The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1919-09-24
SSDEAD OR ALIVE'' REWARD
REVIVED BY ROBRERTES

ward for "arrest and conviction"
But that does not carry any lure
with it to the wise man. Arresting
bank robber is about as hazardous as
biting shark on the lip, for one
thing, and conviction does not always
follow arrest. 1t has happened in
other States-though presumably new
er in Kansas--that the man who did
the arresting found his ultimate re-
ward boiled down to a few chips and
couple of whetstones, while police
| chiefs, nephews, prosecuting attorney
and welfare associations got the
money. The Kansas Bankers Asso-
citation evidently foresaw certain re
luctance on the part of good citizens
So they added another clause that
| really counts:
"If a robbcr is killed in the act Of
robbing Il bank or resisting arrest the
$4,000 reward will be paid on the the
DRY that this constitutes a conviction"
Can Still Use Their Guns.
They used to put it in more drama
tic fashion in the rude old days when
the State paid for robber dead or
{ alive" But the meaning is the same.
Bank robbng in Kansas may conceiv-
| ably enter the list of extra hazardous
| occupations. If the bankers of other
States follow suit, it is even possible
that this lively outdoor sport may fol-
low croquet and bowls and bear-bat-
! ing into the discard. For here in the
West surprising number of men have
guns and know how to use them, in
| spite of the eastern theory that the
! West has been softened by oil and
refined by free rural delivery and the
farm telephone.
"Therc was three in the gang that
tried to stick up the bank at Rifle,
! Colorado" said the man who might
reasonably have been suspected of be-
| ing the fourth. And it was just as
good as stuck. Only one of the
boys he had to shoot his gun a little
bit and that sort of thing gave the
alarm and them old boys in Rifle he
gan to come. out of the cracks-and
they come a-shootin."
Puzzled Even in Death.
Say! Them old boys in Rife must
cary Winchesters in their hair.
! Them three boys that tried to stick
"r the bank was certainly as dead as
yer ! see before Rifle got through.
Bat the funny thing was that they had
the surpriscdest looks on their pore
dead faces. Yes, sir. Looked like
hey was trying to figure out where
that home guard had been a-kcepinu
itse.f."
The automobile has been respons-
bic for the recent elevation of coun-
try bank robbing to the gnity of a
vocation. Banks throughout this West
crn country-Kansas, Oklahoma, Tex
as cspecially-are so full Of money
nowadays that new deposits must be
crammed down the chimncys. Every
little way there is a large oil soaked
splotch on any one Of these States.
Farming is Il fairy prosperous bus-
mess, too. An Eastern writer recent
~ figured out that the Kansas wheat
crop only averages II bushels to the
acre, and that at the peggcd price the
farmer actually loses money on it. But
the infatuated farmers continue TO
raise wheat and put more money in the
banks. One hundred dollar an acre
cham
there are pigs and cattle in the coun-
try and the hotel business in town.
Fortune in Hotel Business.
Il only want this hotel for one
year" the buyer of new oil town
motel is reported to have said. "By
that time | will have got my money
| back"
! Some of these banks. filled with
money and Liberty bondS-and every
one has a Liberty nowadays, and
each bond is as alike each other bond
as peanuts are like other peanuts
can be tapped at night by any one
! possessed of a Scrcwdriver and a giant
| hrecracker. Needy men not possessed
of any bent for mechanics, however,
nave found it easier to walk in during
business hours, shoot recklcssly
around, empty the safe, and walk out
again
A stolen automobile stands at the
door with Il partner at the wheel The
getaway is easy. 1t is not often that
any one gets the number of the ear