The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1912-09-27
Willy MiTCHELL'S YARN.

~ tiOOh WIZ IL up u Sdlu
Willy Mitchell, who is noted among
other things for having been tried and
acquitted three times for murder, land
wants to get along in the business
without working too much for the
state, must be like a good general
He must always arrange his plans SO
as to cover his retreat I know about
all the top-notch thieves In the coun-
try. and | have noticed singular de-
feet In most of them
Some thieves are so constituted that
they do not mind going to Jail for a
five or so. Punishment of that sort
has no terrors for them, and, while
liberty Is sweet to every man, they
take their medicine, and rather enjoy
prison life. l always had horror of
going to prison, but 1t was never quite
strong enough to lead me to become
honest. When the big door closed be-
hind me every time that entered Jail
it gave me a chill. and ! never got over
1t until was out in the sunshine
again.
so 1t naturally happened that when
l was in active business, it was my
special desire to do everything In my
power to keep out of jail. l always
paid great deal more attention to
laying plans for a getaway after a
robbery than to the work itself For
that reason used to get into quar-
rels with the men I worked with
They did not like my caution, and |
have pulled many times out Of what
looked easy jobs just because | could
not see my way clear to escape. 1t
was my notion that any bit OF work
would not pay. no matter how much
money there was In 1t. il it were fol-
lowed by a ten.years' contract with
the state in the stone breaking line.
1T was this trait of mind which led
me into the Kingston National bank
robbery. At the time when ran
against this trick was a fugitive from
Justice. with the charge OF killing Ned
Wallace hanging over me, so, natural
ly, had to go bit slow. There was
no doubt about my killing Ned, but
had to do it to save my own life.
knew that X would be acquitted II |
were pinched and held for trial; but
I hated to go through 1t all, and I
made up my mind that the best way
ont of 1t was to keep under cover I'M
til the clouds blew away I got over
to Kingston. where had solid
friend. and in my trips about the place
I struck the bank.
My attention was attracted to the
bank by story in one Of the papers
about a large sum of money which
had been deposited in it's vaults by
some company that was going to build
railroad and water works l knew
that this money was going to remain
in the bank for several weeks. so
sent for Bill Noble, who was at that
time running gambling house in
East Houston street. near Broadway.
Rill was always ready to take hand
with me because he understood my
ways and I did his. and we never had
had any trouble. 1t was just what Bill
wanted. for his bank roll had been hit
very hard I had not been out Of the
house in the daytime because the muir.
der Of Wallace was very hot. and /
knew that the coppers were making
lively chase for ME. I arranged with
Bill for him to do all the preliminary
work. He turned book agent on
short notice. which gave him a chance
to visit the bank without exciting sus.
picion.
II don't remember what book 1t was
that Bill was selling. but he did such
slick work that the clerks bought all
his stock, and he had to get more
books to fill the orders, just to make
it appear all straight.
While Bill was talking books he
sized up the vault, and saw that the
door was an old-fashioned affair, with
new and intricate lock. which had
just come out, and was believed to be
burglar proof. Bill got everybody's
phiz in the bank firmly fixed in his
mind. and the signs on the desk in
front of them indicated the part of the
business that each man looked after
The next step was to find out who
closed up the vault. This was very
delicate thing to pick up without be-
ing inquisitive. The fact that Bill had