Daily Kennebec journal., 1908-12-02
In Pittstonby Deputy Burns
and Marshal Cults.
Smith and Wife Escape While
Goods Are Being Moved.
Wagon Used In Burglary Sunk In
River to Escape Detection.

Since the break into the Randolph
mill of Gray & Hildreth was discover
ed Sunday morning Deputy Sheriff
Martin Burns, assisted by City Marshal
Cults of Gardiner, has been hard at
work day and night to locate the
burglars and their plunder Marshal
Cults took hand in the case because
he was confident that the burglars af-
ter whom Deputy Sheriff Burns was
looking were the same ones that broke
into the store of Decker & Day few
rights previous. Tuesday Afternoon
Deputy Sheriff Burns and City Mar
shal Cults came upon the stolen goods
in the house of Fred Smith on the
Whitehead road in Pittston. Smith and
his wife escaped from the officers while
they We're packing up the stolen goods.
but their recapture is only a question
of time, as they are SO well known in
southern Kennebec that escape would
hardly be possible.
Tine officers got out search warrants
Sunday and searched several places
where they thought there was 4 pos
siblity of finding some of the goods,
but nothing tangible was discovered
until Monday afternoon, when a man
who did not want his name mentioned
in connection with the affair, told Dep
uty Sheriff Burns that at about 13O
Sunday morning he saw a wagon
loaded with goods being hauled down
the road by man in the shafts and a
woman pushing behind He gave SO ac-
curate a description of the wagon,
which was q country wagon different
from the ordinary ones, that it could
be easily recognized.
Monday evening Mr.. Burns saw the
wagon in the yard of Il house at the
top of Erskine hill in Pittston, just be-
yond the Randolph line and occupied
by Mr.. and Mrs. Fred Smith. Tuesday
morning the wagon was not in the
yard and Mr.. Burns Immediately sur
missed that it had been run off Moul-
tons wharf into the river. E. B.
Folwes, the Randolph manager for
Gray &; Hildreth, went down to drag
for the wagon and found it in a very
few minutes just where Deputy Sier-
iff Burns expected.
Tuesday forenoon Deputy Sheriff
Burns and City Marshal Cuts took
out another search warrant, the sixth
taken out in connection with the search
down to Pittston to search the house
They found Mr.. and Mrs. Smith at
home and also lot of stolen goods in
the house, among which were not only
the Gray IL Hildreth goods, but some
that had been taken from the Decker
a. Day store last week as we'll Mrs
Smith as soon as the officers entered
the house went at once into a violent
tit of weeping and sobbing.
Marshal Cults was standing guard
over the man and woman, while Dep
uty Sheriff Burns was gathering up
the stuff, which had been packed in
suit cases and tubs, apparently with
the purpose of moving very shortly.
While Deputy Sheriff Burns was NOV
ing a tub full of heavy goods the
man and his wife lodged out of the
door. The officers Immediately rushed
out after them, and although there
didn't seem to be a place where the
couple could have hidden they had
vanished as completely as if the earth
had swallowed them.
The officers then finished their search
and took the goods to the Gardiner po-
lice station. where they attracted Il |
great deal of attention. Included in the
inventory were revolvers, knives, hard |
ware. dress suit cases, canned goods, /!
and jewelry.
Smith is well known in the city. He
had worked for Decker & Day, driving |
one of their coal teams and had also |
been employed by Preble & keene. For |
the past winter he had been doing lit |
tie if any work
AT a late, hour last evening the Gar |
diner police station presented the appear |
ance Of n department store. A second |
trip was made by Deputy Sheriffs Burns |
and Marshal and City Marshal Cults to |
the Smith house, which resulted in the |
finding on the premises of n second load
of plunder much more valuable than the
first. Ir the second load We're cutlery of |
all kinds, Il graphophone and graphophonc
records. -four. tobacco, cigars, axes, lard,
butter. beans and many other articles 10
the value of about $1OO.
In the two loads We're found practically
all the articles that were taken from the
Gray & SsIiildreth store and that of Deck
er 4 Day as well, and in addition re-
cent break on Brunswick avenue was
cleared up by the searching of TIL, Smith
place for included in the plumber were
found dress suit cases and clothing taken
from the Brunswick avenue house.