The Oakes times. [volume] (Oakes, N.D.) 1906-current, 1922-08-17
PROWLER VISITS
OAKES GARAGES
Desperate Attempt il. Made by Some
Miscreant to Obtain Pessessioa J.,
of DR.. sO'Conn0r's Car
wOULD-BE THIEF IS THwARTED
Three Motometers Stolen from Knox
and Nichols Autos

Somebody with thieving tendencies,
and an uncomfortable desire to obtain
possession Of things which do not be-
long to him, wants a Ford touring
car. He prefers one that is practic-
ally new and in perfect working Or
der, and he is going to get it if the
people who own cars answering this
description do not exercise that eter-
nal vigilance which is the price Of
safety. The gentleman in question is
willing to go to lot Of trouble in
order to attain his object, consider
ing the time we'll spent if he is sue
cessful. Neither will he object to
taking number Of auto accessories
if he finds it impossible to secure the
car of his choice.
DR.. H. F. O'Connor has had hunch
for several weeks that his touring car
would turn up missing some fine
morning if he didn't be careful. Just
why he had this hunch is not clear,
but it seems to have been we'll found
ed. Tuesday morning when he went
out to his garage he learned that it
had been entered and further inves-
tigation showed that an unsuccessful
attempt had been made to steal his
Ford. When he came down town and
began to compare notes with others
who had found their garage doors
open and various articles missing, it
did not take long to straighten out
the tangle. Doc has had new steer
ing wheel lock put on his car and it
developed that when the thief learned
this he broke into Wrennie Williams
garage, stole his keys and coat, then
went over and took the steering wheel
from George Cooks car, took Docs
steering wheel off and replaced it with
the one stolen from Cook.
-, So far, SO good, but the prowler
had underestimated that large bump
Of caution which makes Docs head
look so funny. Mr.. O'Connor had
taken off the coil and hidden it be-
thind the clock, and when this fact
finally soaked into the thief's noodle
he knew all his work had been in vain
unless he could re-wire the car. APP
parently he had spent some time try
ing to accomplish this, but approach
ing daylight must have caused him to
postpone his little program, because
the car was still there next morning
when Doc went out to feed it its
morning ration of oats.
C. E. Knox and ]. F. Nichols, who
keep three cars in the same private
garage, report the theft Of three
motometers the same night O'Connor's
car was trying to keep from being
stolen.
Mr.. O'Connor says he has not been
able to sleep for some time because
he had to watch his garage door, but
watching the door does not keep
thieves away so he is wondering just
what procedure he will have to 60
through after this in order to retain
possession Of his buzz wagon. Tues
day night he took the car in the house
and hid it under the rug in the kitch-
en-, Wednesday night he slept in the
tool box, armed with gatling gun,
and tonight he plans to take the ma
chine to pieces and place the pieces
under the mattress. He may finally
decide to remove the front wheels and
drop them into the cistern, and prob
ably would do it only for the fact that
would-be thieves could steal other
wheels with which to replace them.
He is in a quandary and if any Of our
readers can help him out Of it he
might be persuaded to fix up their
teeth for little or nothing.