COFFEE BREAK
Saturday, February 23, 2019
East Oregonian
C5
OUT OF THE VAULT
Milton youth foils his own kidnapping scheme
By RENEE STRUTHERS
East Oregonian
A 20-year-old Milton man who
attempted to extort money from his
wealthy uncle in April 1909 foiled his
own scheme when he lost his nerve and
confessed that a kidnapping plot with
himself as the victim was a complete
hoax.
Sam A. Miller, president of the Mil-
ton nursery company and former mayor
of Milton, received an unsigned letter
declaring a mysterious “we” had kid-
napped his nephew, Leonard A. Raup,
and were holding him for $1,200 ran-
som. Miller was directed to take the
ransom to a railroad track east of Milton
at 11 p.m. on April 5, 1909, to a point
where he would find a dim light. He was
to deposit the money there and turn out
the light, then return home to wait for
his nephew’s release before reporting
the incident to police. Failure to com-
ply with the instructions would result in
the burning death of Raup and also the
death of Miller’s young daughter.
Miller immediately dispatched a
copy of the letter to Umatilla County
Sheriff Til Taylor, then withdrew the
ransom money from his bank with
every intention of complying with the
kidnappers’ demands. Sheriff Tay-
lor and Deputy Bert Wilson drove to
the scene of the ransom drop to inves-
tigate. They returned to Miller’s house
just before the kidnap victim appeared
at 8:15 p.m.
Raup declared he left his boarding
house April 3 and was on his way to
town to buy tobacco when he was kid-
napped by two Freewater men, who
took him to a straw stack. He escaped,
he said, while his kidnappers were
drinking and playing cards.
But Raup’s guilty conscience got
the better of him. He came up with the
kidnapping scheme himself, wrote the
ransom letter and hid for two days in
a deserted house on his grandfather’s
property. But a dust and wind storm
the day of the ransom drop-off was too
much for Raup’s nerves, he confessed to
a representative of the East Oregonian
during an interview.
Raup said he had found himself in
a bit of a financial difficulty, and came
up with a scheme to get money from
his uncle to square his accounts. He
had planned to skip town if the ransom
scheme failed. He denied any intention
to hurt his cousin, and said he intended
to make a full confession to his uncle
the night of the ransom drop-off but
manufactured his escape story when
he found law enforcement was already
involved.
Raup was arrested by Sheriff Taylor
and brought to the jail in Pendleton to
await action of the grand jury. He pled
guilty to attempting to extort money
from his uncle on April 15.
DAYS GONE BY
100 Years Ago
From the East Oregonian
Feb. 23-24, 1919
There is a report in circulation here today that Harry
Samuels, the 19-year-old boy who has been in the custody
of Sheriff T.D. Taylor since Saturday, has confessed that he
killed Omar Olinger, the store keeper near the tanks south of
Milton, who was found murdered last Friday. The evidence
is known to be very strong against the boy. Sheriff Taylor
and Deputy Blakely went to Milton this morning to investi-
gate a few things that remain to be cleared up in connection
with the case. According to reports in circulation and which
appear well founded though not officially confirmed, Samu-
els claims that he killed Olinger during a quarrel.
50 Years Ago
From the East Oregonian
Feb. 23-24, 1969
“I’ll go if you will go with me,” said Karen Bounds to her
mother-in-law, Doris Bounds, and that was all it took for the
two Hermiston women to arrive in Hong Kong, China, five
days later, Doris told the Business and Professional Women
at their meeting last week. A call to the travel bureau, inocu-
lations, and the two were off on a 22-hour plane trip to Hono-
lulu, to Tokyo where they were greeted by the “Vienna Waltz”
on the intercom, and on to Hong Kong. It was the middle of
the night, a day ahead of Oregon and seven hours time differ-
ence when they arrived. Captain Roger Bounds, U.S. Army
pilot, husband of Karen and son of Doris Bounds, arrived on
rest and recreation leave in Hong Kong two days later.
