Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1907-07-20
MYSTERY Of THE BIG
c A 5 B A
ROBBERY
SOLVED BY CONFESSION OF
NEGRO SALOON PORTER
Part of Money Found Buried
Near the Riyer--W Warrant Out
for a Prominent Carlsbad
Man.
Especial correspondence Morning Journal !

Especial Correspondence Morning Journal |
Carlsbad, n. NJ, July 1G.-At 1880
o'clock today, 1899 and a tab tor
500 of the $1,000 that was stolen
from the safe in the saloon of So.
Schoonover. Sunday morning, June
30th, was. found buried about three
feet below the crest of the bank of
the Pecos river, near the p. V. and n.
Il. depot. The money was most all In
silver dollars and was in sacks under
about two inches of sand, I'm a little
hole scooped out by the hands of the
thief.
The money was located through in
formation furnished by NJ. M. Hum
phries, alias Kid Rice, a local detective
Of Hereford, Tex, who has been here
working On the case Independently.
AS soon as the money was located
Deputy sheriff w. Z. Lucas and j. n.
Ilewett arrested Joe Matthews, the ne
gro night porter, who was employed at
the saloon at the time of the robbery
and was later discharged by Schoon-
over. After being placed in Jail tn"
negro confessed and said he stole the
money and gave the name Of a young
white man who. he claimed. %instigated
the crime and entered the saloon and
too the money from the safe and
turned it over to him in the alley.
This man left Carlsbad on the morn
ing train II the officers decline 10
give his name until he has been ar
rested. He was a man thoroughly IA
mlliar with the premises and knew
the combination of the safe. The ne
gro says he carried the money to the
river In a bucket and that the hole
was dug by the white man with his
hands and he hurriedly emptied the
money into ii, and had moi been near
the scene since for fear Of being de-
tected. He claims the white man
promised him $500 for his part Of the
Job. but so far he had not received a
cent. The $500 that is missing is stili
unaccounted for. Eleven hundred dol
lars OF the money belonged to j. X.
Hewett. who conducted the gambling
i'm the saloon and S200 was saloon
safes hat belonged to S-choonoVer, the
owner of the bar.
Al the time Of the robbery some OF
the officers and many citizens We're OF
the opinion that the safe was rifled by
Schooner, the owner of the bar. but
the developments so far completely eX
onerate him.
-Schoonover has been a gambler and
saloon man all of his life and boasts
Of the fact that he is generally known
here as 1.-The Old Wolf"
For a long time he had a picture Of
a wolf painted on the door OF his sa-
loon, with the sign, The old Wolf's
Place" The fact that S~choonover was
suspected and the fact that he knew
IL, caused him to be very active in rum
ming down clues and he has been tire
less I'm his efforts to locate the guilty
parties and eNonerate himself. The
man that the negro says instigated the
crime and too the money from the
safe Is the man SchoonoVeT charged
with committing the robbery the day
n was discovered. Schoonovor told
Hewett, the owner of the gambling
privileges, of his suspicious the same
day, and Hewett armed himself n
got the young man In a buggy the
same afternoon and drove him out Of
the town limits and threatened to Kill
him if he did not give up the money.
The young nan Vehemently protested
his innocence and HeWett concluded
that he was the wrong man and re-
turned To town with him and told
S~choonover that he believed ne was on
the wrong trail. Al the time Schoon-
also thought the negro was an
ne would confess. The negro at tho
also protested innocence.
At the time OF the robbery SchOon-
over offered to make HeWetts loss
good. as the money was stolen from
his house. From the start many
prominent citizens including the
mayor. Arthur r. O'Quinn and G. NJ
cashier OF the First National
bank Uf Carlsbad. have contended ina
Schoonover had no guilty knowledge
Of the robbery.
S-'hoonovcr received many congrat-
nlations today IN proving his skirts
clear after being under suspicion. The
Of the case SO far has caused
n sensation here and further sensa-
.ional developments are looked f,r
the next three days.