta, hating
on the esge OF the town until mid
night, When we entered. We broke
open a cfpenters chest In an unfinish-
e" hf entil?>varing to find the rec-
essary tools; we finally went to black
smiths shop and got sledge ham.
mer, crowbar, chisel, brace and other
Instruments. We went to the bank,
and King and myself kept watch,
while the two others did the work.
The bank, which was iu the same
building with the postoffice, was blown
all right, but the force of the explo-
sion jammed the door and there was
nothing doing in the swag line; so we
tried the postoflice safe. Morgan and
Shorty were inside, and pretty soon l
heard two explosions, following close
ly upon each other. The stamps, mon
ey and letters were put In q sack and
the two came out"
After coming from the building
we all liked for blood hounds-that is
we tied a string or cloth to the
'lapels' OF our shoes and sprlnkled it
we'll with mustard-a dog cannot fol.
low such track. We went down by
the depot aud across the country to a
branch track and when about four
miles from Latta went In the woods
and divided the swag. We had about
$3.50 In money, large number OF
stamps, two pocket books and lot of
letters. lost one letter from Win.
nie Lewis and tore up another letter. ~
Inspector Gregory then produces
two letters, one Of them intact and
the otner put together on pane OF
glass. Mccarthy identified both as
the ones left In the woods. O1e OF
the missives, which must have been a
very tender one, began Sweetheart
Johnny" The contents were not
read.
The papers, said the witnesses, were
left In the woods. When asked what
was the character Of the papers re-
ferred to Mccarthy said they were
newspapers and religious perl dical :
District Attorney Capers wanted tC
know II the gang had read the relis.
ious papers In the peaceful seclusioI
OF that quiet and scquestered spot
The witness said that they had not
we buried about 200 pennies, as
thy we're too heavy to carry, and
they went down the track about two
miles, keeping under the cover OF the
woods constantly. We skirted Dillon
and then the gang separated l wen,
on to Fayetteville, N. c., with Shorty
We stopped at the Davis House ant
the next morning Morgan and Kin,
showed up at the breakfast table
We then went over to Hamlet tn,
next me Tning, which was Sunday
|, and King hid The stamps under
freight she'd"
] Going back a bit, Mccarthy said
II first met the two Rabens In TIN
fall of 1908 at the Star Theatre
, Shorty was with them and 1 met Gu
! DeFord either at the theatre or a
r Rabens's house. DeFord brought dy
3 namite to city and the glycerine wa
l extracted, so that the pure glycerin
\ might be obtained. The operation
was carried on in Rabens's house
{ Shortly afterwards Shorty, Morgan
( DeFord and myself began dscussin