The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1910-11-14
Four Bandits Hold Up Pay
master
AND TAKE $1,000 IN CASH
From Him-Hundreds of Armed Search
ers Beat the Berkshire Woods
in Vain for the Bold
Thieves.

Great Darlington, Mass, Nov l4.-The
borders of the great oval wild rice and
marsh grass between South Egremont
and Sheffield were lighted Enthusiastically
Saturday night by torches in the hands
OF 500 men, while through the 200-acre
swamp other men, armed with rifles, are
trudging For somewhere in the swamp
are four men with $1,000 and a bunch
OF checks totaling $4,000, that they took
Saturday afternoon at the point OF rifles
from paymaster r. J, Hines OF the con-
struction company that is building the
trolley line, bordering the swamp, from
Great Darlington TO Canaan, Conn.
Every road leading from the place OF
the crime is guarded The robbers backed
into the swamp after they took the
money from the paymaster's party,
which was at luncheon in the woods.
Therefore the searchers feel sure the
fugitiyes have not had time TO get out.
Six hundred men and one hundred
teams are employed on that section of
the trolley right OF way aud are paid
every fortnight. Saturday morning
Hines and his party, with $4,000 and
checks representing $4,000 in two valises,
left Great Darlington in an auto. In
the party were c. A, Robinson, the gen
eral superintendent OF the company,
Deputy Sheriff Truesdale. who was
armed, and John Cronin, chauffeur
At South EgremOnt, a gang OF tbs
workers was paid. That reduced the cash
to $1,000 and the checks to $4,000. The
party then walked along the trolley
route, leaving the auto behind. Hines
carried one valise, the deputy sheriff car
ri6d the other.
Here's good place to eat lunch, =
said somebody, when they reached q
dense eluiffp of woods Hines and Trues-
dale sat on gravel pile, with the valises
close at hand. and the luncheon baskets
weer passed around. Ali the men had
keen appetites. They did not watch the
woods or the swamp.
No one in the party could have told
from Just what point intruders came,
but voice brought their thoughts rudely
back from appetites.
after you've eaten. just pass over
the money" it said colby.
The party looked up and saw, masked,
four men, with rifles whose common aim
was the luncheon group.
well. they've got the drop en- me,
said the deputy sheriff.
Nobody else said anything, but two
vallses were passed politely 70 the rob
bers Then the fsur backed off gradually
toward the swamp, while the paymas-
ter's group. with the luncheon baskets
at their feet, sat with hands above heads.
just before three of the men disappeared
in the swamp, they fired a couple Of
shots apiece, but apparently with no In
tention OF hitting the luncheon party.
One man remained in sight at the edge
OF the swamp for few minutes. Then
he, too. vanished.
AZ the green curtain OF the edge Of
the swamp swung together at his going,
the paymaster and his party started into
action They ran to the swamp, but the
wind was moving the mass of slender
plants about. so that even if they had
had rifles there would have been dozen
false trails
Nobody had any appetite for the rem
naut OF the luncheon, and back TO South
Egremont the party went. The anthori-
ties Of all the surrounding towns We're
informed by telephones and posses We're
gathered together But no trace of the
robbers was found The searchers might
have passed within ten feet of the fugi-
tiyes and not have known il.