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Iliirglarit'w OrganizeCoal1il.^l(krrliniihCoal C’ity merchants were at their wits’ end last week—yesterday they organized.! They organized to combat a; series of raids on thei** stores soi dating that the burglars had theaudacity to “pitch” a big celebration in a cafe before carrying their loot.offcigarettes from the cafe’s store.In each case, she said, thethieves broke in through windows or doors and evidently backed up cars to the building to carry away the hauls. “They couldn’t havecarried that much stuff on theirbacks,” said Mrs. Johnson.At that point, the merchantsFour times thieves have raided ^cided to call a halt. They signed St.. c in '.lie Coal City a;-., n the ' !e lle,‘Uun “nd «t tono*butin-last 15 days, the merchantsdared. Their take of cash was large, the atore-owners said, a huge loot in merchandise eluded beer, groceries, chewing gum and even 40 pounds of bananas.TO TOP IT off. said Mrs R W.Johnson, who with her husband operates the Coal City Cafe, the burglars ate and drank at the cafe ••for a couple of hours” last Wednesday before removing most ofthe merchandise.“We simply have no protection.” Mrs. Johnson declared. She said 24 merchants in the Coal City vicinity had signed a petition begging for aid from the county court, the sheriff, the state police — or, I “anyone else who will help us.” The timetable of thefts in-!; eluded:. I A raid on the Coal City Cash , ; Grocery two weeks ago last Fri-, day. Removed: a large quantity of merchandise.The following Wednesday, the burglars returned to the grocery store and took most of the rest ofthe merchandise.1 Last Wednesday was tire theft atthe Raleigh County Sheriff’s of-• Iwefice, but, Mrs Johnson said, got no satiffaction.THE NEXT night, Saturday, thegrocery store owned by Ira Cole was raided. Merchandise, some money and Cole’s ledger book, containing an estimated $17,000 in accounts was stolen. The ledger was found the next day, virtually destroyed, near the school on Mitchell’s ridge.The Coal City merchants will| meet Wednesday to plan a futurecourse of action. Sheriff Okey Mills has indicated he will be on hand, according to Johnson.How do they feel?“We’re mad — plenty mad,” said Mrs. Johnson. “We want protection.”Four Area MenEnlist for ArmyFour area men were accepted for the Regular Army at the U. S A run anil Air Force Kecruit-■ tlu* Club. Stolen was merchandise 'K Mam Station in Heckley yes-valued at $250. including the ba- •Munlm* to lt;.pt.il.and “Turns to settle thel,- . ome, t . Matins, co.umandin* of-stomachs, 1 guess, said Mis John-, *'*ssrason.“THEY APPARENTLY stayedseveral hours and threw a big party,” Mrs, Johnson commented.We’re quite sure there were three. nn ... . .of them—the empty beer bottles *®n **• ’ .T° ~ . o *were in groups of threes.” While j ttl 1 he East Rai-relaxing on the jobs, she went ne^e Mnlt;* Princeton stations.BILLIE P. MADDY, 18, ofPemberton, enlisted at the Heckley station; the others, Earnest C. Sheppard, 27, of East Rainelie; Homer J. Kirk, Jr., 18, and Loon, the burglars lit a fire, smokedI: Tti/yv c ai im r n c• Ala rn
Newspaper Details
Beckley Register
Beckley, West Virginia, US
Tue, Apr 04, 1950
Page 10
Full Page
Clipped by
Boyd C.
KY, USA 18 Mar 2021
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