The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1911-05-25
YEGGNIEN IN MOTOR CARS.
One Hundred Country Banks Robbed
Since Last Fall.

Since last October 100 country
banks in Kansas, Oklahoma and Ne
braska have been robbed. In each
instance from $1,000 to $1,000 was
taken and practically the same pro
cedure was followed in every case
says an Abilene, Kan, correspond.
ent.
In the three States named are ap.
proximately $500 banks, 1000 Of
them in little towns and villages
with practically no police protection
This is the usual program in the
cases reported:
Along after midnight the residents
are aroused by two or three explo'
sions. Those daring enough to ven.
ture on the streets see an automobile
standing in front of the bank and
two men with guns giving orders to
stand back. Inside are their COM
panions, filling sacks with money
from the safe. Having gathered all
the money possible the burglars en-
ter the machine, fire a few intimi-
dating shots and go racing out OF
town.
Then comes the gathering of pos
sc, the cranking up of cars and a
desperate attempt to follow and cap
ture the robbers. In no instance has
there been capture. Governors
have issued proclamations, legisla-
atures and bankers associations
have increased rewards for the rob-
bers dead or alive, but the robberies
continue.
At one time it was asserted that
the rendezvous of the burglars was
in Nebraska, where in a county near
the line the officers were too intimi-
dated or too venal to arrest the gang.
Some outside officers went there and
made arrests; but the prisoners prov
ed an alibi and the mystery is as deep
as ever. Sometimes several weeks
go by without robbery, then there
will be two or three in a single night.
The automobile is blamed for
much of this crime. Said an officer
who had been in two pursuing par
ties, both unsuccessful in securing
even a trace of the yeggmen:
Before the coming of the motor
car we could overhead this class of
criminals. They went on horseback
and there was little difficulty in COW
ering the country by telephone and
heading them off.
"Now the country is alive with
parties making cross-State runs and
no more attention is paid to a
strange car than to a freight train.
With a high powered car it is easy
on the prairie roads to cover 100
miles in three hours. Then with a
change of outer clothing to give the
appearance of tourists the robbers
can motor leisurely through the
most populous cities and put up at
the first-class hotels without arous-
ing suspicion.
1T is practically impossible for
the pursuers to follow them because
the route taken is unknown and the
rapid progress of the robbers puts
them out of reach
The unprotected nature of the
country bank is a temptation to the
yeggmen of the prairies. Generally
it is in little frame building on a
dark street. 1t is easy to enter and
the safes are small. There are few
strong vaults and the banks are left
unmatched through the night.
The town constable may be abroad
but what can he do in the face of a
we'll armed company of intruders?
More than likely he is down at the
railroad station swapping yarns with
the night operator and he is not wor-
rying about anything more serious
than the possibility of a hobo's catch
ing a ride on the blind baggage. The
chances are that he knows nothing
more of the doings at the bank than
does the cashier sleeping soundly a
quarter of a mile away until it is
too late.