The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-03-26
TWO KANSAS BANKS
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get description of the men. The au-
tomobile was of an old type and made
a great deal of noise. 1t had no doors
on the body in front. The top was
up when it left Overlook and head
ed south.
No Trace of Bandits.
!. Three Overlook citizens drove to
Carbonate Immediately after the
alarm was given and used the tele-
phone from there. Parties in auto
mobiles covered all the roads into
other nearby towns but no trace of
the bandits had been found today.
The sheriff of Usage county was on
the ground today and directing an in
vestigation. Although the car went
south out of Overlook the officers
believe it may have been sent back
towards Topeka later.
Robbery at Kelly.
Citizens of Kelly, Nemaha county,
northern Kansas, were awakened
suddenly at l o'clock this morning by
the first of four dull. rumbling thuds,
/ explosions of nitroglycerin against
the steel of the Kelly State bank safe
Armed men patrolled the streets and
threatened those who did more than
peer from behind curtains A woman
heavily yelled, sat quietly in an auto
mobile, one of the two used, while
| four masculine confederates held the
citizens at bay blew the safe and
methodically carried loot aggregating
$500 in gold, silver and paper money
| to one of the cars.
Like One at Overlook.
The Kelly robbery was engineered
exactly like the one at Overlook.
About o'clock Sunday night, citi-
zens noticed a black touring car, car
| rying two strange men, travelling the
streets of the town. They drove down
Main street at high speed several
| times. Kellyites say it was one of the
| two used in this mornings robbery,
| and believe the two men were sizing
| up the conditions.
| Tracks discovered this morning lead
residents of the town to believe the
| bandits came from the north They
| first stopped in front of the telephone
office, while one climbed out and be-
gan cutting telephone wires. The tele-
phone operator, under the impression
something was wrong when his plugs
refused to work, opened the door of
his office to be confronted by a mask
ed bandit, the latter armed.
Threat to Operator.
rect back" ordered the highway
| man. "Get back inside, or I'll blow
your d head off" The operator
retreated. The two cars, two men in
one and two men and the woman in
/
Two bandits entered and started the
work of blowing the safe while the
other two stood guard. Four charges
of nitro were fired. wrecking not only
the afe but the interior and furnish
ings of the bank as well. Paper. mu-
| tilated currency and fixtures were
scattered over the floor and tables.
Woman Aided Them.
The bandits gained entrance to the
bank building by prying open a door
with tools obtained from a nearby
railroad track. The woman helped
| find the tools. Her tracks were found
this morning in the soft dirt near the
night of way
The loot obtained consisted of more
than $3.50 in gold and silver and more
than $500 in paper money w d.
Rucker, cashier of the bank, stated to
the State Journal over long distance
| telephone this morning that several
| pieces of badly mutilated currency
were found. 1t lay in such a posi-
ton in the safe. that he believes it
was so badly mutilated by the shots
that it will be of little use to the ban
dts. Should they try to dispose OF
any of it they will make their detec-
ton easier.
The robbery completed, the bandits
drove their motor cars south at a
high rate of speed, leaving citizens
helpless to spread the alarm. Both
telegraph and telephone wires were
cut. The two cars were seen going
thru Golf at a high rate of speed
! shortly after they left Kelly and We're
headed, it is thought, toward either
Topeka or Kansas City. The pres
ence of the woman in the gang leads
officials 20 believe the bandits are the
same ones that have been engineering
robberfes all over the state this year
and last.
Alarm Spread on Train.
a means of spreading the news of the
robbery, an extra train, bound for
Seneca, pulled into the station. A citi-
zen boarded it, and took word to Mr..
Rucker, the cashier, and r. NJ. Emery,
the president, both of whom were ir,
Seneca. 1t was from there that the
alarm was spread. All surrounding
towns were notified to watch for the
bandits but no trace, farther than Goff
has been found.
Contents Are Insured
Mr.. Rucker said this morning that
the contents of the safe were insured
to the extent of $4,000. The building
badly damaged. was also insured
Rucker was on the scene of the rob-
berry about O'Clock this morning, as
soon as possible after it was commit
ted. He spent the most of the day
today spreading the alarm and wiring
such descriptions of the bandits as he
could obtain to surrounding sheriffs
and police Chiefs
; 1t was reported this morning that
one or two other cars. loaded with
bandits, met the ones who engineered
:, the robbery, a few miles out of Kelly
and accompanied them south. How
ever, it has been impossible to verify
! that.
Because of the fact that the Over
brook and Kelly robberies were dupli-
Gates in the way they were handled, ii
is believed they were engineered by
bandits belonging to the same gang
. The two safes were robbed at about
the same hour.
Vermont Guard on War Basis.
Montpelier, VT. March 24.-Ths