Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-10-06
BANDITS K|LL0NE
AND WOUND THREE
Desperadoes Attempt to Rob
Party of S. 900 Intended
for Cranberry Pickers.
SIX SUSPECTS ARRESTED

of foreigners shot and killed Henry
Rider OF Howell. Mich. and wounded
Mrs. Elsie Smathers. James Rigby and
A. J. Rider of Hammonton, n. J., yes
terday. in an attempt to rob the party
of $4,000. representing the pay roll
for CRANBERRY pickers employed by A.
J. Rider
The party was approaching Atsion,
a small hamlet near Hammonton. In A.
J. Riders automobile, when the attack
was made. Mrs. Smathers, a daughter
of Rider. and a widow Of three weeks.
was driving the car when the bandits.
about dozen In number. stepped into
the road and, with leveled revolvers.
commanded her to halt. Instead. she
fired their fatal volley. Her father re-
turned the fire until he was wounded,
and then turned the revolver over to
Rigby. a mechanic.
Despite the fact that she was shot
twice in the back and once in the knee,
Mrs. Smathers kept the car going At
top speed and succeeded in escaping
the pursuing bandits.
Six Persons Arrested.
Four persons have been arrested in
| this city and two in Camden, n. j.. and
the police dragnet is closing about four
others. who are now under surveillance
in connection with the sensational hold
up. The authorities here today declared
their belief that Millie de Marco
nineteen years old, of this city, one of
| the prisoners and the employe OF A.
]. Rider. president of the New Jersey
Cranberry Growers Association, engi-
neered the entire plot. The De Marco
| girl and three Italians were arrested in
this city late last night and were traced
| to the Italian colony here through the
license number on an automobile. In
which eleven men and one woman were
| seen in the vicinity Of the home of the
Riders yesterday shortly before the
murder of Henry Rider of Howell.
Mich. and the shooting OF his brother
| and two others. Rider and his daugh-
ter. Mrs. Elsie Smathers. and James n.
Rigby are In the Jefferson Hospital,
this city. Their condition today was
hopeful and physicians said they would
| recover.
| None of the men under arrest was In
| Riders employ. as far as the police
were able to learn by hurried inves-
| tigation.
| Had Attracted Attention.
The sight Of eleven men and a lone
girl in an automobile aroused unusual
intarest among the natives OF Atsion.
ISome one casually noted that the auto
mobile bore q Pennsylvania license
number Detectives learned the num-
ber of the car and the description of
the girl, which corresponded with that
Of the young woman Rider employed on
This cranberry bogs.
/ The girl knew the movements of Mr.,
Rider on pay days and was aware OF
the large amount of money required
| for the pay roll Of about 900 man and
| woman cranberry pickers. The police
hat akA
planned the shooting with the aid Of
Iconfederates from this city.
Girl Makes Admissions.
| Subjected to the third degree at de-
tective headquarters for hours, Millie de
Marco made damaging admissions at
noon today. according to Capt. Tate
of the detective bureau. The girl ad-
mitted that she and three man compan-
ions had motored from this city and
were at Atsion, N. j.. at the time of the
shooting. She admitted she had heard
several shots after the chauffeur of the
automobile had stopped his car not far
from the spot where number of men.
said to have been masked. held up
Riders car in an attempt to stea! the
pay roll being taken to the 800 employees
at Riders cranberry bogs.
Giuseppe Russo, an intimate friend OF
the de Marco girl. the police say; Frank
Vessela, the chauffeur, and Frank La
dona. the three other prisoners. held
here in connection with the crime. were
similarly grilled today and admitted
they had taken an early morning ride
from this city to Hammonton. They
also admitted they had been at the spot
indicated by the de Marco girl
Two Have Police Records.
The girl and Ladona both have po-
lice records, Capt Tate said today. Two
other strange Italians from this city
were in the automobile. 1t developed
today.
capture in this city read like fiction.
Following the hold-up the bandits dis
appeared into the woods. where they
are said to have hidden their automo-
bile. Fate decreed that one Of the
as they fed. This was recovered by a
citizen and turned over to detectives
who arrived on the scene from Mount
Holly, N. ].
The discovery by detectives today OF
imprints of a woman's shoe in the
earth near the edge of the woods close
to the isolated spot where the bandit
attack was -,lI made de-, eorronora1eo III h ..nne nne
in Atsion with the other prisoners
vasselle told the police he simply
acted in the capacity OF chauneur Wnen
the party hired his automobile. On
leaving Atsion, he said. Russo offered
him $40 to speed to Trenton. N. j. He
refused, he said, saying he was short
of gasoline. The party then drove TO
this city.
Other Suspects Talk.
All have admitted. the police say. that
they were at Atsion yesterday. Mrs.
Smathers. who is only twenty-six years
old, was heroine today in the eyes
of the police and hospital physicians
here. She forgot her pain to speak
lightly Of her courageous action in
driving the automobile away from the
ba ndits as they fired shot after shot in
a vain effort TO get the bag containing
the $1,000.
shes the gamest patient we've had
In years." was an admiring comment of
a physician. Mrs. Smathers smiled and
held her hand up deprecatingly. as II
her heroism in saving the money and
lives although she was twice wounded,
was nothing unusual.
Notwithstanding her weakened con-
ditfon, she drove her fathers big tour
ing car at racing clip for more than
ten miles, from the scene of the shoot
ing to Hammonton, where her fathers
estate is one of the show places.
Suspects Caught in Camden.
Two Italian suspects were arrested
at the Pennsylvania railroad terminal