1929-01-17-sc-p13-breakin-to-return-loot
January 17, 1929 Spokane Daily Chronicle Page 13:
BREAK IN STORE TO RETURN LOOT
Merchant at Reardan Is Given Back Goods He Didn’t Know Stolen.
DAVENPORT, Wash., Jan. 17.—(Special.)—The Lincoln county sheriff has often been called upon to investigate burglaries, but Monday morning was the first time he was ever called upon to investigate} a case where a business house was broken into for the purpose of returning stolen property.
J. C. Driscoll, Reardan merchant, found upon opening for business Monday that some one had entered the store through a basement window, and on a counter in the store was placed bedding, trousers and other dry goods, cigarettes, cigars and several pairs of shoes that had been stolen from his store at some time, but which had not been missed. One pair of shoes had been slightly worn and beside this pair of shoes was a silver dollar to pay for the wear and tear suffered.
On the other side of the block at the hardware and implement store of Raymer Bros., the proprietors and employees were even more confounded to find at the back door of the store several gunny sacks filled with different small articles of hardware, bolts, fishing tackle, auto tires and tubes, goods which had evidently been stolen from the store on previous dates without having been missed, a total value of perhaps $150. Cost marks and other means of identification were still attached to most of the goods. No word of explanation was left in either case, nor has investigation cleared the mystery.
