Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1920-11-21
.Sordid Poverty
Marks Homes of
Alleged Bandits
Men and Boys Held for Larg-
est Train Robbery in History
Deprived Of Education
! In Schools.

Abject property is found in the
homes of every man implicated in
the big $3,500,O00 Council Bluffs
mail robbery.
And in these homes where the big
gest robbery in the history Of the
country was planned, those who did
the planning had little or no educa-
ton with the possible exception Of
Keith Collins, aviator and army Off
Ger, now being sought by federal
officers.
Collins, from all reports, was
suave, good looking and had good
education. His alleged confederates,
however, from reports by their par
ents and neighbors, acquired just
what education the law forced upon
them and then turned their backs
forever from everything in the edu-
cation line.
The mother of Keith Collins is a
pitiful object. An accident years ago
caused the loss of an eye. Recent
illness has forced her to clip her
hair and yesterday as she walked to
the door of her home, 1887 Seventh
avenue, there was a noticeable limp
in her gait.
Confident in Son.
II am not worried a bit about
him." she said. IT know he is in
nocent and he is a good boy, too.
He was my only means of support.
"Of course, I don't know why
he has disappeared but he told me
Wednesday morning when he left
that he was going to be married
that afternoon.
Eyes, he had good education. I
don't know how much. He hadn't
worked much of late on account of
his feet. He fell in an airplane and
hurt his arches. 1t made a cripple
out of him."
The kitchen of the Collins home
was bare. The wall paper was
partly torn from the walls and pieces
of overalls and old comforts filled.
broken window panes.
The mother of Merle and Orville
Phillips was found at washtub
yesterday afternoon in kitchen
filled with neighbors and children.
In addition to Merle and Orville. she
has six other children and Merle
is the oldest of them all.
Defiantly Defends Sons.
II amt saying a thing" she
shouted defianhy.
Later, she grudgingly admitted she
was the mother OF eight children,
that poverty always had starld them
in the face and the boys were forced
to leave school at an early age be-
cause of the always pressing finan-
cial situation in the home.
"Of course they amt guilty." she
said, as she vigorously rubbed the
dirt from an army shirt.
Fred Poffenbarger always has
been bully since his knee pants
days when he threw rocks at the
girls and. put chewing gum in their
hair, according tc neighborlng
women. who said they went to school
with him.
The Poffenbarger home at 2459
Sixth avenue is perhaps tidier than
that of any other of the principals
in the big robbery. But it is any
thing but mansion.
Blessed" With Children.
That home, like the Phillips home,
has been blessed" with children.
The total number of Poffenbarger
children is six and the youngest is
2. The mother is frail and yester-
day walked around the house with
her hand over her heart, drawing
deep breaths. She refused to talk.
Fired is the Oldest" Fred Pof-
fenbarger, sr.. the father. said. "He
has been in little trouble, but this
is the worst. We hardly know what
to think of this. He was pretty
good boy around home. We couldn't
send him to school very much"
The Poffenbarger home is the only
home of any Of those complicated
which has a telephone: