The Sauk Centre herald., 1928-09-13
CAPTURED BANDIT
ADMITS CRIMES
Town Character Predicted
LOoting of the. State bank
of RuthtOn
NEIGHBORS LAUGHED
Third Electric Shock" Re-
veals That RObber Had
Been Captured

Ruthton, MINI, Sept. 12-The
people of Ruthton, Mimi, always
have laughed at the electric
shocks" that enabled "Whistling
John" Andersen, goat trainer,
bachelor farmer and village char
acter of Ruthton, to forteu the fu-
ture. 49,: >,
Today they listened to his opin-
ions with respect. Yesterday, 80
minutes after he had forecast a
bank robbery a bank was robbed.
Today at Pipestone, Minn., pris-
oner who had been arrested on su-
spicion confessed the robbery, as
well as the robberies of banks at
Clarkfeld and Holland, MINI.
"Whistling John" had what he
called an electric shock" yester-
day and warned the town that the
Farmers and Merchants State Bank
of Ruthton was going to be robbed
Just 80 minutes before a lone
bandit walked into the bank, lock-
ed the assistant cashier and a girl
bookkeeper in the vault and escap-
ed with $2,500.
And "Whistling John" says he
had another electric shock" as
the bank bandit went speeding out
of the town with his loot. In any
case, he pointed at the speeding
automobile and said:
"There goes that bank bandit. -
But the news of the bank robbery
had not been spread, and they
laughed at him again-and the
bandit got away.
.ttWhistling John" says he had a
third electric shock" last night.
He said the bandit had been. cap
tured. AT about the same time,
Sheriff Andrew Christensen, of
Marshall, Minn., was arresting H.
S. Spooner of Tracy, Mimi, and
leading him to the Pipestone coun-
ty Jail. "A charge of first degree
robbery was lodged against Spoon
er today after seven persons had
viewed him in connection with the
robbery.
Today Spooner confessed to
Walter Gordon, criminal manager
of the Minneapolis office of the
Burns Detective Agency, and M.
Tedd Evans, Pipestone county at
torney, as well as the First Ma
tional Bank at. Holland, Mimi, and
the Citizens State Bank at Clark
field, Mimi, July Is. Spooner, ac-
cording to Gordon, offered to lead
the officers to the cached $4,000
loot in the Ruthton robbery.
While Spooner was giving his
confession to Gordon, the Burns
man, and County Attorney Evans
this morning, a telegram came to
the county attorneys office from
Goodwin, S. D., Spooner's home.
The telegram announced that
Spooner's aged father had died to-
day.
County officials have not in
formed the prisoner of his faith
er's death.
So Ruthton listened attentively
to "Whistling John" Anderson to-
day as he commented on the bank
robberygand his Electric shocks. :"
His comment was: 10 p
81 love goats and honest crooks
and firearms"
'HWhistling John" lives alone on
a little farm in the hills six miles
out of Ruthton. He is occupied
training goats for a vaudeville act.
For 80 years now, Ruthton has
heard of 'sWhistling Johns" "elec-
tric schocks" and laughed at them.
1t seems, as "Whistling John"
himself explains it, that:
"I've had these feelings ever
since / was a young boy.
eff I had an important decision
to make or was handling a business
deal, I always waited day before
did anything final. Then I'd
go and sit down alone and wait
and-every time, it never failed
me-I'd have feeling like an
electric shock and something would
tell me what to do. And it was
always right.
s1Now about two weeks ago /
had one Of these feeling and some
thing seemed to tell me. There's
going to be holdup of the Farn-
ers and Mechanics State Bank at
Ruthton.'
ttWell, right then I started in to
town to tell those fellows at the
bank aboout it, but then / got to
thinking it over and it occurred to
me that they'd think / was a darn
fool, so I didn't tell them.
s'Then / was in town yesterday.
All of a sudden, out of clear sky,
came one of these electric shocks
and knew there was going to be
a holdup right away.
The whole town Of Ruthton
knows the rest of the story.