The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-08-26
He TELLS 1T ALL.
George Andrews Relates How He Stole
Chickens by Wholesale.

A warrant was sworn out this morn
ing by o. NJ. Markley of Highland
Park, charging Tom Colwell, a negro,
with chickens stealing. The chicken
raisers of the Highland Park section of
the city have been suffering from the
depredations of chicken thieves for
nearly a year and were unable to get
trace of the thieves until last week
and locked up in the county jail
charged with stealing forty chickens
from chicken fancier in Highland
Park. After two weeks in Jail he came
to the conclusion that the best thing
that he could do would be to make a
clean breast of the affair and decided
to turn states evidence. From his
story it seems that there has been an
organized gang of chicken thieves
operating in the city and suburbs.
When seen at the county Jail this
morning Andrews said: 81 have been
working for Colwell for about two
months and during all of that time we
stole chickens at night In the day
time he would drive around town SELL
ing milk but all the time looking out
for chicken houses that we could get
into at night without getting caught.
After he had found a place where he
thought that we could make a good
haul he would come home and We
would wait until after midnight and
take some sacks and drive over near
the place and while / watched on the
outside he would go in and get the
chickens. Some times we got a wagon
load and some times we did not get
over dozen. We got a dozen of
mighty fine old hens over at Mr.. Pot
ter's, and I wanted to keep them, they
looked so fine. but ColweH took them
up to VIII Dupree's place, on the cor
ner. of Tenth and Kansas avenue. and
sold them to him. Over at Charles
Sanders place we took every chicken
that he had but one old hen. She got
away when we were putting the sack
in the wagon and cackled so loud that
all the dogs in the neighborhood were
barking at us, and 1 thought we were
caught for sure. You see the way that
this came to get out was like this:
ColWell got jealous of me because his
wife told him some things, and he got
a gun and tried to kill me- and told
around that I was a chicken thief
when we were both stealing chickens,
and don't think that l should be in
Jail and Colwe1 loose when he was the
proprietor and 1 was just working for
him. When ColweIl took milk to his
customers he would take their orders
for chickens and made lots of money.
He sold lots of the chickens to a fellow
named Lane who had a Chicken route
OF his own. but he had been working
his route so long that he could not get
enough chickens to fill the ORDERS"
This case looks as though the Off
GERS have found a wholesale chicken
thieving outfit. When it was suggested
to Andrews that they must have stolen
a thousand chickens, he rolled his eyes
to the ceiling and said: 81 swear I
never took no thousand chickens;
there wasn't a bit over 100"
One Sunday about two weeks ago
Colwell gave a beer party to some of
his friends and furnished a chicken
dinner on the side. Two dozen chick
ems were slaughtered for the occasion
and there was plenty doing until day
light broke up the party, so it is not
hard to see what became of the chick
ems from the Highland Park neighbor-
hood. The residents of that section of
the city who have been contributing to
this bunch of chicken thieves have
been up in arms for some time, but
have been unable to locate the Gull
prits. With two of the members of the
gang in Jail and one of them turned
states evidence, it is thought that
chicken raising will be more profitable
in the future. Andrews was bound
over to the September term of district
court in bond of $500 this morning,
and will remain in Jail until that time.
Colwell will probably be arrested this
afternoon.