The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-10-23
THIEVES BIND,
ROB AGED MAN:
S7O5 IS LOOT
Carpenter, 81, Fights Off
ChIoroform Attack by
Two Bandits.
TIED UP FOR SIX HOURS
Trio Who Saw Him Receive
Cash at Station Are
Under Suspicion.

Binding Thomas F. Stout, g.
yeaf-old carpenter, to a chair in his
home on independence road, two
miles southeast of the city early to-
day, two masked gunner threat
ened his life and stole $705.
Working free from his bonds after
more than six hours, Stout went to
a neighbours house a quarter mile
away to report the holdup.
The gunner had concealed them
selves in a room in his house before
midnight while Stout was absent.
After guests with whom he returned
had departed and Stout had turned
off the light in the dining room,
they attacked him, attempting to
%chloroform him, he told deputies.
He said that he struggled with
the robbers, knocking the chlor%
form-soaked handkerchief from one
of them.
The bandits then drew guns,
threatening Stout's life if he did
not reveal where the money was
concealed in the house.
Yields His Money
After refusing several times to tell
them, Stout yielded to the death
threats, told them where to find the
money and was bound to the chair.
One of the gunner ranSacked the
second floor of the house while his
companion stood guard owe the
captive.
The bandits first told me if I
would tell them where the money
was they wouldn't hurt me, but if
I didn't they'd kill me-" Stout told
deputies. "One of them kept a gun
showed against my ribs and the
other put his gun behind my left
ear"
He said they did not bind him
until after he had told them the
money, a mortgage payment he re-
ceived Tuesday, was in a tin box
in a trunk in an upstairs room.
weak from
Weak from the long period of
working with the ropes in an effort
to free himself, Stout hardly was
able, at first, to tell the story of the
crime to neighbors.
Il sat here all night after they
left and tried to work loose" he
said. Il yelled at the top of my
voice every time I heard an auto
mobile go by, but it didn't do any
good.
About dawn I got one hand loose
and then united the rest of the
rope"
Preparing for the robbery, the
thieves entered through a kitchen
window and obtained Stout'S Shot
gun and rifle from his bedroom.
Unloading the weapons, the gunner
hid them in the front room, where
they we're concealed, until the at
tack. .
Using a long section of sash rope,
the gunner tied him to the chair.
wrapping the cord around his chest
and tying his Wrists together.
Bid Him Good Night
"One of them stood over me while
the other went upstairs and got the
money" Stout said. HE came down
in a few minutes and said he had it.
when they went out the door,
one of them turned to me and said,
Good night"
Stout told deputies the money
was given him Tuesday at the trac-
ton terminal station for a mortgage
payment by Charles White, living
near Clayton.
He said three men watched the
transaction in the station and Will
hite expressed concern over their
interest in the proceedings. Stout
said he boarded an interurban, but
noticed none of the trio on the car.
He told deputies Frank Lindsey
and Charles McAllister he believed
the taller of the two gunner was
one of the group in the terminal
station.
L kept the money out here be-
cause I lost 1000 in one Indian
apoliS bank crash and $84O in an
other not long ago" Stout said