98 Years Ago
The March 4, 1926 Colorado Transcript reported that 27 School of Mines students had been charged with the theft of a wheelbarrow. The students were all members of the Kappa Sigma fraternity The wheelbarrow had been left at a site in Clear Creek Canyon where Golden Canal & Reservoir employees had been doing repair work on the Welch Ditch.
The superintendent for the ditch company said the company had experienced “continual thefts of tools, powder, etc. from the ditch.” Though the wheelbarrow was valued at only $10, the frustrated superintendent offered a $50 reward for information regarding its whereabouts. Thus inspired, a marshal soon located it in the Kappa Sig yard, and all 27 members of the fraternity were charged with its theft.
The fraternity offered to settle the matter out of court, but the ditch company refused. The boys entered a plea of not guilty.
When the case was brought before the district court the following week, the district attorney recommended that the case be dismissed, which the judge permitted.
