Emmetsburg Democrat Emmetsburg, Palo Alto, Iowa 12 June 1912 CYLINDER SAVINGS BANK ROBBED Safe Blowers Secure About $1,000 in Friday Night's Robbery. Use Seven Charges of Nitro-Glycerine. ----------------------------------- ALEX CULLEN CAPTURES TWO --------------------------------- Sheriff and Deputy Clearly Outwitted Two of the Robbers and Land Them Safely in County Jail Quite a sensation was caused in this county Saturday morning by the news that the Cylinder Savings bank had been robbed by safe blowers, who secured about $1,000 in cash and had made good their escape. Sheriff CULLEN was called by 'phone about 2 o'clock Saturday morning. In company with Deputy McNALLY, Dan. HICKEY and Glenn BROWN they immediately started for Cylinder, by auto, making the trip in a little over ten minutes. After turning on the road south leading into the town they shut off the lights on the auto. They were informed by citizens that the robbers were still in the bank. Sheriff CULLEN placed a guard in the rear of the building and he started through the front window. However, no trace of them could be found. No one saw them enter the bank or leave it. The sheriff and his party traveled through the country for several hours but could not find any clew [sic] as to the whereabouts of the safe blowers. Entrance to the bank was made through a window in the rear of the building. Seven charges of nitro-glycerine were used before the money could be secured. The safe and the front of the building was blown to pieces. Charles McCARTY, one of the citizens of Cylinder, sat in a room in the hotel, about 30 or 40 feet from where the safe blowers were at work. He saw two men working on the safe and one man standing guard in front. It is his opinion that there were four men in the gang. One may have been watching the rear entrance. Mr. McCARTY was too frightened to make any attempt to scare the thieves away. We are informed he had a loaded 44 revolver close at hand. The seven explosions aroused all the citizens of the town, but no effort was made to stop the men at work in the bank. Saturday Sheriff CULLEN spent most of the day in the timber along the Des Moines river in the south part of the county, but no trace of the thieves could be found. Sunday afternoon a telephone call was received here that two suspicious looking men had stopped at the farm home of Peter HEARRITY and had asked for something to eat. Sheriff CULLEN and Deputy McNALLY immediately went out there. After leaving the HEARRITY home the men were seen going west on a cross road. The sheriff took a hay road leading across a field and got in ahead of the two men. The latter did not see the auto until it came over a hill close to them. Mr. CULLEN jumped out of the auto and covered the men with two revolvers, ordering them to throw up their hands. They were a little slow abut doing it and the sheriff shot close to the head of the older one of the two. He immediately dropped to the ground as if wounded. The younger man surrendered. The man on the ground put up one hand, but kept the other on the ground. Mr. CULLEN ordered him to put up both hands or to suffer the consequences. He finally yielded. When he stood up it was seen that the hand that rested on the ground was clasping an ugly looking revolver. They were immediately searched and taken to the county jail. They had about $326 in silver, gold and paper money with them. They admitted robbing the bank. They said that the night of the robbery they saw the sheriff and his party turning off the lights on the auto some distance to the north of Cylinder. They also said that the sheriff was within a mile of them Saturday. They were hiding in the timber near the Geo. CROOK farm. When night fell the two men that were captured started west, the other two going south. It appears that they had some kind of a quarrel over the division of the money. The men that started west got lost on the prairie and when morning came they were practically at the same place from where they started. They were hungry and stopped at the HEARRITY home and asked for something to eat, offering to pay for it. One man gave his name as Jim GLEASON. He is five feet, nine inches tall and weighs 140 pounds. The name of the other is Frank COLLINS. He is six feet tall and weighs 190 pounds. He is about 47 years of age. He has a slight scar on the right cheek and one hand is partly crippled. GLEASON is about 21 years old. A detective from the BURNS agency is here working on the case but he was not with the sheriff when the two robbers were captured. So far no trace of the other two members of the gang can be found. They may, however, be apprehended in a day or two. Cathy Joynt Labath Palo Alto Co, IA USGenWeb Project http://www.rootsweb.com/~iapaloal/paloalto.htm