Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 115, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 May 1915 — FOUR ARE CHARGED AS CHICKEN THIEVES [ARTICLE]

FOUR ARE CHARGED AS CHICKEN THIEVES

Mother and Two Sons and Step-Son In Jail Here After Arrest at Thayer Thursday Night.

Mrs. Sarah Henley and two sons, Cleve and Claud, and step-son, Fred Huff, are in jail here on a charge of chicken stealing. They were arrested at Thayer Thursday night at about 9 o’clock by Constable Fred Fuller and a posse of deputies. The next morning they were brought to this city. For some time there has been a large amount of chicken stealing in and near Thayer and suspicion has pointed toward Huff, who is a trader .and junk buyer. He made his home with Mrs. Henley and family, who came to Thayer early in March from Hammond. Her sons are steel workers and when the mills shut down and there was no employment Huff induced them to come to Thayer, saying that rent was cheap and living cost much According to Mrs. Henley, who talked freely with the reporter at the jail, Huff has traveled about buying chickens and has frequently -bought them from gypsies and other travelers. They were sold in Hammond usually, Mrs. Henley going there to arrange the sale. Thursday evening Constable Fuller and several deputies went to the Henley home and according to Mrs. Henley they were armed with guns and acted as if they expected to meet resistance. Sue says they were very roughly used and that the constable stepped on her foot, jabbed her rudely in the side and cursed her. She stated that every part of the house was searched, that her trunks were ransacked and that the constable ran his hand into a barrel of flour clear up to the elbow and then shook the flour all over her son’s black suit of clothes.

The impression quite generally appears in Thayer that Huff and the Henley boys are guilty of the chicken stealing and in their capture it is believed that the practice which has been going on there for a long tinje will be broken up. It is said that residents of Thayer were able to identify a number of the chickens found in the park at the Henley residence. ■ „