New Ulm review., 1920-09-08
ROBBERS LOOT
C0MFREY STORE
ERICKSON & TRAUTMAN VIC
TIMiZED SECOND TIME
: FOUR YEARS.
SEVERAL THOUSAND DOLLARS
WORTH OF GOODS TAKEN.
TWO SUSPECTS.

| The general store of Erickson
Trautman at Comfrey was again
visited by band of auto thieves
Thursday night, who secured between
$4,000 and $4,000 worth of goods ane
succeeded in making their getaway
The robbers experienced no difficulty
in making their haul, as Comfrey hae
no night policeman and the main stree
of the village was deserted when ths
robbery was committed.
Take $50 Mems Suits.
The principal item among the
| bandits big loot were $50 mems suits
They also garnered an entire show case
| full of silk neckties, as we'll as eight
or 10 mems silk dress shirts, a large
| number of ladies' silk hose and three
mems raincoats. The robbery was
not discovered until Friday morning
when the store was opened fol
business.
Heard Cars Departing.
Some of the village residents heard
few autos departing from Comfrey
between one and two o'clock Friday
morning and it is believed that these
were the cars in which the robbers
made their getaway with the stolen
goods. No one paid particular atten-
ton to the noise made by the depart
| ing autos.
Two Men Visit Store.
During the day, Thursday, twt
strangers entered the store and IN,
uuired whether the firm had any
| secondhand goods for sale. One OF
| the men remained in the front part
| of the building, while the other acom'
panied Ora Trautman, one OF the
members of the firm, to the rear. II
! is now believed that these two mer
| were implicated in the robbery anc
that the man who remained in the front
| part of the store devoted his attention
to the location of the goods which
later were stolen. He had ample
| opportunity to do so while his com
panion was talking with Mr.. Traut'
man.
| Good Deseri iption.
The two strangers who visited tht
store were closely observed by mem
bers of the sales force, which enabled
the latter to give the authorities gooe
description of each of them. Nothing
in their actions or appearance aroused
suspicion as to the real object of thel:
visit.
The man who accompanied Mr.
| Trautman to the rear of the store il
/ described as follows: About 5 feet
9 or 10 inches tall; heavy built; full
face; about 35 years old; wore a blu'
suit and tan shoes with English lasts.
His companion looked like Jew
He was about feet, 6 to 8 inches
tall; dark complicated; about 40 year
old; had small, black moustache
and wore a black-and-white striped
suit and sailor straw hat.
Cars and Men Seen.
People travelling the road betwee1
Dotson and Comfrey noticed thre
strangers and two cars at point
short distance from Dotson, Thursda.
evening at about 7 o'clock. Nothin,
was thought of their presence Their
at the time, but since the robber,
different parties have informed tn
authorities of what they saw. Th
descriptions of the two cars vary con
sidera BILE, some of those who saw then
claiming that they were Fords an
that one had the appearance of being
delivery wagon. Others maintai
that it was car with rebuilt body
The auto in which the two men drov
up to the Erickson & Trautman stor
was a Ford.
Take Only Three Raincoats.
| The fact that the robbers se1ecte4
only three raincoats from the suppl,
in the store, leads the authorities t,
believe that three men were implicate,
in the robbery. The stock include,
;: quite number of these garments, bu
the bandits apparently took along onl,
as many as they themselves coul,
wear.
Sheriff's Office Notified.
| The sheriff's office in this city wa
notified of the robbery, Friday morn
/ ing, and Immediately got busy on tn
case. Cards, bearing the description
of the two suspects, were printed an,
sent out broadcast in the hope 0
apprehending The bandits. Thei