Albuquerque morning journal., 1922-12-19
BANDITS SHOOT GUARD
OF U. S. MINT AND GET
AWAY WITH 100000
Continued from Page ono.

! issued q statement saying tnat the
entire amount was covered by in
suranCe.
Director Grant also announced
that the numbers Of every bill in
the consignment was in hand and
! that banks throughout the country
| would be warned to be on the look
! out for the currency.
Wall Clipped by Bullets
SO terrific was the gun fire dur
ing the course OF the fight that
more than thirty distinct bullet
holes were counted in the tran
SONS above the main entrance to
the mint and in the windows OF
| the second story of the building.
The granite walls of the govern
ment building likewise are clipped
| where the bullets struck. Build
! ings across the street from the
! mint, which is on Colfax avenue,
bounded on the east by Cherokee
! street and on the west by Della
ware street, likewise show the in
tensity of the fire of government
guards within the mint. Windows
! in various stores and apartment
houses over the stores were rid
died by bullets and many narrow
escapes on the part of roomers
were reported to police headquar-
ters.
Miss Catherine Feist, an en-
| ploye Of o restaurant directly
across the street north of the mint,
| declared that she was attracted to
] the door by the shooting and Is
| emphatic in her declaration that
| in addition to the bandits who
| leaped out of the car she saw two
men hiding behind telephone poles
near the car who apparently were
members of the bandit gang.
Three Men Jumped Out
Paul Clark, II years old, gave a
thrilling account of the gun fight.
He declared he was standing di-
rectly across the street from the
mint when the bandit car, heavi-
~ curtained, drew up. He said,
"Three of the men, all carrying
shot guns, jumped out and rushed
UP to the guard standing nearest
the reserve bank truck. l couldn't
hear what they said but they ap-
parently were telling him to open
the wagon. He shook his head
and then one of the bandits struck
him u terrific blow. / don't know
whether it was with his fist or
gun. As the guard staggered un-
der the blow o shot rang out and
he crumpled to the pavement.
"At the sound of the shot
number of guards came running
out Of the mint and started firing.
They were shooting straight at the
bandits, who began shooting back.
On Of the bandits remained in the
car hunched down behind the
wheel.
"Just as l lodged behind the
building where | had been standing
the guards began peppering the
front of it. | saw one of the BAN
dts shooting at the lock on the
door OF the truck. The first shot
shattered the window of the truck.
Then / had to get behind the build
ing to avoid being shot.
LuII in the Shooting
'When there was a lull in the
shooting, | looked out and saw the
bandits jumping for their car. One
of them sprang on the running
board on the opposite side from
the mint and crouched down. An
other one jumped in beside the
driver. Just as he did so a shot
from one of the guards struck him
in the face. l saw the blood gush |
out and the bandit slump down in
his seat as though he might have
been badly hurt. The fourth BAN
dit jumped into the rear seat and
the car bore up East ColfaX.
"The WOUNDED guard was lying |
on the sidewalk in front of the |
mint. The other guards ran up |
to him and l ran across the street. |
One of the guards had taken his ,
coat off and was putting it under |
the head of the wounded man.
"All the bandits wore overcoats. |
They were big husky men wearing |
white collars and looked sports"
Clark said when he examined |
the front OF tine building that shell !
tered him it was riddled with bull
lets.
During the afternoon suspect |
was taken into custody by the po- |
lice but after questioning was re-
leased.
Only Tangible Clew
The only tangible clew that the
police have on which to work is q |
bloody sawed-off shot gun which |
was picked up in the street about
a half block from the mint where
it had been dropped from the flee
ing bandit car. The gun was
loaded and the shells were filled
with buckshot.
Roland X. Goddard, chief OF the
secret service in Denver, assisted
by Roy A, Nelson, postal inspector,
assisting police in investigating the
robbery, declared after finding
number of bullets within the mint
fired from the bandit guns that
they had used 3S calibre revolvers.
Finger Prints Found
Chief of Police Williams an
nounced tonight that clews that
might result in the capture of the
bandits would be secured by means
of finger prints found on the
bloody shot gun handle dropped
from the bandit car as it sped
away from the scene of the rob-
berry.
"The gun was handled by several
persons" decfareo Chief Williams,
'but we have taken every print
and Bertillion officers are new
tne prints in the hopes
Of Identifying at least one Of the
bandit gang" .,
In a statement 10 the Associated
Press, G. A. Burkhardt, manager
of the federal reserve bank here,
said:
"There will he no financial loss
TO the federal reserve bank because
of the robbery. We are covered
fully by a blanket insurance poll
nv, written by several insurance
firms in Kansas City, Mo. Just now
our greatest concern is over the
death of one of our guards. We
will do everything possible to aid
in apprehending the bandits"
Having their photograph en-
on their notepaper is the
fastest fad among Paris society
women.
SARAH BERNHARDT I'LL