From the Lawrence Daily World for July 26, 1910:

“The alarming number of robberies within the last few days has aroused the authorities to an active state of vigilance. Four burglaries within as many days has provoked an order from headquarters to watch all transients closely. The flood of wandering wheat harvesters is believed to be responsible for the numerous thefts reported over town…. May Knope, the 15-year-old daughter of Albert Knope, had gone to her father’s barn to assist in unloading hay. In some unaccountable manner her hand became entangled in the rope and she was jerked to the top of the loft, a distance of eight feet, by a patent hoisting device. No one saw the accident, and the heavy rope was kept grinding cruelly into her bleeding hand until her screams attracted attention, and the team could be stopped and the men in the party could climb into the loft and release her. She was hurried to town and given medical attention. The physician feared that blood poisoning would set in, owing to the hot weather, but it is believed that this danger is past and that no amputation will prove necessary. The hand is cruelly twisted and mangled and will likely be left permanently stiff.”