New Ulm review., 1922-12-27
BANDIT! / s FOLLOW
ANIL lar AC J TICS II ! J
AT HANOI ER BANK
Believed To Be Same Yeggs
Who ! Blew Vault
At Lafayette.
CUT TELEPHONE. WIRES
IN BOTH INSTANCES
Plucky Operator Arouses
Citizens Who Scare
Robbers.

Officials express the belief that the
four yeggmen who endeavored to rob
the Hanover State bank at Hanover,
Wright county, last week, may have
been members of the same gang who
were successful in getting away with
SIG, ,127 in cash and bonds from the
Lafayette State Bank on December Is.
The burglars in the two places
worked much the same way They
began their operations at Hanover
as they did at Lafayette by cutting
telephone and telegraph wires. In
each case they boldly pried open the
front door Of the bank and brazenly
began their operations to break into
the vault.
Girl Arouses Citizens. a
But at Hanover the warning Of a
merchant who saw the bandit car be
fore the bank building at a.. N. and
the plucky awakening Of the town by
a telephone operator proved the un- IN
doing of the yeggmen who sped doW4a
the road before 800 half dressed citi-
zens armed with guns OF all descrip-
tons, stove pokers and baseball bats.
Miss Leona Haefer, 16-year-old
telephone operator, was keeping her
lonely vigil when hurry call was
flashed to the Office by William Wei
man, Hanover merchant.
a.somebody's trying to blow UP the .1lE
bank, Z declared Mr.. Weiman. A' Hur-,
" up and call out eyersh body IN toatn, =
Miss Haefer hurried Working her
plugs at top speed, she flashed the he
alarm to house after house, not for
getting the villages only hotel. There
are no an-night restaurants or busi-
ness blishments in Hanover, which
lis an inland town, reached only by
automobile or farm wagon.
Town Rushes Out.
The citizens Of Hanover responded
EN- masse, men, women and children
pouring into the street, with oyercoats
land 5capes thrown over their night
clothes. a few who stopped lone
enough to lace their shoes missed the the
excitement, since the earliest arrivals
reached the bank in time TO see the
ltail lights Of the bandit utomoblle
disappear down the road leading
toward Minneapolis.
One Of the first to arrive at the bank h
was a. G. Kirecht, cashier OF TN .fll
Hanover State bank He found tn
door smashed in but no other damag'
done. Vault and safe were unmolest
ed, the alarm having spread rapid,
enough to scare away the yeggs befor'
j they had gotten well started with thei
work. Mr.. Kirecht announced tina
j $4,000 IN cash and bonds were IN tn
vault.
Mr.. Weiman declared that he wa wa
i working on his books at 2. q. m. Whe' lt
Il ne ledru d Dl8 dueO1AOOttS S,k'S>SS -
street. He turned of his light an an
lwent out to investigate.
The bank is only few doors tron
i my store, = he said. = saw four me
), unloading some stuff from q big ne'
q touring ear, parked in front. Of tn
8, bank. watched them minute an
d saw them lay two big canvas sheet
land two big tanks, which looked lllS <
acetylene containers, on the sideWal
. at the bank door.
Then ] went to my telephone an
called Miss Haefer. didn't max
much noise about it, either, becaus
l III didn't want some bandit TO take
shot at me. s
J Telephone Girl Is Modest
..I surely worked fast, ! said Mi
Haefer. Don't think I ever sworke
quite SO fast in my life. Its e goe
thing did, too, for the /, burglars q, &.
. our cable Just when y was g calling =
) last few houses on.. my list That hat
a. Why i couldn't & call some other tow
8 and ask police to head of the 70
d Ibers.
Maybe ! would have been scars