Yanceyville Theft Foiled (1929)

The Bee (Danville, Virginia) 15 October 1929 (Page 1)

Quick Work By Woman Foils Theft

Yanceyville Telephone Operator Rings Subscribers and Gives Alarm

(Special to The Bee) Yanceyville, N.C. Oct. 15 --- Mrs. Mannie Patillo, the telephone operator at Yanceyville woke up the other morning to find herself a heroine for having prevented burglars from breaking into the store of A. L. Florance and looting it.

Along about 3 o'clock Mrs. Patillo heard some one twisting the knob on the street door leading up to her telephone office. Thinking it was some one who wanted to send a message she was on the point of asking who it was and what he wanted. But prudence counselled silence. In a little while she heard this marauder tinkering at the lock on the front door of Mr. Florance's store. Still Mrs. Patillo maintained silence. Presently the burglars got in their big car and circled around town a little returning again to the Florance store, going to the back door this time to try it. Finding this too hard, the again returned to the front door of the store and began to work on the lock.

At this juncture Mrs. Patillo began to ring some of the phone subscribers to give the alarm. The uninvited nocturnal visitors heard the phone bell and surmising what it was all about, they hastily betook themselves to their waiting auto and "lit a rag." And as Dr. Malloy and Dr. Gwynn and Mr. Florance were leaving their houses in answer to the call of Mrs. Patillo they caught sight of the big car going down main street and out No. 62 at a high rate of speed.

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