New Ulm review., 1921-11-09
COUNTRY THIEVES
WILL BE HUNTED
FARM BUREAU OF FARIBAULT
COUNTY TO "GET" THE
NIGHT PRoWLER.
CREATE PROTECTIVE BRANCH
TO COMBAT PILFERING ON
THE FARMS.
By GORDON C. CURRAN

By GORDON C. CURRAN
The farm bureau of Faribault coun-
ty, Mimi, is going to "get" the night
prowler who robs the farmers hem
coops, steals his best COW, carts of his
butchered hog hung up to cool, or
makes way with live hogs when they
are ready to market. Often the
granary, too, has yielded up it's share
of harvest treasure to some COM
temptible law-breaker. The Faribault
County Farm Bureau has organized a
protective branch. Men who are
familiar with the workings of this newly
formed organization predict its adop-
tion all over the country.
Working by day and watching by
night is by far too strenuous program
for most farmers. Long hours OF labor
in the open air induce deep slumber.
This has left farmers and their posses
sions exposed to the depredations of
willy night prowlers.
Wheat Thief Caught.
However, some farmers for years
have stood guard over their property
by night. A few years ago a farmer
living near Good Thunder, Mimi, sue
cessfully drove off thief who was
stealing his wheat. For long time
this farmer had known that some one
was taking his grain. He determined
to catch the culprit. One night his
watchful waiting was rewarded by the
almost noiseless approach Of someone
with a team and wagon. The driver
backed his wagon to the granary door
and commenced loading. With the
loading of the first sack of stolen wheat
the vigilant farmer emptied his shot
gun just as the thief was setting the
sack in place on his wagon. With the
report of the gun the horses took
fright and headed for the road, taking
with them much surprised thief who
was carrying a heavy charge Of bird
shot. The following day a village
doctor treated well-known man in the
community for gun-shot wounds. The
arrest and conviction Of the man soon
followed. 1t was revealed at the trial
that he had freqeuntly muff1ed the feet
of his horses and the wheels of his
wagon with burlap in order to carry
on his illegal operations.
Farmer is Originator.
The inception of the Protective
Branch of the Faribault County Farm
Bureau is as interesting as the organi-
zation is unique. Roy Woolery, a
farmer, is the originator of the idea.
Like many of his neighbors, he had
noticed that thefts of various kinds
had been going on for many years in
his locality. Mr.. Woolery says
s'Thieves have stolen my chickens
seven years in the fourteen / have been
farming. Two of my best steers have
been butchered by thieves at night and
carted away. On neighbor's farm,
two fat hogs, just ready for market,
were stolen from the fattening pen.
One farmer near me lost a valuable
Shorthorn COW which was loaded onto
a truck and hauled away at night
Another's hogs have been butchered
and shipped out of the country under
cover of darkness. !"
Sleuths Unearth Evidence.
The theft which marked the be-
ginning of real action on the part of
Mr.. Woolery occurred in December,
1917. A fat steer was stolen from his
pasture Evidences were found which
lead him to believe that the steer had
been butchered at night and the car
cass hauled away. In an effort to
locate the guilty party, Mr.. Woolery
engaged the services of a detective
agency of st. Paul. The investigation
of this theft unearthed mass of evi-
dence, which could have been used for
the arrest and conviction Of several
local citizens for other acts of lawless-
ness.
At conference with the detective
in connection with. the steer-stealing
case, Mr.. Woolery said: "Why can't
we form cooperative farmers assc-
citation, with detective service, to run
down some of these thieves? We
ought to get the goods on some Of these
low-down crooks and send them over
the road and il that way put a stop to
some of this stealing" A. G. Dick
hudt, superintendent Of The J. Oswald
Jones Detective Agency, encouraged
the idea and offered the services Of his
agency in working out plans for an or
ganization. Thus encouraged, Mr..
Woolery started out to organize his
association. He experienced difficulty
in getting other people interested in his
plan. It was apparently too novel.
His neighbors agreed that the plan
seemed plausible, that it looked work
able; but because it was new and
different, they were slow to accept it.
Another Steer Stolen.
A year passed by and in September,
1918, while Mr.. Woolery was at the
State Fair, another Of his steers was
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