There are ordinary farm thefts, and then there are crimes so strange they sound as though they were lifted from the pages of a wartime thriller.
In Brown County, Minnesota, in 1922, farmers were facing a new kind of nighttime raider. These thieves did not simply sneak into barns and chicken coops. According to county officials, they arrived in fast automobiles or trucks, silenced the watchdogs, stunned the animals with gas, and vanished into the dark with hogs and chickens before the household fully understood what had happened.
The newspapers compared the method to modern trench warfare, and it is easy to see why. Gas, speed, darkness, and surprise were all part of the attack. Even the farm dogs, usually the first line of defense, were reportedly left helpless for hours.
What followed was a series of raids, arrests, suspicions, and warnings to farmers that the old ways of guarding livestock might no longer be enough. In the farm country around Sleepy Eye, Sanborn, Springfield, and Hector, the thieves had found a chillingly efficient method, and the authorities were determined to catch the “gas thieves” before they struck again.
Thieves Gas Chickens and Hogs in Night Raids
BROWN COUNTY, Minnesota. — Utilizing modern methods of trench warfare, thieves are directing gas attacks against hogs and chickens of Brown and neighboring counties in raids conducted under cover of darkness, according to information reaching county officials.
The robbers travel in either high powered automobiles or trucks, swoop down on a farmhouse, gas the chickens or hogs, load the victims, and disappear rapidly into the night.
Even dogs, those trusty guards on almost every farm, are rendered helpless, by a squirt of gas from which it takes them hours to fully recover.
Gas Eight Hogs
Te last hog attack to be reported to officers of the law was that on the Vincent Zemler farm one mile east of Sleepy Eye when thieves, resorting to these tactics, seized eight fine hogs.
Mr. Zemler was awakened in the middle of the night by the barking of his dogs, but when he went outside they were quiet. No sooner had he returned to bed than he heard the loud exhaust of a motor truck. Thinking that it was nothing of importance, he did not get up again.
The next morning he found that eight of his hogs were missing.
Rob Hector Farm
The authorities believe that in this case the hogs and dogs were both gassed. In no other way can they explain the dogs becoming suddenly quiet and the success of the bandits in loading eight large hogs without deafening squeals awakening Mr. Zemler and his family. While it is not. Known what kind of an instrument the robbers use to spread their gas attack, it is something which evidently shoots the gas about the head of the animal so that it is rendered unconscious after a few breaths.
A similar theft to that staged at the Zemler home was perpetrated on a farm near Hector a few days before.
Thief Gasses Chickens
In the matter of stealing chickens, the authorities have evidence which is said to have been introduced at the recent hearing of Luverne E. McGoon, Springfield telegraph operator, who was sentenced by Judge I.M. Olsen at the Redwood County district court, to 90 days in jail for chicken stealing.
McGoon was caught at dusk with a sack of chickens under each arm on a farm near Sanborn. The chickens were in a dazed condition from the effects of gas, according to reports reaching the authorities, and it was several hours before they showed signs of life.
It was brought out at McGoon’s hearing that he had lived for a considerable length of time at Byron, Olmstead County, where he was an operator. He was then transferred to Sanborn and more recently to Springfield. After he had taken up his duties at Springfield, his family continued to live at Sanborn and he drove back and forth.
McGoon Is Arrested
A farmer residing near Sanborn, returning home about dusk, saw a strange automobile in his yard. Some distance away he noticed a figure approaching with a heavy load sack under each arm. When the stranger saw the farmer, he dropped his burden and rushed for the automobile. Frantically he endeavored to start the machine but without success. The farmer became suspicious and ran toward the car. The strange jumped out and disappeared into the darkness, abandoning his automobile.
Te license number of the machine was reported by the farmer and Redwood County authorities found that it belonged to McGoon. In the meantime, McGoon reported that his machine had been stolen. McGoon’s arrest followed and he was given his first hearing October 20.
It was pointed out by officials that gas makes the work of the thief much easier. Since through its use, dogs, chickens, and hogs can be silenced, and much more vigilance is essential on the part of the farmer himself. Authorities are ready to act vigorously with any gas thief who is apprehended.
Source: New Ulm Review. New Ulm, Brown County, Minn. November 29, 1922.
