The morning call., 1894-03-31

thief named Schercliffe, who is serving a
term in the Nebraska petitentiary for
stealing $4,000 worth of diamonds, anG
an other man, whose name the Bee failed
to learn, committed the robbery at Wach-
horst's jewelry-store in this city. They
had been planning that and other jobs for
some time. TWAS decided 10 rob the Jew
elry-stOre first because it promised better
and quicker results with its trays of bril-
liants so temptingly near the sidewalk
And besides this they calculated that it
would be dead easy" thing TO rob the
store in the evening. about o'clock. an
hour when j street is almost deserted and
when nearly all the neghboriDg business
houses are closed.
Their plans worked to a charm. Ed
wards stood upon the 5 ide ,alk at the cor
ner of Third ard streets, at the Glee-
man House, under the electric hight, so that
he could command good view of the streets
in various directions to see that no one
was approaching. and when the coast was
clear he gave signal to proceed with the
work by dropping a handkerchief. The
actual robbery, he said, was committed by
the other three. Black entered the store
and held Clerk Gerach at bay with a re-
volver, Schercliffe broke the plate-glass
show-window with brick or bowlder, and
the ''other man" grabbed the ieweIry.
They went 20 a saloon in Washington,
Yolo County. and divided the spoils.
Black and Edwards buried their portion in
Golden Gate Park. San Francisco Ed
wards says he never got any of the jewels
and claims they were taken by Black.
Some of the jewels were afterward traced
to Ned Foster of the Bella Union Theater
of San Francisco. who said he bought
them.
In his confession Edwards told of trips
he aud Black had taken to the East and of
various crimes in various places which
they had together committed. They made
an unsuccessful attempt to rob bank In
ST. Louis, but the most startling part of
the confession was the story Of murder,
a case which had baffled shrewd police
officers of San Francisco.
Newspaper readers will remember a
murder committed in San Francisco in
1892, when two young men called at the
grocery store OF Henry Hillebrand, 1712
Eddy street, one evening under pretense
of making purchase. They asked for a
nickeps worth of knick-knacks and when
the grocer went TO get them one of the men
drew revolver, presented it at his head
and commanded him to give up all the
money he bad in the place.
Instead of complying. Hillebrand made
a rush to grab up a cheese-knife, with
which to defend himself Then the man
with the weapon shot him, after which the
robbers escaped. The shooting occurred
on the evening of October % and Hille-
brand lived until the 31st of that month.
The police ascertained that the murderers
had stepped into a drugstore near the gro
Gerry and telephoned to a livery-stable for
buggy. The buggy and horse soon ar
rived and were in readiness for the rob-
bers. After their crime they jumped into
the buggy ana drove rapidly away. The
police OF San Francisco were completely
Eaf1ied. They never got track of the mur-
derers
According to the sensational confession
made by Convict Edwards. the men who
attempted to rob Hillebrand and who
murdered him while he was defending his
property, were Schercliffe and II GRACE
Black.