25 Years Ago
From the East Oregonian
Feb. 23-24, 1994
A Umatilla County grand jury indicted Damon Petrie on
nine counts in connection with his escape attempt last week
in which a Stanfield police officer was seriously injured. Fol-
lowing the arraignment a date will be set for Petrie to enter a
plea on the charges of attempted aggravated murder, first-de-
gree assault, escape, first-degree burglary, two counts of
first-degree theft and felon in possession of a firearm. Petrie,
from the Bend area, has a long criminal record and was on
parole when he was arrested in Stanfield. Residents of Stan-
field seem more interested in the recovery of Petrie’s vic-
tim, Butch Parrish. Yellow ribbons have been placed all over
town to show support for the injured officer and his family.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
On Feb. 23, 1954, the first mass
inoculation of schoolchildren against
polio using the Salk vaccine began
in Pittsburgh as some 5,000 students
were vaccinated.
In 1685, composer George Frid-
eric Handel was born in present-day
Germany.
In 1836, the siege of the Alamo
began in San Antonio, Texas.
In 1848, the sixth president of the
United States, John Quincy Adams,
died in Washington, D.C., at age 80.
In 1870, Mississippi was readmit-
ted to the Union.
In 1942, the first shelling of the
U.S. mainland during World War II
occurred as a Japanese submarine fired
on an oil refinery near Santa Barbara,
California, causing little damage.
In 1945, during World War II, U.S.
Marines on Iwo Jima captured Mount
Suribachi, where they raised two
American flags (the second flag-rais-
ing was captured in the iconic Associ-
ated Press photograph.)
Thought for Today: “The essential
conditions of everything you do must
be choice, love, passion.” — Nadia Bou-
langer, French composer (1887-1979).
Universal Crossword
Edited by David Steinberg February 23, 2019
ACROSS
1 ___ mignon
6 Wild way to run
10 Android programs
14 Formally change
15 Actress Polo or Garr
16 Champagne stopper
17 Stops smoking
abruptly
20 Cross swords
21 Choose
22 Pollen-averse dwarf
23 Feel ill
25 ___ of Congress
26 Of a certain age
35 Annoy
36 Contemptuous smile
37 Mario’s sidekick
38 Colorado ski area
40 Enero is its first month
41 Rim
42 DeGeneres who
voiced Dory
44
47
48
51
52
53
57
59
63
66
67
68
69
70
71
Puccini classic
Dwarf with glasses
Completely relaxed
Bill of Rights count
“Solo” director
Howard
Appends
Wolf’s home
Yale grads
Third part of an
identifying expression
Abdul-Jabbar’s sch.
Roof overhang
Prehistoric diet
Working hard
Facial sites
Perry of Medea fame
DOWN
1 Help page lists, briefly
2 “My turn”
3 R2-D2’s princess
4 Catch slyly
5 Highest-scoring NFL
plays
6 Sitting on
7 Liquefy
8 Chicago airport code
9 Tacky art
10 National Park
measure
11 Trendy fish salad
12 Commander in chief,
informally
13 Blue-bottled vodka
18 Quarterback Kaepernick
19 “___ we meet again”
24 Tax org.
25 First word in a clue list
26 Skin care giant
27 Unwritten tests
28 Aptitude
29 Tidy up
30 Salami type
31 Word before “card” or
“stick”
“TAIL FEATHERS” By Trent H. Evans
sudoku answers
32
33
34
39
43
45
46
49
50
53
54
55
56
57
58
60
61
62
64
65
Youngster, informally
Some frozen waffles
Nephew’s sibling
Summer zodiac sign
Unacceptable
___ asada
A long time ___
Sight and smell
“Sometime ...”
Greenish-blue
Tear channel
Surrealist with a
surreal mustache
“Go fly a kite!”
Opera star
Just manages, with
“out”
Conversational pause
Frozen drink brand
Hershey’s toffee bar
Small dog’s perch
Like the name “Bill”
for a creditor