Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1907-08-10
TRACED TEAM TO GRAFTON
Horse Stolen Several Weeks Ago
is Recovered After Chase.
ORGANIZED GANG OF THIEVES
Supposed to Operate in This section
and Have Their Headquarters
Back in the Mountains.

Back in the Mountains.
Mr.. John Welty, of Waynesboro. Pa.
spent Thursday at Hotel Berkeley on
his way home from Grafton, where he
ran down horse thief
This incident has local interest.
from the well known fact that an
organized gang of horse thieves has
been operating for several years in
West Virginia, Western Maryland and
Southern Pennsylvania, the p an being
to stel horses in one section and run
them off to the mountains in another
section and there dispose of them
either to confederates in the nefarious
business or to unsuspecting parties.
1t will be recalled to mind that a
couple of years ago Mr.. J. Henry b.
CERT. one of Martfnsburg's leading liv-
erymen, had valuable horse and fine
new buggy stolen from his stables and,
though diligent search was made at
the time for the team, no trace Of it
was ever found nor the thief appre-
hended For the reason that it is al
together probable that the man whom
Mr.. Welty caught near Grafton is one
of the same gang that stole Mr., Bo-
gert's team, some details of the story
are here given.
Horse Thief Caught at Grafton.
On the night of July %, last, the
barn of Hon. B. F. Welty, residing
along the Antietam creek, one mile
southeast of Waynesboro, was entered
and very valuable horse belonging to
his son-in-law, DIR. Clarence w. Beard,
of Waynesboro, was stolen, together
with brand new rubber tire buggy,
and a new set of harness belonging to
Mr. Welty. The horse was valued at
$500 and the buggy and harness at
$3.50, total of $3.50.
When the discovery was made in the
morning, search was at once instituted
and police authorities in every direc-
ton were notified to be on the look
out for the thief. Mr. John Welty and
his brother-in-law, Dr. Beard, secured
the country for miles around in their
automobile for couple of days before
they found a clue Having learned that
a man driving team answering to
the description of their own, had got
a horse shod at a blacksmith shop a
few miles from Hancock, the gentle
men named got on trail of the sup
posed thief, a description of whom
was obtained from the blacksmith.
Though they surmised that the man
lad gene in the direction of Cumber-
land and thence into the mountains OF
West Virginia, they were unable to
trace much beyond Hancock. About
TIE same time Mr.. Welty visited this
city, but the horse here supposed to
be stolen, proved to belong to a party
in the country.
A few days ago Mr.. Welty, on a
search in Cumberland, accidentally
learned that a stranger, supposed to
be the very man he was after, had
been there shortly before and then left
in the direction of Grafton. Mr.. Welty
proceeded thither and. with the aid of
a deputy sheriff, located the man We'd
nesday morning. Driving out to Prun'
tytown, a small village about four
miles from Grafton. they found the
thief sitting alongside Of the road,
leisurely eating his lunch. There,
sure enough, was the long sought for
horse with an old buggy and harness.
An Old Grizzly.
The man, who gave his name as
John Bruner, or Scissors Grinder
Bruner, was at once placed under ar
rest and taken to Grafton, where he
was placed in jail Bruner took his
arrest very coolly and had very little
to say, refusing to tell where he llv-
ed. He denied having stolen the team,
saying that he bought 1t from stran-
ger and afterwards traded OF the new
buggy and harness for the old ones
then in his possession.
Bruner is about IS years old, rather
short and stout and wears about two
weeks growth of gray beard. This an
swers exactly to the description OF the
man wanted, and Mr.. Wetly has every
reason to believe that he is the same
man who got the horse shod between
Clearspring and Hancock and after
wards heard of in Cumberland.
The horse was thin and seemed to
be much jaded. indicating hard treat
ment in the last two weeks or more.
For this reason the animal was left