Evening star., 1934-07-30
D|LLNGER BATTLE
At Inn IS TOLD
Those Who Took Part in
Fatal Raid Give Authentic
Story of Encounter.
fcontinued From First Psge)

crossed the border into Louisville. Ky,
where, as related In previous article.
be sought medical treatment
Three days iater~on April i7--hc
bobbed UP IN Saulte Ste. Marie.
Mich. At the home of sister Of
John Hamilton. one Of his pals,
During the next few days Dillinger
planned. organized and effected a
convention Of his gang members and
their women a. an obscure roadh0use
on lake In the wooded Businesses Of
Northern Wisconsin The stage was
being set for the now famous battle
of Little Bohemia
Much has been written about the
Little Bohemia raid A dozen YER
Fions OF what happened there have
been given and as many forms Of
criticisms have been heaped upon the
heads Of the Federals for their failure
10 take Dniinger on that occasion.
The Authentic Story.
Here. for the FIRST time. Is the
ofhciaIly authenticated story of the
encounter. based on hrst-hand ac-
counts OF those who took part.
All had been quiet on the Dillinger
front for several days--barring a few
obviously false reports that had 10 be
checked by Federal Investigators as q
routine step.
In the early afternoon of Sunday.
April %. the telephone in the Office
Of Melvin Puryis agent in charge
Of the Chicago Office Of the Depart
ment Of Justice rang. 1t was long
distance from Rhinelander, Mich A
man wanted to talk with the agent
In charge. 1t was very important"
he insisted.
The man identified himself by name
He said he had positive information"
that John Dillinger, five other men
and three women were stopping at
the Little Bohemia Inn. so miles
north of Rhinelander He said the
information came from some one at
the inn. There could be no mistake
about it. he declared.
Rhinelander is nearly 300 miles
from Chicago by air. At that time,
the War Department had a regulation
which precluded Justice men from
using Army planes. This rule after
ward was lifted. There was some
delay in chartering commercial
planes. Within an hour or so. squads
of agents from Chicago and St. Paul
were flying TO Rhinelander Other
agents started for the remote lake
region by automobile.
Gets News of Flight Plan.
The first plane arrived at Rhine
lander just before dusk. The agents
met their informant at a designated
place and were discussing plans for
raiding the inn when the informant's
wife arrived in Rhinelander with the
startling world that Dillinger and his
crowd were packing up and that they
planned to leave the inn Immediately
after dinner that night.
There was not time to wait for re-
Inducements now, nor to deliberate
on a plan Of action. There were less
than q dozen agents IN the town
They scurried to rent or borrow auto
mobiles with which to drive the SO
miles, over poor roads and through
a cold drizzle. to the resort. Four cars
finally we're obtained and the agents
set out. several armed with machine
guns. One agent was left in Rhine
lander TO notify other agents of the
developments and to rush them, as
they arrived, to the aid of their col
leagues.
Two of the cars of the advance
force broke down before many miles
had been passed. and some of the
agents were forced to cling precar-
iously TO the running boards of the
remaining two cars-hanging on with
numbed fingers to their heavy
machine guns
AS the agents reached a lonely spot
about two miles from the inn, the
lights on the cars were extinguiShed
and the men picked their way eau
tiouSly in pitch darkness. Several
times they nearly became begged IN
bitches.
Dogs Sound Alarm.
The cars turned into a narrow lane
that led from the main road toward
Spider Lake, on the steep bank of
which the roadhouse snuggled in a
grove OF trees. As they turned off
the road dog broke the stiffness of
the night with shrill series of barks.
Other dogs at the inn soon joined in
the canine chorus. The agents cursed
their luck, cursed the dogs and cursed
their informant for neglectiEg to men
ton the animals.
The agents deployed. There was no
time TO lose, no time to organize
themselves. as they had planned to do,
into a Gordon that would surround
the place. Purvis quickly divided his
small force into three groups. He
sent one group to guard one side of
the house. another to watch the op-
poSite side and he remained in front
with the third unit. At The rear was
the lake. He did not know there was
q steep bank, overhung with bushes,
10 shield fleeing men. Probably there
was a boat there. too. There was no
opportunity TO check the lake side
Just as the respective groups were
moving toward their stations, three
men emerged from the front door of
the inn. climbed into car parked
nearby and started the motor The
agents called to the trio to halt, iden-
tlfying themselves as officers Of the
law. The men failed to stop and
attempted TO drive their car through
the agents
The agents had been informed
that the inn was occupied by no one
but Dillinger and his associates and
the proprietor Of the place, Emil
Wanatka. They had to make instant
decision. If they let this trio get away
and If the men proved to be Dill
linger and two companionS--it would
be difficult to explain the escape. Yet
these might be innocent men. The
agents had shouted, according to an
ofhcial account. loudly and dis