100 Years Ago This Week: July 14-20

From The Indianapolis News, Tuesday, July 17: In response to the rise of stolen automobiles, the Hoosier Motor Club has organized an automobile theft committee. Since the beginning of the year, 277 automobiles have been stolen in Indianapolis, and all but 53 were recovered. At present, ten automobile thieves are in custody, and a truck load of stolen automobile parts were recovered in Marion, Indiana. A new state law makes it unnecessary to prove that a car taken unlawfully was stolen, which means joyriders will be subject to the same punishment as car thieves. Deputy Prosecutor Claris Adams recently declared, “In some parts of the country they have only recently given up hanging the horse thief, yet the horse thief is not as bad as the auto thief. He doesn’t steal property of such great value.”