Los Angeles herald., 1906-07-09
CAPTURE
Of HIGHWAYMAN
BANDITS NAME AND DETAILS
ARE LACKING
Owners Of Hotel at Wawona Are Cen.
sured for Refusing to Give
News Of bold
Robbery
BY Associated Press.

| BY Associated Press.
! FRESNO. July S.---A special dispatch
to the Republican from Berenda to.
! night announced that the lone highway.
| man who held up Ave stages neal
| Advance Saturday afternoon had beer
| captured. The name of the bandit oi
| particulars of the capture could not be
ascertalned. The arrest was made al
| Wawona.
Powerful Influences are exercised al
| Wawona to prevent any details of the
| holdup from getting to the outside
world. The Washburns. who own the
hotel, the stage line and the toll road
| used every effort Saturday night tc
keep the news of this most sensa tional
| piece of road agency from reaching
| beyond the confines of Wawona.
! Several Of the passengers had writ
| ten out accounts of the hodup, but the
| Washburns went to them, begging and
| threatening to keep them from being
| filed.
The first authentic information was
| received in Fresno at 1880 o'clock to-
| night when j. f. Tibbet of Riverside
who with his wife and Miss Amy Mich
clbacher had come out of the valley.
He stated that he had prepared for
the press a long account of the SEN
sational piece of banditry but the
Washburns had pleaded With him until
he destroyed it.
Are Still Excited
Tibbet and party had arrived at
Wawona last evening at o'clock on
his way out just al the affrighted pas
sengers who had passed through the
thrilling experience with the gentleman
of the road had reached Wawona.
There was still great excitement and
fINn &C
sengers were wracked to the point of
prostration.
The robbery occurred six miles from
the stopping place at Advance, on the
Yosemite side. At that place the road
winds around the side of a hill and
comes to sudden point. Right at this
point the robber stepped out and Or
dered the driver of the first stage to
stop. The driver was w: A. Palmer. a
veteran of the road.
The bandit had the drop on the
driver, and the latter did not hesitate to
complying. The rule of the WASH
burns on their stage line is that the
drivers cannot GO armed, and they are
forbidden from making any show of re-
Sistance to the demands of a highway
man.
The highwayman wore a battered
white hat and wore black calico
iil'oh' llC lldNl SeiChS TUE dDOuI his I6tL
to prevent the leaving of any tell-tale
tracks as clew for the pursuing posse
Maintains crouching Attitude
The passengers could not get a good
look at him, as he maintained a crouch
ing attitude, leering upward at the
affrighted people. He held in his right
hand a Winchester rifle, old style
| about the vintage of '73, and about a
26-barrel. He was a man of middle
| age. fN
When Palmers stage, every seat of
which was occupied, wound around the
turn the Winchester was thrown into
the drivers face and he was command
ed to halt. The man behind the mask
and the gun told him to pull to the left
and ordered the passengers to alight
on the right side, facing the outer edge
Of the road. The passengers were great
ly scared.
The women screamed but the robber
emphasized his order and they all
quickly got out Of the stage and lined
up on the outer side of the road with
their hands held above their heads. H.
w. Elliott from Hornitos was ordered
to take the express box from the stage.
The driver at first said he did not
have any express box, but it was taken
out by Elliott and carried to the brush
The robber asked how many more
stages were coming up and was told
three or four.
Breaks Safe Lock
While he waited for them to come up
he shot the lock off the Wells Fargo
box and rifed it's contents. None of the
passengers knew how much it con-
tained but it is said that it did not
contain a large amount of money
The stages were travelling close to-
gether, just far enough behind to miss
one another's dust and the bandit stop
ped each one the same way. Lining the
passengers up and keeping them COW
cred with his gun, which he kept NOV
ing up and down the human line, and
spreading terror in every heart at each
swoop of the rifle.
The passengers on the first stage
were the worst frightened and as soon
as the other stages turned the point
it quickly dawned upon the passengers
to see what was going on.
The fact that the people already lined
up were not injured however gave
more courage to the subsequent ones,
who took their places in the highway
mans line with more composure.
Selects Girl Assistant
When all were lined out the bandit,
with a show of gaiety selected young
and pretty girl as his first assistant
and told her she was appointed col
lector She hesitated moment and he
said gruffly, Here. gal. mean bus-
ness" and she. without further cere-
mony, went about the work.
The bandit all the time was whipping
the gun across the line of the crowd.
cautioning all to part with their money
and valuables under penalty of severe
treatment. The girl did not come up
to the robbers requirements. and after
telling her that she was a id poor
highwayman," ordered her to get back
in the line. He appointed man to
take he: place.
He required the man to search the
passengers, but in doing so the drafted
collector passed the whisper to the
passengers as he searched them not to
give all their money and not TO mart