Two articles that had no actual relation were place in juxtaposition to each other on this date. In the first, Charles Kyle was robbed at gunpoint in the 500 block of South Main. He was approached by a white man and a black man who asked him for a light, but then pulled a gun on him and relieved him of a money roll of 30 dollars. The police observed that there had been something of a rash of robberies in Bloomington of late and that because insufficient descriptions of the perpetrators had been given, they had been unable to find the men responsible. The Pantagraph observed that in yesteryear such robberies did not take place because people carried about their own protection in the form of pistols, and they carried their money hidden with a plaster on their chest. This was worded a little facetiously and I do not think that the reporter was trying suggest that this was a better solution to a problem.
The other report was of a prosecution taking place in the courthouse. The Beasley brothers were engaged in digging a drain between their houses. Also between their houses, was the property of Warren Bye. Bye was engaged in building a house upon the property. Earlier discussions had already taken place regarding the encroachment on the Bye property, but on the date in question, warm words were spoken and Alonzo Beasley resorted to his pistol. He shot five or six times at Bye, but fortunately missed. He gave as an excuse that Bye had raised his shovel at him and he feared for his safety. Mr. Bye was said to have objected to such antiquated, wild west behavior in a quiet neighborhood in 1916. At the trial later that month, the Beasleys got off scot free.
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