Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1913-08-22
GOT OFF s.SS.
Young Man Who Robbed the Sprinkler
Store Gets so Days In Jail.

otoTe GetS ~ OdyS IN jail.
Joe Taylor. q young transient who
has been in this part Of the state
TOR some time, was placed under ar.
rest by Sheriff Brown on Tuesday
night Of this week as he was attempt.
Ing to board Santa Fe train No. 8
and was lodged In the county Jail
charged with robbing the Mic Sprinr
ker store at Ellinwood about three
weeks ago.
Taylor had been around town for
several days, and In company with
a couple Of other "boes" had gone
to Larned one day the first of the
week. At this time he had in his
possession a new Colts revolver and
upon one of his partners inquiring
as to how he came into possession
Of the same he remarked that 1T
came from the dump that was kick
ed in at Ellinwood a short time
ago."
When the trio arrived at Larned,
Taylor proceeded to bury the gun
near one of the elevators there. One
of his partners was dope fiend,
and finding place in that city at
which he could purchase a supply of
coke and being without money,
he went to the place where he had
seen Taylor bury the gun and dug
it up and took it up town and pawn
ed it for $2.. The marshal at that
place saw the gun and from the de-
scription recognized it as the one. TAX
en- from the Sprinkler store, and
hunting up the dope fiend and his
partner, placed them under arrest for
the theft, Taylor in the meantime
having returned here. They explained
to the officials there how they came
to be in possession Of the gun, and
informed them that before leaving
Larned, Taylor had told them he was
going to beat it, out of the Bend
Tuesday night on No. 8. They were
brought here that evening and &C.
companied Sheriff Brown to the de-
pot where Taylor was identified and
apprehended.
A court of inquiry was held before
County Attorney Russell Wednesday
morning, at which time Taylor vigor-
ously denied ever having seen the
gun in question before. When plac-
ed under arrest he had in his posses
sion some razors and knives similar
to those taken from Mr.. Sprinkler but
asserted that he had purchased these
from a tramp in Colorado, where he
had been working since harvest. He
had also pawned some razors and
pocket knives at the Dunn second
hand store in this city, but none oil
the stuff, with the exception Of the
revolver, was the property taken out
of the Sprinkler store. The fellow
told a pretty straight story, and al
though Attorney Russell was satis-'
fled that he was at least implicated
in the Sprinkler robbery, there was
no proof to the same outside OF the
statement of his two partners, and
as they we're of the class that Is here
today and gone tomorrow and would
in all probability be clear out OF the
country before the time for the NO
vember term of the district court, he
wisely figured that 1t would be i'm
possible to secure a conviction upon
the evidence at hand, and after con-
sulting with Mr. Sprinkler agreed to
drop the case if Taylor would plead
guilty to a charge of petit larceny
and which he accordingly did before
Justice Torrey, drawing so days IN
the county Jail, and will also have
to lay out the costs in the case.
After receiving sentence he talk
ed freely Of the case. and acknoW-'
ledged that he was the guilty party
all right. He told Mr.. Sprinkler how
be had been in the store few days
prior to the robbery and had looked
at the gun and priced the same ana
made up his mind to have it without
the usual formalities In such Trans
actions. He had arrived in Ellinwooc
on No. 8 the night of the robbery
broke into the store about midnight
and took the gun and what other ar
ticles he thought he wanted, and al
once walked out Of town. He claims
that the 6 razors and the q knives
he also appropriated we're stolen from
him by some Mexicans in Hutchin.
son, but the chances are that he had
disposed Of them In the same way
that he disposed of other goods ol
the same kind here, and which he
has probably stolen somewhere else
Out of the $40 worth of goods TAX
en- all that was recovered for Mt