The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1910-03-10
CHICKEN THIEVES
AROUSE FARMERS
WHOLESALE THEFTs NEAR KAN.
sAs CITY DEPoPuLATE
HEN HOUSES.

Kansas City, Kan, March 10.-Tc
break up an organized gang of chicken
thieves which has chloroformed chick.
ems while they were roosting at night
and haulei them away in wagons rob
bing LOCO chicken houses and stealing
more than $4,000 chickens in three
months, the farmers of Wyandotte
county, Kan, have organized power.
full Anti Chicken Thief society with
a membership of more than 1000 and
have offered $4,000 reward for the ar
rest and conviction Of members of the
gang.
II the $4,000 offered is not enough
the farmers and suburban home owners
who compose the society will double
the amount to be paid to any officer or
citizen who lodges the thieves in Iail.
Since Christmas the wtandotte
county henhouses' have been depopu,
lated worse than If an epidemic of min
had been prevalent. The owner of
valuable flock of fne Plymouth Rocks,
who took. great pride In his fowls and
sold settings of their eggs for a fancy
price, would awake in the morning and
when he went out to feed his, chickens
he would find nothing % feed. Many
or the sufferers found rigs smelling of
chloroform In their chicken houses.
The rags, saturated with chloroform.
had been thrown into the houses at
night when the chickens were roosting.
The fowls were overcome and they fell
from the roosts. Then the robbers en-
tered the houses. placed the birds in
sacks, loaded the sacks into wagons
and drove away.
Several times farmers have seen a
wagon driving down the road with the
horse at gallop, and every time that
the wagon was seen a chicken house
was found to have been robbed.
Frank Rholencoe, a farmer who lives |
only one mile west Of the city, was
awakened by a noise at the rear of his |
home. Rholencoe hurriedly dressed and |
went to the back door. He could
scarcely see through the darkness, but i
the farmer saw a man run from the
chicken house and toward the road |
Then wagon, in which thre men were |
riding, started off down the road from
q point behind a, hedge fence where it
had been concealed.
thleNes ADVANCE Agent
Rholencoe investigated and he found |
the rag, smelling of chioroform. In the
she'd. All the chickens were gone. |
There had been sacks filed with grain
n the shed. The grain had been emp /
led from the sacks and the chickens
aiken away in the farmers own grain
sacks.
Rholencoe told other farmers of his
and they, too, had smeIled
he chloroform and missed the chick
ans under much the lme circum-
stances as he had.
The means by which the thieves
earned of desirable places to rob has
been learned.
A well-dresed young man appeared
1t several farmhouses and asked If
here were chickens for sale. II he
was told there was, no examined the
Sock, and at the same time made a
careful examination of the chicken
house Then he left, stating that he
would confer with the man he repre-
Jented concerning the purchase" In
very case where the young man ap-
reared, the chickenhouse was robbed
he next night.
The farmers stood the loss OF their
poultry with good grtce until the reg
llarity and frequency of the visits of
he robbers, and the audacity of their
operations became too much to bear,
Then the poultry raisers took action, i
Five thousand posters were placed II
m telephone poles in the city, and on
rees, on the sides Of barns, and on
'oles in the country.