Omaha daily bee., 1920-11-20
Police Get Tip.

Members of the Council Bluffs
police department were directly re-
sponsible for the arrest of T. A.
DAILY and H. A. Reed by federal
agents Thursday night. and the sub
sequent recovery of the largest por-
ton of the stolen loot that has been
found since the mail robbery was
staged, according to statements made
yesterday in the Bluffs.
A woman living IN the West End,
whose name is being withheld re-
ligiously by police, gave Deputy City
Marshal Elmer Lane and Emergen-
cy Officer I'd Barret the informa
ton which government sleuths had
failed to obtain after repeated cross
examination of Fred Poffenbarger
and the two Phillips boys.
Barrett and Lane were driving
police. car in the West End upon
other Business when they were
hailed by the woman informant. She
told Barrett that much of the loot
was concealed at the Daily home.
s2753 Seventh avenue. The police-
men carried the information to the
federal building. Reeds arrest fol-
lowed and a search of the premises
disclosed the quantity of $40 bills
buried in the chicken coop.
Money Not Counted.
Postal inspectors last night
stated positively that no count was
made OF the currency found at the
DAILY home. 1t was placed i'll a
registered mail sack in the presence
of several civilian witnesses, sealed
with the government seal and will
be sent to Washington, D. G., for
counting. Figures given out on the
amount of this recovered loot are
merely estimates. the federal men
say.
Early yesterday morning the head
quarters or center OF activities at the
federal building was transferred
from the office OF Deputy United
States Marshal Fred Shoemaker to
that of Postal Inspector F. c. Glenn,
and direct supervision of the irvesti-
CATION was assumed upon orders
from Washington by Postal In
spectors w. w. Noah of Sedalia.
Mo-, and w. M. Coble OF Omaha,
Should the amount Of loot stolen
run above the estimate of S., SOC, 900.
as some believe it will. the robbery
will have been the largest of any
kind ever perpetrated in this coun-
try.
Sums larger than this have been
stolen, but never before in a single
robbery.
No official estimate Of the loot OBJ
iained has been made or is likely to
be made for some time. None of
the securities have been recovered.
Men under arrest say they were
burned and only currency retained.
Currency $40 Bills.
This currency was all in $40 bills.
wrapped in packages of $1,000, and is
estimated at not less than 100000.
The five men now held may be
given hearings before United States
Commissioner William Byers to-
day. This has not been definite
ly determined, however, as postal in
spectors may choose to hold them
until next week in the hope of OBJ
tanning more information from them
before placing them on trial.
None of the men held has been
booked. Most Of the time they have
been held in the marshaps offices in
the federal building. When placed
in the county all for safekeeping at
other times they have not been
booked or specific charages filed
against them. The jailer merely
was ordered to keep them in solitary
confinement "for the government"
and to permit no one to see them.
: Prisoners Held Separately.
They were not even permitted to
associate with or talk to other pris-
oners in the, county Jail and even
their attorneys were refused permis.
sion to see them unless federal Off
GERS were present.
1t is reported that postal inspec-
tors plan to make several "inside"
investigations before the robbery
case is dropped No intimation Of
what these investigations might re-
veal has been made, however.
Five Under Arrest.
With yesterdays developments
the situation in the record-breaking
robbery is as follows:
Five men now under arrest.
They are, in the order of their ar
rests, Merl Phillips. 20, 2l2i Ave.
nue. F; Fred E. Poffenbarger, lo,
2l2l Avenue F; Orville Phillips,
IL, 2l2l Avenue F; H. A. Reed,
tTun to fsss Fesr. COiune oax