The Brattleboro reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1907-1912, 1910-12-02
ESCAPED FROM THE
JAIL AT NEWFANE
A Story of How Two Horse Thieves
Left That Institution at Val
ley Fair Time-Very
Easy Work.

Much has been written and SAID OF the
country store as a community center where
all sorts of masculine gossip is exchanged
and where matters of high craftsmanship
and craft are aired and argued, but for
every one man in the general store you
will find two in the livery stable office,
provided the village is big enough to sup
port stable Nearly all country men are
"horsey," and the instinct Is so strong IN
them that the place where horses are sold
and where horsemen congregate possesses
a great fascination for them. Often the
cracker barrel solons are inveterate loaf
ers. but there are many busy men who
make it point to drop in at the livery or
sales stable whenever they go to town. Inc
days of such gatherings are passing. with
changing population and conditions IN ru-
raj New England, but there remain many
dingy stable offices where stories are told,
usually founded on fact, that surpass any
thing written in David Harum.
An interesting horse-thief story has been
current in the northwestern corner OF Mas
sachusetts, says the Springfield Republl-
can. 1t is true, without doubt, and pos
sesses many unusual qualities Some OF the
details were known at the time It nap
pened, and so when a man who played
~,
STONED as usual at the stable, his nara
tive was soon invited. about { o'clock
one morning in the winter. SAID the farm
err. not at all unwilling to hold for awhile
the interest of the stablemen and others:
81 remember it was snowln hard ana
driftin' some, two men and woman
drove up to my place; -
''Thev was all smoking cigarets, the
woman, too, and had come long way, IN
the storm, and the little bay mare they,
was driving was about beat out. .One OF
them said that they had come from Con,
way that morning to sell their horse and
rio to me. 7 didn't want the little critter
and | told 'em so, but the fellow that done
the talkin' he hung on; said his name was
Whitaker and that | ought to know his
father. | didn't know any Whittakers IN
Conway, but finally | happened to think
of ABB Whitaker who worked on Mrs.
Thompson's farm there. The fellow said
that 'Ab' was his father, and that they
had bought a little place and wanted to
get bigger horse to work on 1t: But
wouldn't do the business with EN-, SO
they lighted up some more clgarets,, the
woman, too, and set out up the road TOR
Charlemont Their horse was about all in
then and the storm was grown worse
along the river.
"There want nothin' special about any
of them that made me suspicious OF EN-.
They said they'd go over the mountain to
North Adams to sell their horse, but l
guessed they'd have a hard time maxim
it in the storm. Along about couple of
hours later I got telephone call from a
deputy sheriff down Orange way, telling
me he was on the trail of horse and
sleigh that had been stolen from up in
Vermont. He lowed they'd probably gone
south down the Connecticut valley during
the night, and wouldn't come my way at
all. but he thought he might as well call
me up about it. When he'd told me what
kind of rig he was lookin' for l says
Two men and woman, drivin' little