The most daring robbery that has been perpetrated in Chicago in many months, in which a jeweler, his clerk, and two other men were seized in broad daylight, bound hand and foot with rope, held prisoners, and menaced with revolvers, while gunmen robbed the safe of $25,000 in jewelry and money, occurred recently.
The scene of the robbery was the North Avenue loan bank and jewelry store, 517 West North Avenue, founded six years ago by Max Klein and Max Spear. An important part of the business is loaning money on jewelry, and all the valuable pieces were in a safe in the rear of the store, which was looted. The four men who were seized, bound, and held prisoners while the men packed the loot in a suit case and got away were Max Spear, partner and manager; George Kacker, clerk; Charles A. White, customer, who entered while the robbers were at work, and[Pg 61] Frank Dallas, a saloon keeper, who came in to get change for a twenty-dollar bill.
All four victims remained bound hand and foot in the little rear office for forty minutes while the money, watches, rings, bracelets, necklaces, and other jewelry were taken from the safe by one of the men, while the other robber kept a gun close to their heads. They saw every detail of the robbery, and finally watched the robbers depart.
Says 150 Hens Equal Six Bales of Cotton.
“One hundred and fifty hens equal six bales of cotton,” is the economical equation demonstrated by George Echols, a farmer, of Brazos County, Texas.
Echols has a flock of 150 hens. He has sold, this year, $200 worth of eggs. Reckoning sales for the next two months, and adding sales of live poultry, making due allowance for eggs and poultry used by his family. Echols figures he will clear $300 on his flock.
Echols has a tenant who pays him $140 for the use of his farm land. The tenant’s crop this season is six bales of cotton, worth but $40 more than his rent. Under normal conditions the cotton would not net more than $360. The cotton required most of the tenant’s time since April and the feed of a team.
Echols says his wife devoted only about one hour a day to the hens. Counting the equipment of team and implements for growing cotton, and contrasting the investment in chickens and poultry houses, Echols declares the gross figures prove 150 hens are equal to six bales of cotton.
Egg-laying Contest Closed.
The third international egg-laying test, held at Storrs, Conn., is concluded, and every poultryman should be interested in the few following facts: