Show FAMOUS HEADLINE HUNTER A A dollar bill by FLOYD GIBBONS THERE blots HERE are some things that money cant buy but th there ere are lots more things that you cant buy without money this is the story of the money a man have and how the lack of it almost cost him his life and its the story of a twenty dollar bill and how it came to the rescue of ignatius craig of bronx N NY Y and when I 1 tell you that brother craig produced that twenty smacker note at a time when he have twenty bucks to his name we well 11 that just makes it all the more puzzling As a matter of fact it sounds just plain impossible but heres the story and you can judge for yourself for six years ignatius craig owned and operated a grocery store and in that grocery store on a bitter cold night in november 1932 he had the adventure and the twenty bucks he have in came the two holdup hold up tip men it was late in the evening the last customer had left the store and he was getting ready to close up he stepped out from behind the counter to lock the door but before he could reach it two young men walked in one of them stuck a gun in his side and hissed get into the back room and if you want to live dont try any funny fanny stuff and he be did as he was told then while one of them held the gun on him the other took the money out oat of the cash register there was only thirty dollars in the register the second bandit looked at it and cursed says ignatius craig As a rule during the day I 1 would take the money out of the register and hide it in some part of the store just in case there was a holdup hold up that day I 1 had paid a sixty dollar grocery bill so the cash in the register was every cent I 1 had but the bandits must have known of or suspected my trick of hiding money gave him ten seconds to produce the fellow outside now came into the back room he walked over to me stuck his gun in my side and said where is the rest of the 4 owl you wont be the first rat weve shot dough the other fellow pushed his gun in my stomach well give giva you ten seconds to make up your mind he snarled then if you dont donl teu tell us where the rest of the money is well shoot you like a dog 1 I shall never forget the looks on those thugs faces I 1 knew they would make good their threat if I 1 produce more money but there was no more money in the store five seconds ticked by while I 1 stood like a statue terror stricken and afraid even to breathe then the first crook said you wont be the first rat weve shot either and dont make any false moves or one of these guns might go off before your time is up the clock ticked off a few more precious seconds still I 1 held my breath I 1 was in the worst predicament of my life yes ignatius craig was in a spot and well he knew it if he could only gain a little time his voice shook so badly that he could hardly get a word out of his mouth but he tried as best he could to explain why he had so little money in the store he even offered to show them the receipted grocery bill he had paid earlier in the day but all the answer he be got was another poke in the ribs from the muzzle ol 01 a revolver useless plea pica for mercy the terror in his heart was too much for him then and he broke down completely im a married man with a wife and kid he cried please for gods sake dont shoot me im telling the truth and the first bandit growled were not interested in your wife and kid see we know youve got money here and you can produce it or itu be just too bad that sounded like a death knell imell to the helpless captive how he prayed that a customer would walk in these men had murder in their hearts and it if he produce money he was done for yet he knew there a dollar in the place one of the men said ill count up to three then if you dont talk get plugged the other one said never mind the counting jack lets give it to him right bowl now and then suddenly ignatius craig had an ideal idea understand he knew there was no money in the store and I 1 know there was no money in that store both of us will swear it on a stack of bibles as high as an undertakers hat but nevertheless he said wait a minute I 1 have money theres a twenty dollar bill hidden under a can of tomatoes on the shelf right back of the cash register the bill satisfied them then one fellow nodded to the other they marched their captive out of the back room and made him point out the can one of the men lifted the can picked up the biu bill beneath it glanced at it and put it in his pocket the thugs pushed him into the back room again and one of them said we ought to shoot him anyway but the other said weve wasted too much time already leave him alone and lets get going then they pocketed their guns and walked calmly out of the store apparently satisfied at getting that extra twenty dollars that ignatius craig swears to you and I 1 swear to you that he have A call to the police brought no results the two men were never caught ignatius craig sold his business a short while later because he was afraid those fellows would come back you see all those bandits got was the thirty dollars in the register craig told the truth when he said he had no more money the twenty dollar biu bill under the tomato can was a counterfeit one that hed been stuck with and wanted to keep separate from the real money in the cash drawer bad money he says is usually hard luck to the one that gets it but not always ill swear t to this day that my life was saved by a counterfeit twenty dollar bill bili Q service |