Camas Prairie chronicle. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1901-1917, 1902-07-11
BOLD ROBBERY IN C0LFAX
GAMBLING HOUSE THE LOSER
Lone Robber Gets Away with $500
Nearly Dozen Men Were Lined
Up Against WalI-BOldest Crime
Ever Perpetrated in That City
Safe Emptied.

Colfax, Wash, July THE Richelieu
saloon and gambling house was held up
and robbed OF $500 by lone robber at
2 o'clock in the morning. Nearly dozen
men were in the saloon at the time and
all were lined up against the wall with
their hands above their heads while the
lone robber went coolly about his work.
1t was the boldest crime ever committed
in Colfax. The robber was masked and
carried two murderous looking revolvers,
both of A caliber and poked these famil-
iarly in the ribs of his victims as he gave
them orders which were readily obeyed.
The robber was evidently an expert at
the business and was the coolest man
in the house during the progress of the
robbery.
Charles Schultz is proprietor of the sa-
Loom The games are owned by Phillip
Love, who was in Spokane when the rob-
berry occurred. As Schultz was the prin-
cipal actor in the drama, aside from the
robber, the story is best told in his words.
Mr. Schultz said:
1t was between /: 80 and o'clock. l
was standing behind the bar talking to
Jim Manson and Hank Sparks and was
leaning with my elbows on the bar and
my chin on my hand. / did not hear the
outer door open, but the inside screen
doors swung open and glanced around
the two men and looked directly into two
big guns. They we're held by man wear
ing black cloth mask which covered all
his face and had holes for the eyes. He
said: Hold up your hands, We all held
up our hands and he marched Manson and
Sparks through the door leading into the
room where the tables were and kept me
covered with one gun all the time. There
were seven or eight men in the back room.
He made these all line up with their faces
to the wall and their hands up.
"The robher then went to the roulette
table and began scraping the money off
in sack. He took all the money from
the three tables in the room and searched
all the men, some of them twice. He
took no money from the men, but seemed
to be hunting for arms. After he had
finished getting the money from the tables
he ordered the men not to move. Two
OF them, Hank Sparks and George Gerlitz,
looked around over their shoulders and
each received knock on the head with
one of the guns. The robber turned to
me and said: Here, you big fellow, Ill
do business with YOU He then poked
one Of the guns in my back and the
other against the back of my neck. The
gun barrel was cold and his hand trem-
bled a little so that the muzzle of the
gun rubbed up and down on my neck.
1t made me nervous.
"He marched me to tbs front end Oh
the saloon, after telling the Others that
he had two fellows with him and if any
man moved it was death, and made me
open the safe. / told him / did not
know the combination, but he made me
open it and took out all the money. One
drawer that locks with a key and con-
tanned insurance policies / tried to keep
from opening, but he made me open it
and went through the papers. In the
back end of the drawer he found pri-
waite sack containing sos belonging to one
of the dealers.
"He poked me in the ribs with one of
the guns again and marched me back to
the rear end of the saloon and made me
stand with my face to the wall, saying
as he did SO: If you attempt to move
I'll blow hole through your heart, and
gave Inc another poke to show he meant
it. Both guns were at full cock all the
time and he kept his fingers on the trig-
gers. He then opened the drawers be-
hind the bar In one of them he found
my gun and said: We'll, this is pretty
fine gun. 1t will come handy in my bus
mess. I'll take it along The gun is a
al caliber Frontiers Colts.
''The fellow backed toward the door
sayings If any man moves inside of 10
minutes he is a dead man. He opened
the door and disappeared. George Gerlitz
and Charles Ochs were in the toilet room
and say they saw the shadow of three
men go out, but no one else saw more
than the one man."
All Others who were present at the
time agreed that but one man did the
work, and it is not considered likely that
more than one. man was implicated, for it
is pointed out that one man would not
have undertaken such task alone if he
had confederates to assist HIM. The
money taken was mostly in silver and
was heavy load for man to carry.
Mr.. Schultz estimates the loss at about
$500.