The Goodland republic., 1906-12-28
PUzzIING CASE OF ANDERSON.
A Psychological Mystery That Is as
Fascinating IS 1t Is UnsOIFable.
From Louisville Courier-JournaL

( FROM Louisville Courier-JO Ournal
/ What q more engaging than a psy-
chologIGzt mystery 1t Is because Of
their psychology that Edgar Alien
POe's stories are fncompaTs6le IN -a5.s1- fT1eiT
/ popular appeal and il IS because OF
/ the keen analysis he includes in them
/ that they take 50 high an intellectual
rank in the field Of fiction. The psy-
/ geological problems involved also
Il make Hamlet" as they make ''Dr.
JeESyl and Mr.. Hyde" peculiarly
/ fOrcerul- The psychological mystery Is
1 even more fascinating in life than in
ncoon- Kansas City is now busy with
one In the case Of William @. Ander-
SON Anderson was an assistant teller
I OF prominent bank. He had a pleas
ant home and a family that he loved !;
! he was Of good habits; he was indus
trlOus: his reputation was the best and
quaintances generally held him in the
highest esteem Suddenly he stole
$4,000 Of the banks funds, fed to
Texas and bought a motor car. 1t
was easy enough to locate him. cap
tuTe him and bring him back to Kan
sas City, and he is now there await
ing trial.
The bank oficers are puzzled. the
police are puzzled and his family is
puzzled, for there has been found no
motive whatsoever for the theft If
Anderson had been a gambler or spec
ulatOr, q drunkard or a spendthrift, a
sybarite or a rogue, his seizure OF
SOmeDOoy elSe'S money could be un-
derstOOd- AS il is, he is a mystery
and the Kansas City folk are worry
ing themselves greatly over him.
Those who attribute his downfall to
an irreStible impulse are not Clarity
ing the affair, but are merely making
IL more complicated and diverting
problem for the energies and study
OF the cevOtee Of psychological re-
search. II Anderson was temporarily
p 4
and after his crime show that at
least, he has been wholly sane at all
other times He himself IS unable to
state his actuating motive He says
ne took the money; that's all there is
Last year a young brokers clerk in
New York, by an ingenious, though
criminal, trick got hold OF a batch Of
bonds that had been deposited with
a bank as collateral He returned
them and then was arrested. he ex-
pIained the performance as the out
come Of a joke. He had bet a friend
he could do the thing; he did il. A
well known magazine story tells Of an
assistant bank cashier who, refused
a raise in salary by the bank directors,
stole 100000, told them that il they
sent him to prison he would have
plenty Of money when he got out, and
50 prevailed on them to raise his sal
ary IN exchange for the stolen funds
A Kansas City newspaper, discussing
the Anderson case, recalls the instance
Of a restaurant waiter Of that city,
who, dressed in his best clothes one
day last summer, went to a first class
hotel, lived sUmptuOUsly for two
weeks and when, at last, Uley present
ed the bill went to the wOrkhouse
gladly, having had his fling"
In these and most crimes Of a sim
liar nature the motive is clear. What
is the secret Of the Anderson down
faI2
When the truth is known-and II
will be known sooner or later-it is
dollars to figs that il will be found
either that Anderson had not lived the
righteous and godly life he is SIP
posed now to have lived, or that his
good behavior in the past was but the
outward afIectatiOn Of a man dishon-
est at heart and in thought, and who
was prevented only by extraneous cir
cumstances from taking long ago
money that did not belong to him