- Hamilton, Kansas 1921 - (Part 2 of 2) -
“The hardware store of G.T. Kinsey was entered sometime last Thursday night by burglars. Entrance was made through one of the rear windows. Evidently the burglars were youthful amateurs as nothing of great value was taken. Small objects such as flashlights, knives and a safety razor were taken together with a handful of pennies from the cash register.
Boys who roam the streets after curfew hours will be laying themselves liable to suspicion, so better be at home studying their lessons.
A young man giving the name of Roy Broadbent was arrested in Virgil and charged with burglarizing the J.W. Fisher store. He confessed to Sheriff Colvin that he pulled the job by himself and that he also broke into the Kinsey hardware store and Wm. Hoover’s garage in Hamilton. All the goods taken from the stores were recovered. The young man offered no resistance and was taken to Eureka. Mr. Miller, Trustee in bankruptcy for the Fisher store stated that young Broadbent did not appear very strong mentally and the articles he took seem to bear out that statement.
A stranger answering to the name of “Montana Bill” is in jail in Eureka with a bullet through his right lung and two local men, Roy Reich and Roy Nichols, are suffering from gunshot wounds, as the result of a holdup and capture. According to reports, Montana Bill held up seven Eureka man and boys along a hedge fence one mile east of Eureka. When he told them to stick up their hands all responded, but to make matters sure Bill blazed away once or twice with his side arms, shooting Roy Nichols through both ankles. He is said to have gone through the seven men’s pockets and taken $300 in money. An hour later, Harry Cummins and Roy Reich overtook Montana Bill near the school house three miles east of town and engaged him in battle. A number of shots were fired with Riech receiving a scalp wound. The Eureka men returned to town and Montana Bill continued his journey southward. Sheriff Colvin and Undersheriff Ronen were notified and gave chase, accompanied by Harry Cummins. They overtook Montana Bill as he was riding horseback along the road between Climax and Severy. When they halted him, he dropped from his horse, laid a big forty-four across the horse’s neck and snapped the trigger, but the gun failed to fire. The officers opened fire on the fugitive, one bullet striking him in the chest and penetrating his right lung. Bill threw up his hands as much as to say he would surrender, but when Undersheriff Ronen approached him, he showed fight and it took all three men to overpower him and bring him back to town. He is seriously wounded. He had only $10 on his person when arrested. What became of the other $290 he is said to have taken in the holdup is not known at this time.
In October after gaining entrance to the Quincy State bank, in a manner which had not been learned at the time this article appeared in The Wichita Eagle, bank robbers blew the safe and escaped with several thousand dollars in Liberty bonds, other securities and an undetermined amount of cash. Before blowing the safe, the bandits cut all the telephone and telegraph wires leading in to the town.
The motor car used by the bandits was seen by a farmer while the bandits were at work in the bank. It was abandoned a short distance from the bank and carried state license tag No. 223,375. Officers learned today the tag was issued to R.E. Smith of Arkansas City. It is believed by the sheriff that five men participated in the robbery.
Bold burglars were aboard Monday night. The Santa Fe depot in Hamilton was entered some time during the night and an express package consigned to H.A. Patterson, Jeweler, was ransacked and a lot of supplies taken. The loss will amount to about $20. The burglar probably gained entrance through one of the windows in the waiting room and evidently is an amateur. The burglar pried open one of the locked drawers containing office supplies when he found the money drawer open and empty. The safe was not tampered with as it evidently was beyond the miscreant’s ability. This is but one of a series of petty burglaries that have been committed here. There is strong talk of employing a night watch in hopes of catching the culprit.
The Mission Oil Company on the Thrall land seven miles west and two miles north of Hamilton evidently have a good well as a pipe line is being built to it from Sallyards. There was a rumor that they would put in a loading rack at Hamilton and pipe to it but this will not be done now. Leases in that part of Janesville are selling up to $50 and $75 per acre. So, Hamilton feels that a good field is opening up in our territory. All of which behooves Hamilton to move a bit faster with her civic improvements if she wishes to be favored with her rightful share of the resulting business. City lights, water and sewage will attract permanent residents and more than repay the cost. We need more houses, too.
Hamilton is going to work right away on the Electric light system. An engineer has been hired. The bonds are sold and a good price was received, in fact they sold for par. This means that work will begin at once. Of course, actual labor on the construction will not begin until the material arrives which will probably be 30 days. The engineers report promises that the plant will be constructed in first class manner and efficiently and a tidy sum will be left in the city treasury.”
