The Midnight Ambush at Benton City
Two alert clerks scare off burglars at a local store, but their midnight pursuit ends in a stumble and a flurry of gunfire.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Last week, burglars made an attempt to rob the Kelso-Hughes store, which has been robbed twice in the past year. They were unaware of the presence of two young men in a room back of the store. Messrs. Weisenberger and Kellogg were awakened about three o'clock in the morning. After investigating they decided to capture the robbers. While Mr. Kellogg watched the front, Mr. Weisenberger went around the back way to catch them in the rear. Owing to the darkness, he fell over a box near the corner of the building; when he succeeded in getting to the front of the building, all he could hear was the retreating footsteps of the robbers. He fired several shots, but no damage was done. Citizens were loud in their praise of the young men's actions.
“Owing to the darkness, he fell over a box near the corner of the building; when he succeeded in getting to the front of the building, all he could hear was the retreating footsteps of the robbers.”
Benton City still struggles with the vulnerability of small-town businesses to crime, though the 'wild west' response of firing shots into the night has given way to modern security systems and community policing. The repeated targeting of the same store reflects the persistent challenges faced by merchants in sparsely populated areas.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.