The Union Daily Times

Two white highwaymen worked a clever ruse last night on the Asylum road and obtained $100 from a traveling salesman. W. B. Newell told officers that he was coming to Columbia in his motor car and was stopped by two men who pretended to be in need of a pump. He said he accommodated the strangers and his generosity resulted in a holdup which cost him $100.

Mr. Newell said he was a traveling salesman from Greensboro, N. C. He said he was near Smith's branch on the Asylum road at 8:30 o'clock when he was hailed by two men who were riding in a fine car. The men asked for a pump to force air into a tire and when the needed appliance had been offered to the strangers a gun loomed up and a holdup was in progress, according to the story told by Mr. Newell. The highwaymen took the booty, boarded their car and raced toward Colonial Heights.

City and county police were notified and a detail of county officers went north in search of the robbers. Mr. Newell described one bandit as being short and stout and the other as being tall and slender.--The State.