The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-04-05
HELD UP m STREET, BOY SAYS
MESSENGER RETURNS MINUS
$3.50 OF FIRMS HONEY.


sayv He Was Attacked In Centre street,
Dragged Int an Empty stsre ana
Robbed-Three Highwaymen, says the
victim Employers Back Him Up.
Warren Smith. q messenger boy en-
ployed by Sargent 4 Co.. hardware manu-
facturers at ISL Leonard street, reported
TO his employers yesterday that he had
been held up by three men at i0is O'Clock
In the morning, dragged into an empty
store at 90 Ce;.t . street. and robbed OF
a $50, which he had drawn few minutes
before from the Mercantile National Bank
at Broadway and Dcy streets to meet the
weekly payroll Of the company.
The spot where the boy says he was
robbed Is pretty lively at that hour OF tie
morning, but all Inspector McClusky would
say was that II was possible for tho hold-up
10 have occurred as the boy described It.
The boy, whose home Ia at 2st Sixth street,
Brooklyn. II nearly 10 years old. and Is
small for his age. H has worked for
Sargent d Co. for eight months. For
some time he has been going to the bank
every Saturday morning. to draw the pay
roll money. The boy gets ~ a week. He
has never had any trouble before.
He left the office Of the company yester-
day morning with q check for 81 400. He
reached tho bank at ESQ and got the money
In one. two. five and tcn-dollar bills and
$50 in silver. The boy says he left the bank
and walked up broadway past the Post
Oftice, through City Hall Park. around the
fire house and then up Centre street. He
crossed over at Chambers street and walked
up on the east side Of Centre street.
ia -
he was dragged Is almost In the middle Of
the block betw, en- Pearl and Worth str, ets.
He was just about In front of the store,
according to the story he told after the
hold-up. when the two men griIpd HIS
arms from behind.
One Of the men, the boy says, struck him
in the mouth with his fist. and then the two
showed him Into the store. the door OF viii, h
When they got me inside Of the store
sail ia. boy. the man carr ed me back TO
the end OF the room and behind a stairway
Then another man came from some place,
i don't know where. He had q revolv>
and pointed It at me. II you make any
noise, he said. III blow your head or
Then the two mtn threw me en- the
floor and took the money from my pockets.
They left me $40 In silver. One Of the men
grabbed an old roller towel which was
lying on the floor and tied II around my
wrists. The other took q blue-bordered
handkerchi,f and tied II around my feet.
After that the man with the revolver 81 id:
If you make any noise for ten minutes
you are a dead one. II you know what's
good for yourself .you'u keep SILL 1hen
the three men left the store
The boy said that he recovered from his
fright in a second or two and soon worked
the handkerchief Oh his wrist, Then there
was no trouble in removing the towel.
oa d he sSs ee ss ran to ss
the head Of the firm. Mr.: Sargent immedi-
Atcly notified Inspector McClusky, and four
Central Once mon were assigned to the case.
The boy was able TO give a fair description
of only one of the men. He accounted for
this by saying that the two men who grabbed
him on the street kept behind him until they
got him to the back Of the empty store.
Then the man with the revolver appeared,
After that the two men threw him on the
floor and one Of them showed over his eyes
the peaked hat which he wore and told him
not TO remove 1t. Consequently, the boy
said. he only got look At the man who had
light-complexioned man. about Is years old.
with light mustache Besides the revolver,
he carried an umbrella. the boy said.
Mr.. Sargent declared that rs believed
McClusky said he had no reason to discredit
the story. He found only one discrepancy
In il, and that, be said. could be easily &C.
counted for on the ground that the boy
The hoy first told the inspector that he
had 5000 In one and two-dollar bills In the
inside pocket Of his overcoat The rest
OF the money, with the exception Of the $50
So. vs e.: rs 20, .a H' RSSss Of hs sssx
made an experiment and said that il would
be impossible To stun $500 in one and two
dollar blls In the inside pocket OF the boys
overcoat. but he had learned from the
bills, and md thsss Gould Rave been showed i in
the pocket.
The hoy also said that when the two men
FIRST grabbed him he made two cries for
help. No one was found. who heard the
boys cries or eaw him held up.
The three lofts over the empty store
are occupied. Right over the store is the
Costello Machine Works. At the time OF
the robbery three men were At work . at . the
were pasaing up and down stairs. No one
was found there who heard any cries.
The door of the store, however. was
found open { few minutes after the boy
employees Of the machine works came into
the building at about 20 minutes TO II and
found II open. He thought 1t unusual
and closed the door. Not long, after that
The lad was taken through that and tie
adjoining building, but couldn't find any
one that looked like the men who bad held
him up.
Inc COStelI0 Mac1ih6 WORKS people
keep the keys for the empty store and they
say they can't imagine how the door could
have been left open. They said that two
young men asked to look at the store
few DAYS ago.
The boy had q slight cut on his mouth
whore he said he had been struck. After
he had made q tour Of the neighborhood
With tho detectives he was allowed to 60
home.
KEOGHS DIVORCE SESSION.
No. ~~,,- -