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DALEThe Robb3rs Wrecked the Vrult and Building andThen Escaped.BOMBARDED AFARMERThey would operate between 12 and 3o'clock In the morning, would not be qutred twice as much time as would be necessary for men who knew how to do the ••Jeb.’* Lastly, experts would not have been frightened away from the money by the appearance of citlxena without first making a great effort to get it. These men did not return to the buildingafter the second explosion.Detective Malone expressed the beltef that the men were in hiding somewhere between Pleasant Dale and Lincoln, waiting only for the protection of darkness to come into the city. It would be very natural for them to come to the nearest city of any sixe, since it is much easier for a criminal to hide among people than In the brush. Mr Malone thought that the robbers were either Lincoln men or men who had been in the city long enough to know it and the surrounding towns.—George Mundhenke Had a Narrow Escape From Death.FIRED A! A FARMERGeorge Mundhenke and Hta Family Were ■Bombarded by the Citlxena ofPleasant Dale.Drovs Out of the Village Followed • Fusillade of Bullet*—Story of the Bank Officials—Theoriesof the Detectives.►Robbers this morning blew up the flank of Pleasant Dale, ntne miles west of Uncoln. wrecked the building, ruined the vault and escaped leaving 13,600 in money within easy reach. The robbery occurred at 4:20 and within a few minutes the citizens were armed and upon the scene of the robl»ery.About • o'clock George Mundhenke and his fsmlly came into the town ontheir way to Lincoln and, alarmed at the posse, drove away followed by the shots of the citliens. *Cashier Ackerman of the Hank of Pleaannt Dale, declared to The Star thatthe thieves secured no money. He said the inner compartment of the safe was intact but as yet even the bank officials VST* unable to open it. No one saw therobbers and their number la uncertain. The robbers entered the bank buildingby picking the outside lock. The door to the vault was opened In the sunn* manner. They drilled a hole in the safeand pJfcced nitro-glycerine in the opening. This was exploded. The building was wrecked, a large hole was blown the south wall and the?tfnfl* was blown out*of theThe Robbers Ran Away.The effect of the explosion must have Surprised the robbers. They fled and did not wait to force the leek and enter the cash compartment erf the safe. The noise of the explosion aroused the whole villago. Window panes were shattered. The ground shook. Cltlsens ran to the bank and found the place deserted .Just about this time the farmer drove by. He was mistaken for a robber and the firing began.Then the officers of the bank called up the Lineoln police. They reported a loan of 13.600. latter It was discovered that the money had not been taken and the police In Lincoln were apprised of thisfact.The Cashier’s Story.A. 8. Ackerman, cashier of the Bank of Pleasant Dale, told the following storyof the robbery:“The first I knew of the attempted robbery was about 4:10 o'clock when the last explosion occurred. The robbersmust have left immediately after for we were at the bank within a few minutes and all was quiet. The robbers entered - the vault by means of picks, crow bars WWnd “nitro, blowing out a bole from the , tmk e-foot wall about five feet long and eighteen inches wide. The cracks of the safe were closed with snap and nitro-0 glycerine did the rest. Part of the front door was blown off and the combination was damaged m that we cannot enterthe safe. The Inner compartment wasx not entered and no money was secured, y The cash and safe were insured sufficiently to cover any loss that might have been rendered The aafe was made by the Dtebold company, was about eigh-1 teen Inches high, weighed 3,000 pounds aud was practically new. J. Merrill of Pleasant Dale is president of the bankand H. K. Prints of Havelock Is a stockholder. '*Sent the Bloodhounds.rtAs soon as Detective Malone heard of affair, he sent his bloodhound* to the scene. As the report came to him. the bunk had been robbed of 13.650 and the work was supposed to have been done by three men. There was no evidence to that effect but three suspicious looking characters had been seen tn the city tin* previous evening. Mr Malone understood that the robbers had not been frightened away by citiaens.Denied Losing Money.Detective Bentley called up later and asked the authorities at Pleasant Dale for more particulars of the robbery. The story given him was that the men had blown the vault with nitro glycerine and then the safe. They had taken three picks and two crowbars from the Burlington tool house and with these had dug a hole In the wall at the side of tfcevault. The wall was thick and they fin ally quit their efforts with the tools anduted to nitro g:\xnine to get into the !iit. A hob wo* blown in the wall ofthe vault large enough to admit of the entrance of a man and through this the C robbers went In and blew the safe. By that time the citixens of the town, alarm -ed by the first explosion, had turned out and some of them were In the vicinity of the bank. The robbers, frightened by their presence, did not return after the safe was blown, although they could «m*Hy have secured the money if they *Vad ventured inside.Mr ltentia) says that a reward of $100 has been offered for the arrest and conviction of each one of the men who took part In the dec I It is not even knownhow many of them there were.T heart ee of Officer*.Conjectures among Lincoln officers as 4o the whereabouts of the bank breakers are much the aame. All agree that they are either in this city, or hiding in the country preparatory to entering it after dark. No credence Is given to the report that two or three men in a buggy were seeu going through Milford before day« -,ht. The officers say that if such Is the Wilse. the travelers probably were farm*era.Chief Routzahn believes that the men who did the work are Lincoln men. Such