Princeton, Sept. 15—Sunday morning about 1 o’clock an unknown man entered the home of Mr. and Mrs. George Howell by punching a hole in the screen door on the back porch and raising the wire hook. The party went into the sleeping room of Mr. and Mrs. Howell and got Mr. Howell’s trousers and carried them out on the back porch. Fortunately, there was only a small amount of change in these pockets. Then the burglar returned and went into the front room of the house where Miss Lila Stuckey was sleeping. While fumbling over the bureau and using a small flashlight, Miss Stuckey was awakened. At this time the burglar was only five feet from her bed. For a moment she lay there and looked at the low chunky-built man with a gray cap pulled down over his eyes. Then she raised up in bed and for a moment took a good look at him. She then lost her control and commenced to scream. All this time she had the push-button to turn on the lights almost in her hand, but fortunately for her she did not turn on the light. The burglar picked up her handbag which contained her wrist watch and some silk underwear, and leisurely walked out of the house around the rear and up the side of the house to the front and across the street under an electric light. One block from this corner was his partner with a car ready to roll.
This burglar entered two other homes within a block of this one. At one of these, $20 was secured. At the other three or four gold rings were taken. At this time the car moved away and their next place, they made an effort to get into the home of Joe Everett, colored. At this place the wife was at home by herself, but she had a gun and the powder was dry so she tried them one shot. They ran away from this place, but fired a shot back at her from a 38-steel jacket automatic.
From this place they went out of town to a small store operated by an old negro named Green Atkinson. They went into his sleeping room, got his keys and went into his store and helped themselves to something to eat and carried away several dollars worth of goods besides $2 in cash. The thought that worries Green is that he was lying there awake when the party came into his room but he thought it was his daughter who is troubled with asthma is is subject to getting up at all times through the night.
The first question which naturally comes is, where was the policeman? All this happened in the residential section of the town, and the policeman must necessarily spend most o f his time around the stores. The town officers earnestly request every home to prepare themselves for these thieves, and when you have a half chance to shoot, DON’T FAIL TO SHOOT –and SHOOT TO HIT.
From the front page of the Smithfield Herald, Friday morning, September 17, 1926
newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn92073982/1926-09-17/ed-1/seq-1/
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