The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1914-07-17
A SNIFF OF
CHLOROFORM
By M QUAD
By M QUAD
Copyright, 1914. by Associated Lit
erary Press.

inhabitants. 1t made loans to hun
dreds of farmers. and it did business
with many shipbuilders and shipown-
ers along the New England coast
Many and many a time. as assistant
cashier. l have eel S 100000 stack.
ed In our vault and have tossed pack
ages Of $4,000 about as If they had
NO more value than 50 much old paper.
l say we did a large business. but yet
our building was a humble one and
our methods as primitive as might be
found In a country store. We had
q brick vault with iron doors. but
the LATEST sor of craftsman would
have dug his way into 1t in an hour
with a crowbar. Outside of the vault
was an old fashioned bolt beaded safe,
which locked with a key only. 1t had
a strong, massive look. but the lock
could have been picked in a quarter
of an hour. and two Of powder
poured into the keyhole and exploded
would have torn the door of. 1t will
surprise you when l say that sums of
money as large as $4,000 were often
left in that old safe over night. My
uncle, James Gordon Kincardine.
who died a few years ago. was to
blame for our way Of doing business.
He was q set nan He hated innova-
lions.
was tw~enty-three years old when
q place was given me as assistant
cashier. had been In the bank al
most two years when the rooms over
head were vacated and rented to a
travelling doctor for q month.
On the 18th of a certain October.
when he had been our tenant for two
months. be came into the bank at the
noon hour. a time ! was always alone.
to get change for a bill. Thereafter.
until the climax came. he dropped in
almost every oon He never attempt
ed to come behind the counter. though
the door sometimes stood open. but
on several occasions I went out to him.
His calls after the first three weeks
were for the purpose of manipulating
q swelling on my jaw. and | always
passed outside the counter and sat
down on a chair. On the 9Th Of No
vember. which was cold and dismal.
we had in the Kincardine bank exact
~ $32S.25O in currency. On the next
day there was to be q big Withdraw wal
to pay the hands at q mill. and some
$4,000 was to 60 to certain Boston
banks by express. | hadn't been left
alone for yer i've minutes when Or.
Jordan came In to attend me. As be
worked at my jaw be gradually turned
my head to the left. so that | no longer
saw him OF the door. He asked me to
repeat q story | had told him Il few
days ago. and 1 was doing 50 when
the door opened. l did not stop my
talk. and | could not turn my head.
The man who came IN did not speak,
but he must have passed the doctor q
sponge saturated with chlorofOrm. l
got the 0d0r Of the stuff at once and
vas wondering what It was when my
neck was gripped BY the doctors left
hand. and with the right be thrust
the sponge into my face. think /
tried t rise up and fight the sponge
away. but am not clear about it. l do
distinctly remember. however. of hear.
ing the doctor say:
Nov. then. lock the doors. and ~
soon have the money In the bags"
1t was an hour later when ! beard
faraway voices and after q struggle
opened my eyes and found the bank
full Of people Up to that time no one
had discovered anything wrong. except
with me. They had found me lying on
the door and supposed ! was in q ct,
though all detected the presence OF
chloroform- My irst words were to
ask them to look for the money. OF
the $32S.25O not q shilling remained.
Safe and vault had been plundered to
the last penny! When astonishment
passed away was charged with hav.
ing robbed the bank. It was not q
fair thing fol. an uncle to do. but James
Gordon Kincardine. to his everlasting
shame. was for having me locked up
at Onc
1t a q long hour before We got the
tangle Strengthened ont. and that hour
lost my uncle every dollar be had in
the world. The robbers had a start
u al uVOI 0uO q u01xs duV LUG OuJy
cute thing they did was to make a half
circle around the town and mislead
pursuit for a day.
My uncle had detectives almost by
the dozen. and the majority Of them
tried much harder to convict me than
to overhaul the robbers. | was CUES:
toned and cross questioned until bored
to death, and for a change they would
threaten me. Some thought ! had bur-
led the money somewhere. as II one
could go at high noon and do such a
job. and the sleuth Of all sleuths was
sur that ] had stood In With the two
men and was to get my share Ut the
proceeds.
For years and years | was a suspect
ed person. and few men dared ( own
my friendship. Even when men no
longer dared suspect they talked of me
In, connection with the robbery and az
serted that | was next door to a fool
that | did not suspect and checkmate
it. have given you a true and hon