Los Angeles herald., 1907-05-30
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Booty
Amateur Posse Goes on
Trail in Search
of Thugs
Robbers Wore Handkerchief on Faces
and Are Described as Being of
Usual Tall and Short
Variety

Armed with heavy revolvers and ex-
hibiting quality of nerve which has
never been excelled in the annals of
crime in Los Angeles, two masked
highwaymen held up and robbed car
No. 249 on the Euclid avenue line at
Stephenson and Indiana street at 7:45
last night. From Conductor ]. ]. Ma
han S36.25 and a gold watch was taken,
in money was secured. There were no
passengers on the car.
After committing the robbery the
highwaymen jumped from the car and
ran down Stephenson avenue. No at
tempt at pursuit was made for some
time, and when it was taken up twenty
minutes later all trace of the thieves
had been lost. The police were notified
and Detectives Hosick and Zeigler were
detailed on the case. The officers went
to the scene and instituted a thorough
search, but could find no men answer
ing the descriptions given of the rob-
bers who committed the crime.
The robbery occurred at the end OF
trict which offered an ideal setting for
the commission of a crime of this ma
ture The car, one of the old style
affairs, stops at this point for ten
minutes before starting on the return
trip. At 7:05 last night it arrived there
and the conductor at once sprang to
the ground for the purpose of turning
the trolley. Motorman Grove removed
his controller and went to the opposite
end of the car. AS he stepped aboard
a tall man, wearing a dark suit and
having the lower part of his face COW
cred with handkerchief, jumped to
the platform from the opposite side.
"Throw Up Your Hands"
The muzzle of large revolver was
showed toward the motorman by the
new arrival and a gruff voice ordered
the carman to throw up his hands.
Grove made haste to obey and the
robber at once began searching his
pockets. First he jerked from Groves
vest the large gold watch Grove wears
and which the robber hastily exam
ined. He then returned it with the
remark that a watch of that make
could be too easily identified and con-
tinued his search through the re-
mainder Of Groves pockets. In an
inside pocket of the motorman's coat
the thief found a pocketbook contain
ing S. He examined the pocketboolS,
a distracted the coin and returned the
purse.
heine. enacted on the rear platform of
the car The second robber, a man
much shorter and lighter than the first
robber. but dressed in the same man
ner and wearing a handkerchief in
manner similar to his comrade, had
n
bis hands and relieved him of $36.25,
all the money the street car employe
carried, and a valuable gold watch and
gold chain. This second robber scarce
" spoke while committing the rob-
herv. beyond ordering Mahan to throw
up his hands.
After each man had completed rob-
hing his victim the two thieves sprang
to the ground and disappeared.
Confused by their experience the
conductor and motorman stood for a
few minutes gazing at each other ana
then ran to the nearest house for as
sistance. Word spread among the res
idents in that section that daring
street car robbery had been committed
and soon a posse was formed for the
purpose of seeking the robbers. Sew
eraI of the men accompanied the car
on it's return trip, expecting to pass
the robbers on the way, but no one
answering the description Of the thieves
was seen.
No Trace of Robbers
Under different leaders the remainder
of those who had gathered searched
through the vicinity, but no trace OF
the robbers could be found. /
Word was then sent to the central
police station and Detectives HosicK
and Zeigler were sent out and instruct
ed to bring in all suspicious characters.
It is thought by the police that the
thieves were either yeggmen or tough
Mexicans. They base their opinion on
the fact that the part of the face whicn
had been left exposed in each case was
yery dark, and that the hair was long
and appeared unkempt.
HThe experience was one L DO not
careSto repeat" said Conductor Mahan
last night. "The men were cool ana
daring customers and we ,, had no
chance to fight them off. They ap-
peared to me to bee old hands at the
game, as they showed no excitement,
but went at their work as II they