The Powder River County examiner and the Broadus independent. [volume] (Broadus, Mont.) 1919-1935, 1922-11-03
MAY BRING BACK
JIM THE PENMAN
SMOOTH CHECK WRITER WHO
VICTNdlZED NUMBER OF
HELENA PEOPLE
Name II Either Barton or Dretzer.
and Was British Aviator During
tho War; Also Movie Actor; Ar.
rested by the Police Of Denver.

rested by the Police Of Denver.
Richard R. Barton, alias Bretzer,
who nicked DR.. b. c. Brooke. DR.. w.
r. Hopkins, the Placer hotel, wo-
man clerk-and probably other citi-
Gems of Helena-on forged checks
aggregating $500 last spring, is in
stir in Denver, charged with high
crimes and misdemeanors. ranging
from plain stick-up to robbery of mil
lionaires in their homes.
Charged With Forgery Here
Barton is wanted also in Helena
and Butte. In Helena he stands
charged with forgery. An informa-
ton will be filed against him in the
district court, and application will
be made to Governor J. M. Dixon
for reQuisition papers. according to
Hugh r. Adair, deputy county at
torney. A formal complaint has
been standing in a local justice of
the peace court since last May, upon
which a warrant for arrest was is
sued.
He Is Much in Demand
However, If Barton is put through
the jumps for everything he is
charged with in Denver, he probably
will have to 60 through two or three
reincarnations before the authorities
in Lewis and Clark and Silver Bow
counties, Montana, can get their
clutches on him. Besides, Kansas
City has a prior claim for jewelry
robbery and bail-jumping.
A Smooth Guy
Barton, going under the names of
Bretzer and Bretzen, when in Helena
last spring, represented himself as a
travelling agent Of the Magnus COM
pany OF Omaha, manufacturers of x
ray machines. He was smooth sort
of duck, and was even able to per-
suade a Helena woman, a clerk in
a Main street store, to loan him a
considerable sum of money on the
said afterward, she stripped her
bank account of money she had saw
ed up for her annual vacation trip.
which she was not going to be able
to make under the circumstances.
Can Was Tied to Him
It appeared at the time that Bar
ton once had been a bona-fide sales
man of the Omaha company. His
story to his victims, it was said at
the time, was that he was establish
3~o Nff NS
in Butte, and the drafts the Helena
people cashed for him, he said, were
for the purpose of meeting the ini-
tial expenses in that connection.
When the drafts were returned dis
honored, the fact became known that
the can had been tied by the COM
pany to Barton a short time pre-
viously.
1.-THE Gentleman Burglar
According to a report in Denver
newspaper, Barton has confessed to
a long series of crimes committed in
that city, notably holding up Mr.. and
Mrs. James Owen in their fashion,
able home in the Capitol Hill district.
He has confessed also to burglary
of the home of Ralph w. Smith, an
other prominent family, getting away
with jewels and clothing valued at
$500.
The Denver police and police re-
porters appear to think that Barton
is quite CATCH and to increase
the power of the calcium rays, they
have dubbed him 1.-The gentleman
burglar
Says Was British Flyer
Barton claims to have been a
captain in the British flying corps,
and also to have been connected with
the movies in the capacity of direc-