Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1902-07-12
BOLD ROBBERY IN cOLFAX
GAMBLING HOUSE THE LOSER
- Robber Gets Away With $500
Nearly a. Dozen Men Were Lined
I'm Against Wnll-Boldest Crime
Ever Perpetrated An That City
safe Emptied.

colfax. Wash, July THE Richelieu
saloon and gambling house was held up
and robbed of $500 by a lone robber at
o'clock in the morning. Nearly dozen
.an were in the saloon at the time and
III were lined up against the wall with
their hands above their heads while the
lone robber went coolly about his work.
i was the boldest crime ever committed
i colfax. The robber was masked and
carried two murderous looking revolvers,
both of "A caliber and poked these famil-
;arly in the ribs of his victims as he gave
tbem orders which were readily obeyed.
The robber was evidently an expert at
tba business and was the coolest man
in the house during the progress of the
robbery.
Charles Schultz is proprietor of the sa-
loon. 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:
It was between 80 and 2 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 were 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 q 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, I'll
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 little so that the muzzle of the
gun rubbed up and down on my neck
1T made me nervous.
He marched me to the front end OIL
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 key and con-
tanned insurance policies | tried to keep
nom opening, but he made me open it
and went through the papers. In the
back end of the drawer he found a pri-
vate sack containing sos belonging to one
OF the dealers. na% i;
He poked me in the ribs with one of
she 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
Ill blow hole through your heart, and
gave me another poke to show he meant
IT. Both guns were at full cock all the
ume 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
hne gun. 1t will come handy in my bus
lness. I'll take it along The gun is a
Al caliber Frontiers Colts.
The fellow backed toward the door
saying: If any man moves inside of 10
minutes he is dead man. He opened
1he 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
ls pointed out that one man would not
nave undertaken such task alone if he
mad 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
8 $l5GO.