men stay In the larger towns, he says, and make their headquarters not far from the sceaq of their intended exploits. He thlf.ks that they either are in the city it present or will enter it tonight He expected Mr Ackerman, cashier of thebank at Pleasant Dale, to come to Lineoln Tuesday afternoon and give him a description of the three men seen in that town Monday By means of the descriptions he hopes to identify the robbers.Men Were Amateurs.Iq. the opinion of the chief, tin* U vv jf the bank was done by amateurs, gives three reasons for his belief. In first place the time of night, after 4 lock in the morning, would not betime selected by expert aafe blowers,George Mundhenke and the members of his family arrived safely in Lincoln Tuesday morning. Considering that they were bombarded by the citlxena of Pleasant Dale ai d wer« pursued by eager bandit hunters their safe arrival is almost rairac-Mr. Mundhenke doesn’t look like a bank robber. His forehead hasn't got the back ward slant. He is pleaiutnt. affable and bt-lf possessed. He lives two miles from Milford. With his family he stalled In the early morning hours for Lincoln. His way led through the village ofPleasant Dale.It waa precisely ten minutes of 5 o'clock when the farmer and hia family entered the corporate limits of Pleasant Dale, With him were his wife, an 11-year-old boy, ooe daughter aged 16, and another aged 14. He drove s bay horse and % gray one.When he drove east on the main street of the village a gruff voice commanded him to halt. It whs very dark and Mundhenke could not see the speaker. As the command came from the vicinity of a saloon the farmer paid no attention.He Jogged a block east, turned north and then he was surprised. He heardthe noise as of s vast multitude following. The citixens had “angled and they came up yith him Just as he turned east again, wStarted the Bombardment.Once more there wag a cry to halt The farmera’ wife was not thinking of bank robbers. She whs alarmed.Whip up,” she called. We must get away.”Her tones were indiscreetly loud. The leaders in the posse heard her.“I gave the horses the rein. said Mr Mundhenke to The Star. “Just then the people began shooting. The bullets and shot whistled and whirred about us. The horses Jumped and ran. Pretty soon the builds didn't sing any more. We ran the horses a mile further on. 1 turned into a farm house and aroused the man. 1 asked him to take my wife and family in the house and he did so. Then we went to the barn.“We heard two horseback riders tear along the road. They went about half a mile further down. Tl^p they turned back and rode In,;lVt were at the ham with a lantern. One of them yelled for ua to hold the lamp higher. The neighbor did so and then they called out that the bank robber had belter give up,“Corralled the Farmer.“I asked them to explain. They wouldn’t. They didn’t believe that I was a farmer. The neighbor explained. They didn't believe him either.Later a number came down from Pleasant Dale on a hand car. Then we explained some more and came to town.Mr. Mundhenke declared that there were no bullet marks on the vehicle and that under the circumstances he considered the esrmie remarkable. Had he known of the robbery he would have surrendered,he said.Telephoned to Lincoln.Pleasant Dale citixens thought that thefarmer s rig contained the escaping robbers. Early morning telephone messages to Lincoln accurately described Mr. Mund-hanke's horses. Chief Routsahn, Officer Harry, Detective Mitchell and Detective Bentley were all watching and had the fanner entered by any road from the west he would have been arrested.GAME WASBELLEVUE MEN FOUND CHARGEAGAINST CLARK WAS UNTRUE.A Knocker Told an Idle Tale to theBellevue Coach—No Truth In the Story—A Morning Paper Censured.The allegations made by tie managers of the Bellevue team Monday that the Lincoln Medics were playing an uncertified man, were proved Tuesday morn -ing to b unfounded. Manager W. E. Nicholls and Prof. Keera at Bellevue, remained in Lincoln Monday night and presented themselves at the Medical collage Tuesday morning with the request that they be shown the register containing the names of the students. This was done and It was found that the name of Clark,who played fullback for the doctors during the latter part of the game was entered on the books, and that he is a full-fledged student In the school.This proves beyond a doubt that the game belongs to the Medical college by the score of to 0, as ftally granted Monday afternoon by Referee Longsdorf. Thescore at the time the game was called off stood 6 to 5, In favor of Bellevue, with the ball on their fifteen yard line and In the Medics’ possession. Only ten minutes of the second half had been played and the locals were rapidly advancing the ball. They claim that had the trouble not started the final score would have stood 30 to 6 in their favor.Immediately following the investigations Tuesday morning the medical students held an indignation meeting and severely censured a morning paper for what they termed was an inaccurate account of the trouble. It was asserted moreover, that this morning paper had always given their college the ragged edge in every report of any kind concerning them. They claim that this is done because the college will not pay the paper for the accounts of football games. It Is also known that an employe of ap evening paper, In addition to rooting for the strangers, recognised Clark and proceeded to misinform the Bellevue coach, thus bringing about the trouble between the two teams.Death of John St ant.(Special to Tt» Star.) utan. Neb., Oct 30—John Slant, resident of this city, died yesterlt;3 and was buried In the German cemeti south of the city. The Rev. M. Mil of St. John’s church preached the i neral sermon.
Newspaper Details
Lincoln Daily Star
Lincoln, Nebraska, US
Tue, Oct 20, 1903
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Dale N.
NE, USA 04 Mar 2021
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