George Rue was robbed. It appears that the robbers got away with the crime. From The Ward County Independent newspaper. Those burglars cracked open the general store of Madson and Bugge and took items with the most value and the smallest in mass. Interestingly enough, the burglars left clues at the coal mine and the railroad tracks to tell me that they got away on a passing train. Based on an online inflation calculator, the value of the scarf that was dropped near the railroad would now equal $4,649.74. I guess the thieves did not know what they were holding. The town of Foxholm has a population of 75 in the 2010 Census.
The store owner likely did not have insurance. Nor, did he have the means to replace the items. This was a different time. The general store was the center of activity and resupply. I imagine the general store from “The Little House on the Prairie” television show and I think I am probably having a correct vision of town life in 1915. It was a simpler time, driven by the culture of farming or mining. The town is still small and the culture probably has not changed much. The crime that day was probably the biggest news around within 50 miles. It was probably a good idea to get on the next train out if the thieve wanted to get away, because one could never get away with this crime in that little town.
—–
Newspaper Clipping from: The Ward County independent. (Minot, Ward County, N.D.), 04 Nov. 1915. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn88076421/1915-11-04/ed-1/seq-1/>