The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1919-04-03
BANDITS? NOPE
SCOLLEGE BOYS
BOLD Bad Men" Suspected
of Murder Are Only Bar
berry, Bush Whackers for
Uncle Sam.
1T WAS SOME EXPERIENCE"
University Men Talk wittily ana Wen
About Their Prison Records - Mon
day Night Was awful But
tits All Right Now.
1T WAS some EXPERIENCE"

Dushers for Uncle Sam. -
That was the final verdict in the case
of Leland DeFlon, Chicago, Sarkis
Boshnakian, Washington, D. c., and R.
3. Curtiss, Marengo, Illinois, a trio of
college men and federal agents, arrest
ed at McHenry, Illinois, on Monday
morning on the suspicion that they
were the bond bandits who cracked the
safe at the American Brass Company.
killed Patrolman ebony" Pingatore,
and made their getaway with $4,000
in cash and Liberty Bonds.
From the first the men protested
their innocence and declared that they
knew nothing about the affair at Ke-
nosha much less were it perpetrators.
None the less they were hand-cuffed,
hurried into an automobile at the point
of gun. and bumped across Illinois
and Wisconsin roads to the city Jail
at Kenosha, just because they and
the bond-bandits happened to be F'two
longs and short"
Following their release shortly after
noon on Monday Boshnakian, gradu-
ate of the University of Wisconsin de-
clared:
"We weren IT, at all scared until we
got to Kenosha and saw the crowd
around the jail. Most of the men were
In an ugly mood. We were afraid Pin
gatore's countrymen might decide that
Tony's blood was crying out for ven.
geance and lynch Us before morning.
| Our fears In this direction increased
somewhat when one of the 'eopS' re-
marked casually that we were safer
in cell than we'd be any place else
| in Kenosha-so, on the whole Monday
night WASH u just as pleasant as il
might have been"
Young DeFlon, Zeta Psi from the
University of Minnesota, considered
| the whole episode rare bit Of ex-
perience.
fsThat's rich,' he said as he read
the proof of a skilled" story telling
about his capture at McHenry. "Think
of me behind a sinister mask, shoot
ing once and dropping policeman
cold. Gruhbing out barberry bushes
is good exercise but hardly practice IN
fancy shooting. I can spot a barber
ny bush at fifty yards, but getting
policeman at ten yards--say, that's
out of NV line entirely. They don't
teach it either at Minnesota or in the
United States Department of Agricul-
ture."
"But 1isten,'' he added with a touch
of Yankee slang, ST hope to tell you
I'm going to have a date in every
town I 90 to. If I hadn It had one in
Woodstock on Sunday night / might
be rotting down there on the soft side
Of board instead of being out here
having my picture taken and every
thing"
The incident of the date figured IN
the establishment of an abb for the
sfbarberry -bush-rangers" before they
were released from the Kenosha jail
on Monday afternoon. When incarcer'
ated DeFlon had insisted that he spent
Sunday evening in Woodstock, where
he attended the services at the Pres.
bvterian church with girl friend OF
his. Said 60 girl-friend' was forthwith
called by local authorities and so sue
cessfully substantiated DeFlon's state
ments as to secure release for him
and his comrades.
Curtiss' an alumnus of the University
of Illinois and a nephew of promi-
nent physician in Marengo, Illinois,
was equally inclined to forgive and
forget.
"of course" he said, sit isn't ex-
actly tnice' to have gun poked IN
your face, to be told you're under ar
rest for a serious crime without having
the least notion what it is, and finally
to be dragged through threatening
crowd and thrown into two-by-four
cell in a damp, cold jail; but we came
through all right and with story that
ought to be good for the rest Of our
lives. I wouldn't take anything for
the experience, but again-no, once
suspect is enough for mine. !"
Following their release the miscap-
tured "desperadoes," all of them ex-
soldiers, visited the nearest "mess-
hallv. ordered the "K. P.'s" to step
lively and setrot out little choEy" be-
fore the whistle blew for the next
formation. The latter was trip to
the Office Of the Kenosha Evening
News where the trio bought up
whole library Of papers, telling about
tae capture of "ttree bold. lad men
at McHenry, Illinois"
fsBack to the barberry bushes, boys;
there IL be no lynching tonight" This
was DeF'lons jocular "tag" as he
boarded a train for Crystal Lake and
rung down the curtain on the second
act in the famous American Brass
Safe Robbery.