Liter - Tice
Source: Crawfordsville Daily Journal, Oct 11, 1907
While Tice Liter was coming to this city Fri. afternoon from his home No. of town he was halted by a Gypsy woman, who was one of a band of several of these rovers camped at the roadside. The hag motioned him to stop and not knowing what she wanted he did so. Quick as wink she edged between the wheels and asked him to have his fortune unraveled. He told her to stop kidding and get out of the way, but she was not so ready to easily give up a chance to make a strike of pay dirt. She told him how lucky he was and of more good fortune that was to be his in the future and was playfully gouging him on the pocket where he kept his wallet as she hinted at some dark secret. She must have been an interesting conversationalist or else had him in a trance, for when he had traveled a short distance down the road from the camp after she had finished telling his fortune he discovered that he had been robbed of two samoleons. He found this out by looking at his purse. He had four silver dollars when he started from home. He knew this. His inventory after being forced to have his fortune told showed but two silver plunks. To say that he was angry would be putting it mildly. He was mad as a hornet when he discovered that a lowdown roadside Gypsy woman had deliberately robbed him in broad daylight. Tice was not slow to act. He drove to this city and told the police of the treatment handed out to him by the lowdown gang. Officer Patton and he at once returned to the camp and nailed her about the theft and she gave up the coin. She stoutly maintained in a string of foul and indecent language that Mr. Liter had give her the $2 as a fee for telling his fortune. Of course her story is made of whole cloth for there is no farmer near this city who has a higher reputation for honestly than Mr. Liter. His integrity is unquestioned. It was a case where he was made the victim of a worthless vagabond. Officer Patton arrested her and brought her to town where she and her small baby were put in jail.. She was taken later in the afternoon before Justice MY Buck on a charge of profane swearing. She denied her guilt and was taken back to the bastille. Inasmuch as Mr. Liter recovered his money it looks like the best thing to do would be to tie a can on the bunch and make them leave the County. When the band of chattering gypsies found that Justice MY Buck had really committed the hog to jail who had so boldly robbed Mr. Liter, they came to their senses and could talk English quite fluently. They were clambering within a half hour to have a chance to pay the woman's fine and were given the opportunity and were told directly afterward by Officer Flyn to shake the dust of this County off their feet and to pass Crawfordsville up the next time they came this way. Justice Buck warned the leaders to get out at once and limited the time until 9 o'clock. The police drove the bunch of fawning vagrants out of the justice office. As they descended the stairway the jargon flowed like it did from the tower of Babel after the confusion of tongues. The police did not permit the grass to grow under the feet of the gang till they left the corporate limits of the city far behind. -- kbz