Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1922-03-24
seen omebodyy make a good profit is likely to scfrann,-
bic 4 out that fall with a big loss while his wiser
neighbor goes calmly on making his profit:
VERY WELL DoNEA

lOAS@Ouls lAl6S ldlls Will q DIX loss sWI1C HIS WlSS
neighbor goes calmly on making his profit
VERY WELL DoNEA
Itwas both in1prudeit and contrary to, etiquette
for Messrs. Gleason and Miller to refuse to hold up
their hands when they were ordered to do so by a
!robber who entered the Gleason store and who
had lneraced the two occupants with a revolver. It
was lHprudent because the presumption is that the
man who points a gurl.at another and orders him to
hold up, his hands is ready to shoot if his order is not
instantly complied with. If one is shot he may
never recover but he may hold up his hands many
times and still live to enjoy many Of the good things
jot lite. In the matter Of etiquette, custom has es-
,~tablished certain fairly we'll recognized rules, and
one Of these is that the person who is being robbed
shall comply promptly with all the demands of the
,robber, thus putting him to no unnecessary incon-
venience. Robbery is a poorly paid business at best,
save in a very few instances, and if the bandit has to
spend time fussing around with his victim there is a
waste of time, together with, the risk Of unpleasant
experiences with the public authorities.
lhe two men who were menaced onF this occa-
sion failed to conform to the usual practice. They
were stubborn and intractable. They looked upon
the practice of holding up hands with such strong
dlstavor that they seem not to have considered the
element Of personal risk at all. Occasionally such
people are found and tits because, through the
years, they have asserted themselves with stubborn
and splendid disregard Of consequences, when they
knew tl0y were in the right, that we have today
even the moderate security which we now enjoy.
these men refused when their assailant had the drop
on them they resisted, they fought; and in the mix
up the robber was shot dead. All Of which is cause
tor congratulation, for these men have not only de-
tended their own right most manfully, but they have
performed a distinct service to the community.
Most of the recent robbcries have been commit
ted by quite young men, many Of them by mere
boys. AS with the business of bootlegeing,' the easy
success of one novice has shown to other idle youths
the way to make money without work. One rob-
bery has melted to ethers, and the very natural ten
dency to save ones. skin at the cost of ones possess
s'ons has operated so frequently and completely as
criminal. So it has gone Until the whole country has
been engulfed in a sort of crime wave in which rob-
berry has come to possess almost the status of a rec
.ognized business.
Occasional incidents like that in Grand Forks
has occurred. ! They have been needed to carry the
conviction that, after all, robbery is not entirely safe.
The death OF the man who attempted the Grand
Forks robbery cannot fail to be wholesome. This
young man doubtless had acquaintances and COM
Some Of these knew, or inevitably would
come to know OF the success Of their friend in his ex-
Plolts, and the temptation to emulate them would
bear strongly on those of weak moral sense. One
such criminal running at large is certain to result in
the development of many others from among his
associates.
The young fellows who have known this man.
who may have envied him and who may have been
strongly inclined to embark upon the same course,
are likely to do some sober thinking now that they
know the result of his .latest-and last-adventure
The man whom they knew and perhaps envied lies
dead, his life snuffed out in an instant, right on the
Threshold of things. He hasn't had much out of
life. A few idle months. A handful of cheap Jewell
~. A few dollars filched here and there from un-
guarded ti}ls. A little time spent in lodging and
sneaking with the fear of detection constantly with
him. These, and then the end. What a way to start
out, and to end! ~ <s
1t this young man should have been captured
instead of shot there would have been a great out
pouring of sympathy for him. Much would have
been made Of the fact that he had 'served-as ne
seems to have done-in the navy of His fanlily con.
|%nectlons; of the sorrow Of his sweetheart, if he had
one, and if not one could have been supplied of his
youth Of the duty Of society so to order things that
nobody will wish to do wrong. Floral offerings
would be showered on him, and he would have been
little short of a hero.
1t is quite possible that if caught and stopped
this boy might have developed into a real man. Such
things do happen. That it is not to be So is some
thing tor which no.one but the youth himself is re-
spons1ble. And, lest sympathy and regrets over what
might have been carry us out of our latiture, we NAV
remind ourselves that the tragic ending Of this life
may save other lives and protect from sorrow and
disgrace other parents and sweethearts-may give
to society honor and usefulness in a score Of places
where otherwise there would have been shame and
worse than death; :
FOREIGN MARKETS. \
For the first time in many years the United
States has an abundance Of shipping for the carrying
on OF a great foreign trade. Just now there is prac-
tlcsal1y no foreign trade apd the ships which would