The herald., 1898-03-14
GAGGED BY BURGLARS
A PAIR OF ROBBERS VISIT THE
LAGUNA SALOON
A BRAVE EIGHT-YEAR- OLD BOY
Little Frank Escallier Was Gagged
and Bound With His Father But
Released the Latter

Little Frank Escallier has the right sort
of stuff in him, and Saturday night showed
himself to be possessed of more grit than
the average man. The youngster was one
of the victims of the holdup at the Laguna
saloon on the Whittier road, two miles out
side of the city limits, where he and his
father were gagged and bound hand and
foot by two masked robbers. After the
robbers had secured about $S5 in money and
left the place, Frank crawled over 70 his
father and getting a knife cut him loose.
Mr.. Escalller was interviewed yesterday
about the occurrence and said:
II was sitting in the bar room reading the
latest news of the Cuban war. and my little
son Frank, years of age. occupied chair
close by me. 1 heard some parties coming
in, and supposing them to be customers l
got up and turned to walk toward the bar.
Upon turning round, however, was aston
ished to find myself confronted by two men,
armed with three revolvers and a billy.
threw up my hands. thinking 1t better than
to resist. as 1 had no gun near me. frankie
also stood up and the robbers then consult
ed as to the best methods of procedure. In
thS ihNahtiiiC Hdu tdhSu SOUu view VI
them and would probably be able to recog-
nize them again by their build and speech.
Both wore masks. cut out of white cloth,
with holes for the eyes. They ordered me
to go behind the bar and open the money
drawer, as they said they did not want to
create any unnecessary expense for me by
breaking the fixtures. I walked to the till
and opened it for them, both men keeping
me and the boy covered with their guns.
do not know exactly how much there was
in the drawer. but it could not have
amounted to more than $50, the days re-
ceipts, as 1 had that morning taken my
money to the bank in Los Angeles. After
they had put the money in their pockets
they made me stand out in the middle of
the room putting out the lamp which
hangs from the ceiling and sending frankie
into the rear room for a candle. They pro-
duced some picture cord, which they had
ready, together with three gags of different
sizes, which they told me were intended
for myself, the hired man and my boy.
after binding my hands and feet sepa-
rately they made me bend down and tied
my wrists and ankles together. They Sc
cured Frank in the same way, neslecting,
however, to fasten his hands and feet to-
sether as they had done mine. The rob-
bers then made a tour Of the house, but
overlooked a pair of trousers hanging be-
hind the bedroom door, the pockets OF
which contained about $50. They came
back and went through my pockets, get
ting $3.50 for their pains. and silver watch
of little value. In the course of their con-
versation, which was very polite, they
said they had been watching me for three
days and could not understand where ]
had hidden my money. 1 told them that
l had only that morning taken my cash
to the bank in Los Angeles. and had not
anything in the house other than what
they had already taken. AS they seemed
to be dissatisfied with the amount of their
would like a check, at which they laughed
and said a check was no good to them in
their business. which was run entirely on
cash basis. After making sure that
had nothing of further value In the house
they took two revolvers and a shotgun
from my room and put them in their buggy.
They then left and bade me goodnight, at
the same time saying they were sorry to
have Inconvenience me. After they had
been gone about a minute the shorter one
of the two came back with the fire arms
and left them on the bar counter. telling
me that they had no desire to rob me
of everything.
LAS soon as ! was sure they had gone
made signs to my boy, and he managed
to wrigGle over to where 1 was and get
my knife out of my pocket. With this he
cut the cords which bound me. and re-
leased him. l then went down to the
telephone at the Catholic cemetery and
notified the police. The men did not hurt
me at all and treated me with the utmost
consideration. have no actual clue, but
there are one or two parties of whom |
know that might be at the bottom of the
affair. My boy displayed more judgment
than did, for when they first came in he
begged me not to make noise, as the men
had guns and we didn't. One of the men
was Spanish. 1 should judge from his
speech, but the taller of the two spoke
good English"
Under Sheriff Clement and Deputy Sher-
if Guy Woodward left on receipt of the
information and made a careful investiga-
ton. No clues were obtained with the
exception Of the billy, made of a length of
rubber hose and filled with sand. The
work showed signs of being done by men
who knew their business, and everything
points to the fact that the men have taken
a straight road out Of the county. The
officers of the surrounding towns have
been notified to look out for the robbers,
a good description having been furnished.
1t is doubtful whether they will be ap-