Arizona republican., 1913-08-29
SEARS AND BRAWNER
 GED HORSE THIEVES
Hard Trip to Blythe Results How ever Successfully and Men
 Are Here in Jail

one of the most dangerous gangs
 CI horse thieves that ever infested
 Arizona has just been broken up by
 the activities of Sheriff Jeff Adams
 and his force at Blythe. California.
 The men have been in the habit of
 coming to the valley and picking out
 the ranches where there Were good
 horses pastured, and then taking their
 Iick have made q dash across the
 desert west of Wickenburg. placing
 the horses in hiding in q small valley
 near Blythe California. The gang
 also have made some counterfeit
 money but as it was very poor they
 threw the moulds and spurious coin
 away
 The two men who have just been
 brought back from Blythe are Leo
 Mckinney and Frank Mayer and they
 are charged with having stolen a
 horse from a rancher named Cox who
 lives at Hot Spring. Cox, as soon as
 he missed his horse got on his
 motorcycle and traiIed the thieves for
 several miles and only left the trail
 when he was relieved by deputy
 sheriff. When the officer found that the trail of the men led across the desert he telephOned to Cox and asked him to bring an automobile SO that they could catch up with the men, Cox made q fast run across country to Ehrenburg but it was too late to catch the men before they crossed the line. Cox and the officer procured some horses at Ehrenburg and found where the men had gone into hiding; they then rode to the nearest telegraph office and requested | the sheriff of Riverside county to send an officer to arrest the men. A few days ago Deputy Sheriffs l Sears and Walter Brawner left Phoe- | nix for the purpose of bringing back | the men to Phoenix to answer for l their crime The officers took the ] train as far as Blythe Junction and 1 when they alighted from the train ] they found that they would have to make a trip of over forty miles to | get their men Hunting round the 1 town they found there was no regular 1 stage to Blythe, so they had to hire | a wagon and horses to make the trip, and arranged for an early start next morning. The next morning their l guide turned up with a decrepit old ] wagon and a full load of booze which 1 he carried in his own skin
 After travelling for about ten miles across a sandy waste with the sand Up to the hubs of the wagon, the l wagon slowly settled down and re- 1 fused to proceed any further and | made sure that no attempt would be made by going all to pieces After | trying for several hours to patch up | the wagon themselves, the driver hay l ing gone to sleep, a rancher came along and q bargain was quickly
 made for transportation to their des- l tinatiOn.
 Arriving at Blythe tired, dusty and l hungry, Sears and Brawner decided | that they would be sure of a quick return so they hired an automobile l to bring back the prisoners. After sruntng and groaning it's way 1 through the desert for about three | touGths of the distance to the rail- | road the auto suddenly complained | of severe internal trouble and refused | to go either forward or back. Again l a wagon was pressed into service and | the officers and their prisoners ar | rived at the depot at Blythe Junction | just in time to catch the eastbOund l train. On the train the officers man. aged to get the first square meal for | several days and they did justice to | the eatables.
 The prisoners acknowledged to Sheriff Adams their guilt and they told him that while they were in the valley they stayed at the house of enc Bob Pitts whom they had known for d long time. Their surprise can be imagined when the first person