Willmar tribune., 1917-01-17
WAITING A MINUTE
PROVES LONG TIME
Brakeman Finds Stolen Clothing But
Mi8eea Chance Ia Reeover IL

| o'0N0uS0U ! uuOO 0SOIoU StOIUuO3 o0V
Misses Chance to Recover It.
A stranger, who has been about
Morris for the past month, was a
much sought for man Tuesday eve
ming, but is still among the missing.
He told a companion he would be back
in a minute. The minute is now hours
and will probably be days and maybe
years.
Tuesday evening brakeman, who
runs on the Great Northern between
Willmar and Morris, was here for the
evening and at about seven walked
down to the bowling alley. He notic-
and pair OF shoes that looked fam
iliar. A second glance confirmed the
suspicion that these clothes were once
his property. They had been stolen
from the caboOse at Willmar a few
days before, but no trace of them
could be found in that city. The gen.
tleman wearing them here was a
slight acquaintance of his and he was
sure that he was the man who had
stolen them. A friend, a conductor,
was with the brakeman, and they &C.
costed the man and asked him where
he had secured the clothes. He claim
ed he had bot them of a stranger N
Benson for five dollars. The story
didn't sound good and the brakeman
was going to call an officer and ask
for the mans arrest. Murphy, as he
called himself, asked to be excused
for a short time as he had date"
and wanted to go and tell the young
lady that he couldn't be with her that
evening. His solicitation for the feel
ings of his lady friend should have
| aroused the suspicion Of the brake
man, as it afterwards developed that
he had no date" However the
brakeman accompanied the man to a
residence in the city and was told to
wait a minute while he went inside
and told the lady he could not be
present that evening.
The minute" stretched to two, to
five, to ten, then to half an hour.
Meanwhile the brakeman was pa
tiently waiting outside the house.
Finally he went to the door and rap
ped and asked "Is Murphy Here?" The
lady of the house knew Of no Murphy
and was sure that no one was there
Thinking that he had been fooled
some way the man asked if he could
search the house. His standing in
front so long had aroused the suspic-
ion Of the inmates and not knowing
| whether the brakeman was bent on
mischief or partly crazy, told him ne
could not and locked the door. The
disappointed man then went to the
rear of the house and found tracks in
the snow where his friend Murphy
had climbed over the fence and taken
the railroad track. He had never even
raped at the door of the house.
Chief of Police Ryan and Deputy
Casey were then called and a search
was started for Murphy. The officers
looked in every available hiding place
but no Murphy was to be found. He
either found some hiding place or
walked out Of town as no freights
stopped for some time after. The
clothes, shoes and man have gone and
the brakeman is wishing that he
hadn't waited for Murphy to break his
date.
The man was a former brakeman
and used to be at Willmar. He bears
bad reputation there and has been
in trouble before. He was here for a
short time month ago. He is young,
good appearing, dark complicated, and
has smooth manners. Tuesday he
registered at the Exchange hotel un-
der the name of VIM. Fisher, Willmar
This is said to be his right name. The
officers are watching for him and the
brakeman is berating himself and
hoping to get another chance to re-
cover his stolen property.-Morris
Sun.