Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1907-03-20

easy haul they could make from the
Farmers State bank. Gadbois and
Moore had been at MasonvilIe short.
ly before, investigating the con
ditions Of affairs there and had de.
cided that here was good chance
Tor some easy money. Hansen al
first rebulfed Gadbois' attempts tc
enlist him in this enterprise, but
Gadbois was not easily daunted and
persisted in urging Hansen to ac-
company himself and old man
Moore. Hansen and Moore were to
have no active part, simply to stand
by and guard the bank, while Cad
bois cracked the safe. Finally Han
sen succumbed to the alluring temp
tation and told Gadbois he would
accompany him. Once out of Cad
bois' company Hansen changed his
mind again and decided to keep
away from Gadbeis. He had good
position in Dubuque and thought
he would be foolish to run the
chance Of losing it or getting sent
to prison if caught. However Cad
bois knew his man to be easily in
fluenced and of changeable dis
position so, as the man was necessary
to his plans, lie did not lose sight Of
him. The night the robbery was to
take place Hansen was at home early
in the evening but stepped out to
get glass OF beer. Gadbois follow
ed him into the saloon and asked
him if he'd be there alright. On
being Informed that Hansen was
not going, he coaxeda and urged put
ting the matter in such an attractive
light that Hansen finally made up
his mind that the world owed him
something and he would go and
collect it. Returning to his home
Hansen gave no intimation OF his in
tentions to his wife but prepared for
bed. After assuring himself that
she was sleeping he arose, dressed,
and hurried to the Illinois Central
depot where Gadbois and Moore
were awaiting him. They bought
tickets for Manchester and rode here
in smoking car. Their prepar-
atoms had been fully completed be-
fore leaving Dubuque, by Gadbois,
WHO was thoroughly conversant with
the obstacles to be overcome and the
best roads to take. They brought
their nitro-glycerine with them and
took from Gibbin's repair shop
whatever tools were needed.
Gadbois worked on the safe,
Moore stood within the bank to
guard Gadbois, and Hansen patrolled
the street outside. There was con-
siderable difficulty in getting q
charge, and not until the third one
was the safe blown open, the fourth
forced the inner door. Hansen was
then called in and the three men
filled their pockets with the booty
irrespective of division.
AT this Juncture Day Operator
Frusher appeared on the street and
Hansen fired two shots in the all
for the purpose of frightening him
away. Hansen emphasized the FACT
that no harm was intended the man
This is highly probable as, from
Frusher's proximity to the robbers
and the calibre of their weapons, he
would otherwise have been wounded
at the very least. The trio ther
hurried to the Williams farm where
Hansen had previously harnessed
and had in readiness a horse anc
buggy. These they abandoned OF
the Denton farm west of Manchester
and being familiar with the lay o.
the land, avoided the business par
Of town by going straight on. Unio1
street to the barns where they hie
their spoils.
When they went to divide theil
swag they discovered that Gadboi,
had several less packages of bill.
than he had when they left tn
bank. AS the entire amount hat
only been estimated approximate,
by them, they did not know tn
exact amount lost by him. The,
concluded it was a few hundred
dollars, but, as they realized tn
alarm had been given at Masonvill
flight was now of more importanc
than searching for the missing
money. They hid the money the,
had in different barns in the town
and then separated at Mr.. Link
barn, Gadbois going east and Moor
and Hansen to Starbird's barn
where they took refuge and wer
found that afternoon.
Moore all along has refused
talk OH the subject but Hansen h a
been weakening visibly since .h