Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1912-05-16
French Police, After Long
Drawn Out Fight, Rout
Auto Bandits by Use Of
Dynamite.
COATS OF ARMOR ON
POLICE INSPECTORS
Steel Protects Six Against
Bandits Bullets, but 9th
er Officers are Wounded
During the Melee.

Paris, France, May 15.-The career
OF the last of Frances notorious bandit
gang was dramatically ended this
morning, when, after eight hours, bat
tie with police and troops, its leader,
Octave GARNER, and his confederate,
Wallet, were blown up by explosives in
q small villa at Nogent-sur-M Marine,
where they had taken refuge 81
Shattered by shots of dynamite, their
house fell in ruins when mellnite was
exploded under It's walls. The police
found GARNER dead and Wallet dying.
Five policemen were wounded in the
battle.
When the police arrived at the villa,
which was known as the Moulin
Rogue, man hidden In the garden
opened fire with a revolver. Detec-
tives, police and gendarmes. who
carried rifles, and company of
zouaves from the nearby barracks
Joined the besieged forces. An enor-
nous crowd gathered. and more peo-
pie kept swarming out from Paris as
the battle progressed.
Protected BY Steel.
Six inspectors protected by sheets
|of steel furnished by . gunsmith. eau.
tfously apprDAched the- house. TASy
encountered a murderous fire, but were
not wounded. Three police, however,
fell seriously wounded.
A woman named Vuillemin ran out
OF the house and was seized by the
police.
When M. Lepine, the prefect OF po-
lice, arrived he assumed command,
and the scene took on the aspect OF q
battlefield.
M. Lepine decided, as he did in the
case of Bennett and Dubois at Choisy-
le-Rai, to blow up the bandits lair.
The zouave bugler sounded "cease
firing and then retreat" The crowds
were now almost overwhelming. and
the severest measures were necessary
to force them back.
Dynamite Bombs Thrown.
The artillery threw dynamite bombs
from the viaduct, and the explosions
was so great that it shook the entire
town, but when the smoke and dust
cleared away, the sharp crack OF
rifles from the interior Of the building
showed the bombs had failed.
A bullet passed within an inch OF
M. Lepine's shoulder and buried itself
in the wall of a house. 1t was evident
after the explosion that the bandits
had taken refuge in the cellar. Later
they mounted to the attic, from which
they directed steady fussilade. At
1918 O'Clock M. Lepine ordered an
electric searchlight from Paris. An
other bomb was exploded, followed by
the clatter of broken windows and
crumbling walls Despite the fact that
the villa was cracked and was badly
damaged, it remained standing, and a
hail Of lead continued to pour from
within.
The firing ceased for a time, the
bandits being exhausted or saving
their ammunition. ...s.
At 11:25 o'clock two more dynamite
cartridges were exploded, and por-
ton of one of the walls toppled over.
Nevertheless the bandits apparently
succeeded in finding shelter in what
remained OF the structure. ....
Finally the fire ceased for time,
and the onlookers, wearied by lack Of
definite action, took possession OF the
nearby cafes to await the outcome.
Police Dogs Enter Building.
Another explosion was successful. It
left a yawning opening in the villa,
through which police dogs with saw
age barks sprang, while the police and
troops sent volley after volley into the
ruins. Then an armed force, holding
torches, rushed into the ruins and dis
covered the two bandits on the floor.
GARNER was entirely naked save for a
few tattered rags. He appeared to be
dead. Wallet was dead or dying.
The crowd of spectators. now wildly
enraged, rushed up and tried to seize
the bandits. With great difficulty the
police drove them back and placed the
dying men in automobiles. E