100 years ago in Spokane: Burglar asks victims to leave more money; robber asks to be arrested

When grocery clerks arrived to open up the Exchange Grocery and Market at Fifth Avenue and Sherman Street, they found the cash register rifled.

They also found a note that read, “Dear sir, the next time we come, have more than 20 cents in the cash register, (signed) The Twin City Kid.”

Two dimes were gone, the Spokane Daily Chronicle reported, but 76 pennies were left untouched. The pennies were apparently not worth the Twin City Kid’s trouble.

However, there was evidence the Twin City Kid and his gang found a few other worthy items. They ate some cake, dates and candy, and drank two quarts of milk. They also stole some cigarettes.

From the crime beat: The U.S. Post Office inspector received an intriguing letter in his Spokane office.

“Come and get me, Mr. Government Agent, I done robbed the mail in Montana in 1917 and I ain’t had no sleep since,” said the letter. “… Please come quick.”

The letter writer signed his name Jules Ceaulle, and said he was working on a farm near Sheridan, Wyoming. A “heavy reward” had been offered for his apprehension, ever since the mail train had been robbed outside of Lewistown, Montana, in 1917.

Federal agents in Wyoming went to the remote farm. Ceaulle immediately walked out of the barn with his hands raised. He fainted momentarily when he was placed under arrest. But when he came to, he said, “Now I feel rested; that’s the first rest I’ve had in two years.”

He was taken to Montana to stand trial.