The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1906-05-17
ROBBERS COMMITTED
Riley and Abras Held to Grand Jury
on Charge of BurgIarizing
EVenS Hardware Store.
Goods Found in Riiey's Possession
Identified by E. K. Evens as
the Property Stolen.

:
company's store appeared in last
weeks Q n, were arraigned before
Justice Chadbourne on Thursday af-
ternoon for examination. Sufficient
evidence having been produced to
warrant the holding of the prisoners,
an adjournment was taken until the
following day.
On Friday afternoon they were
again brought face to face with the
majesty Of the law and apparently
realized that they had run against a
proposition in comparison with which
barbed-wire ENHANCEMENT would be
easy of extrication.
Riley, who had previously admitted
to Sheriff Shockley that he ''did the
job," presented a bold front and did
not appear nervous in the slightest
degree. He gave the general i'm
preston Of being a hardened, dare
devil criminal. His accomplice,
Abras, a black-muzled little Jew,
seemed to lack the determined bravado
Of his partner in crime, his aim evil
IDENTIFY being to simulate the role of
a prosecuted innocent. A careful
size-up of the duo could leave but one
conclusion in the minds of those pres
ent-that they were a pair Of individ-
uals whose countenances wore par
ticularly prominent feature of Grimm
ality.
The first witness called at the ex-
animation was E. K. Evens, who ex-
amined the revOlvers, knives, razors
and watches which had been found in
the possession of Riley. With the ex-
ception Of one razor, Mr.. Evens
identified the articles produced for
his inspection as his property. The
goods bore his private cost mark. He
estimated the value Of the property
stolen as s153 40.
Donald II. Irvine. Duluth CITY
detective, was then called and related
the story of the prisoners arrest. He
said, in substance, that Abras, the
Jew, had entered a secondhand store
in Duluth on Wednesday for the pur-
pose of ascertaining whether the pro-
prietor would buy the plumber, while
Riley stood on the outside with the
goods in his possession. A few
minutes later Riley entered the store
and the proprietor, who had been
notified by the police through the in
strumentality of Sheriff Shockley to
be on the lookout for the stolen goods.
called a passing policeman. Riley
thereupOn bolted and the secondhand
store man held Abras while the police
man pursued Riley and captured him
in house of disrepute. Both prison
ers we're ultimately loaded into the
patrol wagon and locked up at the
central station, where Detective Irvine
was assigned to search them. MIR.
Irvine found no goods upon Abras
but Riley had in his possession part
of the plumber and told a cock-and-
bull story Of how he secured it. He
said that tramp named "Chicago
Red had given it to him and that he
had never been in Princeton in his
life. The detective, upon asking Riley
whether he had ever been measured
up"-which is police term for being
subjected to the Bertillon system of
Identification received the reply,
"Yes,' but the prisoner refused to
say when or where. The admission
that he had been measured up is proof
Of former criminal record.
AS to Abras, Mr.. Irvine said that
he was one of the most consummate
liars that ever came under his notice.
In addition to this his photograph
adorns the rogues' galleries of Duluth
and Minneapolis. He is we'll known
to the Duluth police and included in
his criminal record is the following:
Served sixty days in Minneapolis for
petty larceny and seveny-fve days
IN Duluth on a similar charge. He
was also arrested in Duluth for ped
ding without license. He was SELL
ing ''phoney' jewelry, but was re-
leased on promise to leave town.
Riley, on being asked whether he
wished to make a statement, said that
while waiting for a train at Nickerson
he met Abras in a saloon at o'clock
Tuesday evening, and, as they we're
both headed for Duluth, they decided
to travel together. He (Riley)
averred that at that time Abras knew
nothing of the plumber which be had
in his possession, but upon arriving
in Duluth he informed him. ''Seeing
that he was a Jew," said Riley, II
thought that he might, perhaps, be
familiar with the fence proprietors