Evening star., 1935-07-28
By J. 4. FOr.
UTOMOBILE accidents invari-


~ Just as some people go gal
4 n loping along behind fire en-
gines, and others congregate around
men digging holes, so anything smack
ing of crashing tenders can be counted
on to stir Thurber's interest.
AS the result of this harmless
curiosity, five men lined up before
Federal Judge Hugh Mcclellan, in
Boston, Monday to receive 25-year
prison sentences for a carefully
planned and boldly executed mail rob-
berry. When steel doors swing softly
behind them bizarre record, splotched
with blood, will be closed.
ON THE morning of January % last
Massachusetts, was feeling the
worst storm of the Winter. Whipped
along by a bitter wind, heavy snow
was blanketing the entire country,
making travel feat of endurance.
Thurber, night switchboard operator
at the Fall River Electric Co., was on
his way to breakfast and bed, glad
his tour of duty was over.
Approaching the foot of a steep
hill near his home, the lone pedestrian
noticed some men milling around a
sedan and mail truck which had just
halted nearby. 1t appeared to him
as though there had been some sort
of mix-up between the vehicles-prob-
ably a skidding collision, Thurber
thought-and under ordinary circum-
stances he would have investigated
closer. But it was no day for even
the hardest accident fan" to stop,
and he continued on. Even as he
went, however, Turber instinctively
noticed the sedan tag number-Rhode
Island 1924 it was-and this he
kept repeating to himself as he plod-
ded along.
His first act on reaching home was
to scribble down the numerals on a
magazine margin, just as he had done
many times before. And right there
the warp and woof of perfect"
crime began to unravel. The shreWd
minds which had conceived it, and
had figured operations down to the
most minute detail, had guarded
against everything but the vagaries
of human nature.
A little while later Fall River was
gripped with excitement, as word
spread that a mail truck carrying
$4,000 in factory pay roll money
had been held up en- route from the
New Haven depot to the post Office.
This was the accident" Thurber had
witnessed.
THE sedan had forced the truck to
- the curb, on the hill, where two
armed men, with a whispered take
it easy, kid" had jumped on and
covered Herbert Reid, the middle-aged
driver, before he could collect his
wits. Reid was hastily hustled into
the other car, where a third man
sat; a fourth man jumped to the
wh~cl of the truck; the luckless driver
wa blindfolded and trussed and
sht to the floor of the bandit car
an, hen, without a hitch in the
ma 'vers, both vehicles were started
aw
/ ,eding a little while, they came
to 1t and Reid heard another car
COZ ID. He realized then that the
mt as being transferred from his
trt 10 this last arrival; there was
a ying as his captors also boarded
1t; RS clashed and tires spun, anc
IN next instant Reid was alone in
UorEirany from his
bonds. and snatching away the tape
that covered his eyes, the first sight
that met his gaze was his truck, doors
swinging open and all the registered
pouches gone. He recognized his sur
roundings, side road about miles
from Fall River, and, without more tc
do, stumbled out to the main high
way. where he hailed a passing car
and was speeded into town to give the
alarm.
And the man hunt was on!
From Boston, John ]. Breslin. in.
spector In charge, sent brief meSSagI
to Chief Postal Inspector Kildroy P
Aldrich, in Washington, telling OF TIT
robbery, and advising him Inspector
were going to the scene. Concurrently
police throughout that section wen
into action. In came the Fedora
force-Tom Cronin, famous in thu
Post ONCE Department as a "cor
game" investigator; the soft-speakint
Tennyson Jefferson, who followed tn
D,Autremont brothers through a hal
dozen countries in clearing up th'
murderous Siskiyou Tunnel train rob-
berry in oregon few years ago; Ches'
ter Anderson, Ben Hadfeld, Francis
Reilly, Carl Chatto and Nelson Tacy
all, skilled in the ways of the lawless