Omaha daily bee., 1908-03-11
SOFT WORDS MELTED DYNAMITE
Kansas Cityan Wanted $4,000, but
Arrested Without Doing. Damage.
APPEAsED WITH A BREAKFAST
Nitro-Glycerine Proved to Be Very
Weak Brand of Water.
HoLDUP MAN A PLUMBER
james 70, Fee IL Name Given by
WouId-Be Assassin, who says
He Has Nervous
Trouble.

Trouble.
"A soft answer turneth away wrath
thundered Solomon in his proverbs AnG
because Luther Drake learned that lesson
well when boy his bank is 5000 richer
President Luther Drake of the Merchants
National bank, Thirteenth and Farnam
streets, frustrated an attempt to hold ur
that bank made by James e. Fee, 112t
North Seventeenth street, who entered the
bank at 1880 a. m. Tuesday and threat.
ened to explode ounce bottle which he
said contained nitro glycerine, unless the
president produced the money demanded
To get Fee out of his private office
President Drake simply offered to buy the
desperate man a good breakfast and send
him to Kansas City, where he could his
wife. While Fee was ordering his break
fast at Maurer's detectives called by Vice
| President +. II. Hamilton entered and
pulled the bottle from the mans pocket and
hurried him to the police station. The bot
tie was found to contain a harmless fluid
! Fee walked into the bank at 1850 and
asked for a private interview with Presi-
| dent Drake. Both men entered the private
office, which opens into the rotunda and
also into the private office of Vice Presi-
dent Hamilton, who was at his desk.
Tells His Tale of Woe.
After telling a pathetic story about losing
| all the money he had In the world in the
| failure Of the National Bank of Commerce
of Kansas City and how his wife was com
! PEELED to go to work in a store at IS pei
week, Fee produced the ounce bottle and
said, as he looked straight into the eyes OF
the bank president:
| Il will give you just five minutes to set
me 5000. ] will blow you into eternity "
you do not get the money-it does not mat
ter what becomeH of me, as | am just as
well Off in the other world without the
S. Co.,"
7 For a moment Mr.. Drake was motionless.
| He watched the little bottle in the man
fingers and felt his whiskers grow. Fee
was the first one to speak. He told about
his desperation and contemplating su.cid
on several occasions. Then there was al.
other silence. President Drake broke II
by saying mildly
You are excited and desperate. Sup.
pose you take a walk around the block
and come back in again; perhaps you will
think better of this"
Fee flared up and jumped to his feet
"You can't get me out Of here by any
such talk-get me the 5000"
Then Drake Thinks Again.
The president though moment. He says
he thought of graphing with the man, but
the bottle of nitro was held in the mans
hand and his arm was extended out from
the shoulder. The bottle might have
rolled on the floor in the struggle and
blown both men to less than atoms.
Finally Mr.. Drake said:
Now don't you want to see your wife
first? Have you had any breakfast
Come with me; 1 will get you good
breakfast, and we will fix up this little
matter of getting to Kansas City"
AS though hypnotized by the cool and in
viting talk of the president, Fee followed
Mr.. Drake to MauTer's restaurant, 13lt
Farnam street, few steps away, but Vice
President Hamilton had already telephoned
for the police, and detectives arrived al
the restaurant almost as soon as Mr.. Drake
and his desperate companion.
Fee, In his cell at the police station, talk
ed freely about the episode. He says he is
a union plumber, but was out of work for
some time. He characterized the whole
proceeding as "a big bluff" and laughed
as he said II.
IT don't want to hurt any one" he said.
But I am afflicted with a nervous trouble.
I have locomotor ataxla for which am be-
ing treated"
Amergency officer Morgan took the mys-
ferrous bottle with which Fee had threat
ened to blow up the bank, down to an
open place near the river and fired at It
with a rifle. II broke and the nitro gly-
cerine" proved to be nothing but colored
water.
Mr. Drake told the story of the at
tempted hold-up and laughed over the ex-
perience
Il was sitting at my desk about 1O:SO
when a nicely dressed man, who looked as
though he might be a country banker, came
In and asked II / was Luther Drake" said
Mr. Drake president of the Merchants Ma
tional bank. He said ne wanted to hold a
little private conversation with me, so
invited him TO step into the private office.
which opens off from the lobby OF the
bank.
SIT Side by Side.
when we had gone into the private Of
flee we sat side by side on the same side
OF the table and the man opened the con-
versation by saying he had an interesting
story to tell, the first part Of which might
be of no interest. but the second part would
be more interesting.
He said he had a small business In
Kansas City which paid him about 5000 a
year and that he had 5000 in the Bank OF
Commerce when II failed and that the
failure broke him. He said his business
was 50 bad and he was all in and that his
wife had to go TO working In a store for
So a week.
He said he was a desperate man and
that he had thought to commit suicide last
night b turning on the gas ] told him
that II he had a claim Of 5000 against the
Kansas City bank It probably would be
good as the bank was soon 10 open its
doors. ! said 10 him You are not broke
/ .fo fn