Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-11-03

thicket, Chief Drew leading the way. He
piloted them along COW trails, across ra-
vines and through brush, which in order
10 penetrate they had to crawl on their
hands and knees The Chief got CT the
trail himself several times, familiar as he
was with the vicinity, and they had to re-
trace their steps.
Finally, however, after crawling through
a very dense thicket and up little bill,
they found themselves on a little plateau,
which for en- area of about thirty feet
square was clear of trees and brush:
"Ah here we are" exclaimed Chief
Drew, pointing to little cabin which
rested snugly in the foliage at the east end
of the retreat. Now, Just take a look
around you, gentlemen" continued the
Chief, "and see what splendid hiding
place this is. Nature seems to have cut it
out for the very purpose for which it was
used.n
AN IDEAL RETREAT.
The others looked about them IN amaze
ment.
In the center of the space was the fire.
place. and hanging ABOUT on the trees were
pots, kettles and other cooking utensils. A
large fruit-box, bottom side up, was near
the fire place, and upon it were two pairs
of knives and forks, Two china plates, two
cups, and two rusty tin pans. Their con-
dition indicated that they had been left
just after g meal.
Some soiled and ragged articles of cloth
ing were found lying about the place, and
among them was pair of pants, which
the Chief said be could swear had been
worn By Shinn on various visits to the
Brighton postoffice Two pairs of old cast
of brogens were also found in the clearing.
They were Immediately recognized as regu
lation State Prison shoes, and were no
doubt the ones worn by the desperadoes
when they escaped from the San Quentin
prison.
Some fuse was found hidden under the
bushes, and also bottle containing some
powder.
MAY HELP NELSON.
Chief Drew found among 9th er things
postofice key. This may be the identical
one which was taken from Davis at the
American river bridge robbery, and may
assist the authorities considerably in cor
roborating Shinn's statement and proving
poor Nelson's innocence.
The cabin was next inspected. 1t was,
so Shinn says. bailt by him and Dorsey
early last winter. 1t is very fair piece of
work, considering that neither of the out
laws was carpenter, that they did not pos
sess proper tools TO work with, and that
they had to steal such odd pieces of lumber
as they could lay their hands on. 1t is
built on the rough board finish" plan, and
the ra7ages of the wind and rain was kept
out by newspapers pasted on the inside
and pieces of gunny sacks stuffed into the
crevices. 1t is one-room affair, about
twelve feet by ten, with one door and one
little window.
A bunk built up on legs about three feet
from the floor was on one side of the room,
and in it were found several blankets and
quilts and two straw pillows.
A novel stove had been erected in an
other corner of the cabin. It was made of
large galvanized iron kettle, turned bot
tom side up, with hole in the bottom for
q stovepipe, and another hole in the side
to admit the fuel. The stovepipe consisted
of several joints of stone sewer pipe. This
stove was IN all probability used only for
heating purposes.
FINDING EVIDENCE.
The flooring was torn up and a number
of articles found which might have served
es evidence had not Shinn made his con-
fession. Some writing paper of the same
kind on which letters were sent East by
the outlaws (some of which are now in
covered.
All of the newspapers pasted on the
walls were of November, 1899, dates,
which was about the time, Shinn says,
they completed the cabin. a gun-rack
was secured to one of the walls, and bot.
tie of gun-oil, cleanipg-rods and other arti-
cles for keeping an arsenal in repair were
found.
Officer Arlington, in rummaging about the
place, found highwayman's mask. 1t was
very simple in its construction, being
strip of barley. sack cloth about eight inches
vide by twelve inches in length. Two
holes for the eyes were cut in the cloth,
each end, so that the mask could be Sc
curely tied above the head. One of the
officers tied the mask on, and the reporter
had a chance to see how effectively one of
these Continuance can conceal a PERSONS
face. Not feature could be seen, save the
eyes, as the cloth hung down below the
chin. The cloth being loosely woven, like
all 5sgging, no difficulty is experienced by
the person wearing the mask in breathing
A thorough search was made by the Off
GERS in the brush surrounding the cabin, in
the hope of finding some hidden booty, but
nothing was found.
The party returned to the city in the
afternoon, bringing in a number of the
articles found and arrived at the Jail in
time to learn that detective Hume and
Warden Aull were on their way down
from Folsom with the news of Shinn's
sensational confession-the details of which
were published at length in the SUNDAY
UNION yesterday.