The Great Butter Robbery of West Street

Petty thieves on the waterfront still find the place a favorite and in many instances a profitable camping ground. Freight Agent Van Waters, of the Lake Shore road, had a long chase after a butter thief yesterday afternoon and finally succeeded in capturing him and turned him over to a policeman. The agent saw two men coming down West street and the larger fellow was carrying a tub of butter. They went into Metzer & Campbell's store, on West street near Seneca, and tried to sell it. Van Waters crossed over and asked the men where they got the butter. The larger one said: "We have a lot of it stored away uptown." The agent accused him of misrepresenting and denounced both as thieves. The small man turned and ran, but the big fellow was mad and wanted to fight. After a brief scuffle with the agent, the big fellow got frightened and he, too, ran, closely followed by Van Waters. He ran up Seneca street to Post, down Post to Spring, up Spring to Second, and turned down. He attempted to go by Mr. Amos Brown, but the old gentleman put his foot out and the fleeing thief cut a figure in the air and brought up against the sidewalk on the end of his nose. A crowd of twenty or more toughs crowded around and urged the thief to fight, but Van Waters, who had caught up, held him down until Officer Purdy arrived and marched the thief to jail. He said his name was James Reagan. It was afterward learned the butter was stolen from John H. Agen, a West street merchant.