The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1912-09-27
VfTTER, HIS GRIP and
THE B0TTlEsO BOOZE
From Thursdays Daily.

Three bottles of fire water" and a
travelling bag which belonged to the
20. w: Schmidt Saddlery company
caused julius Vetter of Amboy to
secure a nights lodging in the city
bastile. Vetter spent yesterday in
town and in visiting with some
friends drank too freely from the
flowing bowl. Early in the afternoon
he went to the police station to re-
port that he had lost his grip con-
tanning a number of articles he had
purchased while in the city. About
the time he went to the station John
Krost of the o. w. Schmidt Saddlery
company was there to report that q
travelling bag had been stolen from
the store.
An officer accompanied Vetter on
his search and in about ten minutes
returned with Vetter and the bag,
which Vetter had left in North
Front street saloon. Mr.. Krost iden-
titled the bag as the one which had
been taken from the store, and Vet
ter avowed that he had bought it
from a stranger for $3.50, but which
was valued at $3.50.
, Kept IN the Lookup.
,.Vetter was kept In the lookup over
night and sobered up, This morning
when asked. about the matter, he
described the man of whom he had
purchased the bag, and again said
that he had paid $3.50 for it. When
the officer opened the bag he found
a white wool sweater, three. butcher
knives, purchased at ten-cent store,
several other small articles and two
bottles of what Vetter called "whis.
key" That was found 60 be mix
ture of alcohol and blackberry
brandy. Besides the two pints of the
fluid in the suit case, Vatter had one
in his pocket for convenience.
Chief of Police Donahuc felt sure
that the man told the truth when he
said he had bought the bag and al
lowed him to leave. Vetter returned
the bag to Mr.. Schmidt and bought
another one in which co carry his
purchases home.
Mr.. Krost said this morning that
the bag had been taken from the
store between ten and twelve o'clock
yesterday morning, when no one
was in that part of the building.
Went His Way Rejoicing.
. Its disappearance was not noticed
until after dinner when one of the
men in the store asked where it was
A little. later Mr. Krost talked with
L. Blum about it and Mr.. Blum said
that man who had made some pur-
chases at his store had returned to
look fer a grip, that answered to the
description of the one which had
been stolen. 1t was then that Mr.
Krost reported the loss to the po-
lice station and met Vetter there.
Mr.. Vetter was sent on his way
home to Anboy rejoicing this morning
with his new suit case, purchased OF
Mr.. Krost, his three bottles of "whis-
key" his sweater and his three butcher
knives. Some one suggested to him
that he could weaken mis- alcohol
and have three bottles more, but he
said this made his stomach warm.
The man who stole the bag is not
known to the police and no doubt
went on his way rejoicing also.
James Ward told his tale of woe
to Judge w. L. Comstock in the po-
lice court this afternoon. He claim
ed that when he got on the train
at Tracy yesterday afternoon he had
$50 or $40 in tobacco sack which
was tucked away in his inside vest
pocket He had drunk two or three
glasses of beer before departing from
Tracy and while on the; train COM
ing to Mankato he conversed with a
stranger. Arriving here he imbibed
of number of beers" This morn
ing he found himself locked in a
cell at the city Jail with charge
of drunkenness preferred against
him. His money was gone.
The police state that when Ward
was brought in he had some change
in his pocket, but no bills of large
denomination were found.
Ward admitted to Judge Comstock
that he could not tell whether he
was touched" in Tracy, on the
train or after his arrival here. He
claimed to have a job waiting for
him at Winnebago. In view of this
assertion the Judge gave him a
chance to leave for that town on
an afternoon train. He was chap
eroned to the depot by a policeman.