Evening star., 1925-11-26
ROBBERS GET 1888
|NTODAy'S HOLD-UP
DESPITE VIGIL ANCE
Wave of Banditry Continues.
Taxi Stand Is Victim of
Latest "Stick-Up."
THIEVES WEAR MASKS
AND FLOURISH PISTOLS
Hacker "Frisked' by Two Negroes
in Preliminary-Burglar
Routed From Store.


ressions. the stick-up fraternity con
riuued it's defiance of the strict police
watch against them and added an
other spectacular robbery to the al
ready long list. No arrests have been
made.
The major operations of Washing
toms underworld gentry We're prefaced
by two preliminaries, and, all in all,
the police We're kept busy in their
game of hide-and-seek, with the for
lnar doing the hiding and the latter
the seeking. An hour before the taxi
office robbery two colored youths held
up a gas station on Benning road and
another negro was frightened away
from a grocery store at Fourth and
w streets.
Thought Hold-Up Joke.
Thomas O. Midget. night manager,
and Charles Mangan, taxi driver, were
sitting in the little room, located in
the rear of 1131 Seventeenth street,
facing a wide alley, when the door
opened quietly about $50 o'clock this
morning and two white men, with
handkerchiefs covering the lower parts
of their faces, repeated the fraternity
password. stick EN- up"
Quit that sort of joking" Mr.
Midget admonished the men, suppos-
ing he was being fooled" by two of
his drivers. The manager went on
perusing a paper on his desk. He had
not seen the blue steel of a large
calibered automatic leveled at him by
the taller and older of the pair at the
door
stick EN- up" the visitors re-
iterated i'll an extremely serious tone
Mangan, seated in an armchair near
The door, slumped down in the seat
and complied.
II still though it was joke" Man
ager Midget declared later, but when
Mangan yelled frantically for me to
look up l glanced up again, and
saw the gun pointed at me. Then
/ decided the joke was on me-"
Threatens to Shoot
The older bandit ordered Midget TO
open the cash register, which stood
across the room. Midget says he
suggested that the robher open it
himself.
open her up, or I'll shoot" the
man with the gun warned, and
Midget accordingly went to the regis
Ter, pushed the necessary keys and
opened the cash drawer. He was then
ordered to stand lin the open" under
cover of the weapon while the
younger man. estimated to be about
% years old, grabbed a fistful of cur
rency and checks. tOtaling about SS38
A few hours before, Midget said,
approximately 5000 had been taken
from the register to the hotel. The
bandits overlooked S48.35 in small
Hills and coins, cutting short their eX-
animation of the cash drawer upon
the approach of colored cab washer,
who was attracted by the disturbance
Come on, hurry" the older man
told his companion, and the two ran
into the alley and escaped out Seven
teenth street In a touring car with
drawn curtains.
Description of Bandits.
The taller of the hold-up men was
described by Midget as being about
5 feet and 9 to 10 inches In height,
about 80 years of age and wore a light
orercoat and light felt hat. The other
was about 5 feet and inches in
height and wore light overcoat and
light cap.
The other robbery occurred at Ben
ming road and Twenty-sixth street
northeast, with Joseph S. King, a
hacker, as the victim. The bandits in
this instance made no effort to dis
guise themselves. Displaying pistols.
they gave the usual stick 'em up"
command and compelled the hacker to
shell out"
King had driven to the gas station
this morning for air. The station was
closed. He told the police that the
TWO colored men drove away in a car
parked nearby.
Edward Schmidt, grocer at Fourth
and w streets, kept his place of busi-
ness open a little later than usual last
night to accommodate late Thanks
giving shoppers, and after closing he
went away from home for a short
while. Returning shortly after mid
night he discovered colored man
trying to gain entrance 10 his store.
On the approach of the grocer the
burglar abandoned his attempt and
fed. Examination of the premises
disclosed that the intruder had made
an effort to break the lock and force
the door open. Police were told of the
incident and furnished a description
of the cOlored man.
Inspector Has Theory.
Inspector Clifford L. Grant, chief of
the detective bureau, has decided to
of police headquarters, until this wave
of outlawry shows signs of subsiding.
His days and nights have been
rudely interrupted during the past
few weeks by one robbery after an
other by blond, gentlemanly, masked.
unmasked and other varieties of
bandits, and his head is beginning to
go round.
Chief Grant was at his office early
today and conferred at length with
Detectives r. G. Kuehling and Harry
Evans, who were sent to investigate
the taxi office hold-up. Later he an
nounced he had "a theory" and would
probe along Hypothetical lines to see
whether he was right. What the
theory was he would not announce
for publication.
Meanwhile the whole police force
has q severe case Of the jumps, and
If they ever get their hands on any OF
these robbers, blond or brunette, gentle
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