Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-04-28
SANDY SPRINGS BANDITS
GOT MORE THAN $4,000
Rewards Of $4,000 Offered for
Capture, Were in Town Two
or Three Days.

Sandy Springs, Md, April 2S.-Dis-
covery was made yesterday morning that
the bandits who perpetrated the hold-up
in the First National Bank at this place,
Monday afternoon, shooting and killing
Francis NJ Hallowel, one of the direc-
tors, and binding and beating the other
officials, robbed the Vaults of $1,000 IN
coupon Liberty bonds and large amount
of registered bonds, in addition to the
$1,000 they are reported TO have taken
from the cash drawers.
IL is reported about the town that
Robert Hallowell, well-to-do brother
of the murdered man, will offer n reward
of $4,000 for the capture of the GRIM
inals This, with the $1,000 offered by
the directors Of the bank, the $1,000 of
fered by the County Commissioners of
Montgomery county and 81 900 offered
by the Fidelity and Deposit Company
makes total Of S21 900. The Fidelity
and Deposit Company is also offering 10
per cent of any stolen money recovered.
The five bandits entered the banking
house swearing and creating IN uproar,
startling the officials. They accompanied
their command hands up" with threats
of death and one of them shot without
further warning when Mr.. Hallowell
who was somewhat deaf, failed TO under
stand and started 10 rise The rest of the
officials were quickly showed into the
directors room and lined up with their
faces to the wall After rifling the cash
drawers they forced Francis Miller, the
assistant secretary, to show them where
the securities were kept.
The shooting was no part of the plan
of the leader of the gang, tall, slim, dark
complexioned and dark haired man, wear
ing a check cap and coat This was eyidenc-
ed by the fact that he cursed the man who
had shot and demanded why he had dome
il. The reply heard by the bank officials
was that the victim was too allow getting
his hands up" The whole time they were
looting the bank. il is said. the tall in
dividual gave the orders swearing pro-
flisely az the others and especially at the
murderer.
The shot that laid Mr.. Hallowel low
was from a .3S-callbre revolver. IL en-
tered his body near his left collar bone
and passed through the body and out
between ribs on the right side. An in
quest held last night decided that death
was due to hemorrhages.
When the bandits showed the bank
officers in the vault one of them started
10 drag the body of Hallowell in by the
feet. Discovering, however, that the
man WAS dead. he dropped him.
The men who perpetrated the crime
have been seen in the vicinity since last
Friday. They seem to have been staying
in the woods at Fulton, near Highland,
and purchasing supplies at a store kept by
man nametl George Brady. They had
paid visits to the bank, obviously to ac-
quaint themselves with the lay of the
land They drove blue Hudson car
and always travelled at a high rate of speed.
Despite the fact that they were seen
frequently, only the leader has been de-
scribed, though Mrs. Philip Brown, who
lives in the vicinity where the yeggs made
their stopping place, says she can identify
several of them il she sees them. There
are said to have been seven men in the
party when the robbery was committed,
two in addition To those that entered, one
at the wheel of the car and the other as a
watcher When they drove away the
curtains were up, so that they could not
be seen.
The bank was insured against its loss,
which now is estimated at S35, 600. The
loot consisted of $4,000 in negotiable
bonds, $500 cash and about S27 500 in
government bonds Of various denomi-
nations. Three thousand dollars in gold
and $1,000 in currency were overlooked.