The San Francisco call., 1898-01-05
PRISONERS
 TAKEN FROM
 AN OFFICER Masked Men Relieve BIaine's Marshal
 of CaptiVes. Hustle Two Thieves Over the British Colum bia
 Boundary. Resolved Not to Await the Usual Slow Process of
 ExtraditiOn. FEARED A JAILBREAK. The Culprits Hurried to a Canadian Jail, Where They Will Be Held
 for Trial.
Resolved Not to Await the Usual Slow Process of
 Extradition.
FEARED A JAILBREAK.
The Culprits Hurried to a Canadian Jail, Where They Will Be Held
 for Trial.
Special Dispatch to Tn. Call.

TACOMA, Jan. 4.-Blaine, on the boundary line between Washington and British Columbia, has a sensation. Masked men on Sunday night held up the City Marshal and compelled him to surrender two important prisoners. Strange to say. the prisoners were not liberated, but were hustled across the line to British Columbia, where they are now in custody. The whole affair is shrouded in deep mystery. but the explanation seems to be that the masked men were citizens of Blaine, who are determined that thieving in that section must be stopped and who were unwilling to await the slow process of extradition, for fear the prisoners would escape or would be lib- erated on habeas corpus proceedings.
 The two prisoners are supposed to be implicated in the burglary of Traps hardware store at New Westminster last week, when several hundred dol lars worth of property was taken. They were being held at Blaine, where they were arrested on Friday evening, awaiting the arrival of British Colum- bia officers. The latter were either slow to act in requesting extradition papers or were depending entirely on the ruse that succeeded so well.
 At about o'clock Sunday evening City Marshal Ratcliff, as was his cus- tom, took the prisoners from the jail to a nearby restaurant for supper. On returning, before reaching the jail, a dozen masked men suddenly sprang from behind vacant building, cover ing the Marshal and his deputy with revolvers, commanding them to hold up their hands. The officers recog- nized at a glance that resistance would be folly and quickly compiled with the request. One of the masked men blew a whistle. A conveyance drove up, into which the prisoners were loaded, and were then driven across the international boundary line, where British officers were con- veniently waiting to make the arrest.
 The officers feel sore over the man. ner in which they were relieved of their charges. and, while they have no proof they are satisfied that the hold up was the act of the citizens com mittee, which in the past has made Blaine too warm for men with no visi- ble means of support.
 The officers recall the fact that not long ago the city jail was broken into and two petty thieves taken out, stripped of their clothing and whipped with blacksnakes until their bodies looked like raw beef. Tn this instance there is very little doubt as to the guilt of the prisoners. person who perchased some of the stolen property identified them.
 The occurrence has created great in terest on Puget Sound and reminds old-timers of the method formerly em- plOyed in arresting smugglers who had crossed the straits to Victoria Snug gling not being an extraditable offense the only remedy possible was to get an intended prisoner intoxicated at Vic toria and bundle them aboard a boat for Port Townsend, where he was locked up. In this instance the British Columbia officers had willing allies in the citizens of Blaine