The San Francisco call., 1910-04-23
net is frightened
ABOUT SUSPECTS
Men Accused of Train Robbery
Shown to Have Sacramento
Connections
Tall Bandit" Is Identified as
Notorious River Front Char
acter in Capital
Especial Dispatch 10 The Call

OAKLAND, April 22.-By identifying
James Franklin" the taller of the
two railroad bandit suspects in the city
jail. as Frank H. Smith, a notorious
river front character of Sacramento
the police achieved today an important
step in fastening upon the prisoners
the robbery of the China Japan mail
train at Goodyear. near Benicia, last
Sunday morning. Casting aside the
alias of Franklin, which the tall sus-
peet insists is his name, the detectives
have proved that the man is Frank
Smith supposed postoffice looter, who
for year has been subject to the
surveillance of the federal authorities.
Smith was arrested at Sacramento
April 16, 1909. suspected of being i'm
plicated in the robbery of the Perkins
postoffice in Sacramento county. On
that occasion he was turned over to
the postoffice Inspectors. He was re-
leased through lack of evidence.
IDENTIFIED BY PICTURE
The identification was due to the
camera. The photograph of Smith.
then known to Captain of Detectives
Petersen as Franklin" was published
in The Call and there seen by Chief
Ahern of the Sacramento police. Ahern
recognized the face, and this forenoon
Petersen got the identification. He at
once got into communication with
Ahern and a rigid investigation of
Smiths movements for the last two
weeks was begun.
The fact that Smiths father is
boat keeper on the levee and that the
son is familiar with the river channels
is considered significant by Petersen.
Chief Ahern telephoned that two
skiffs have been reported missing from
the Sacramento river front 1t may be
that the Skiff abandoned near Marti-
nez was one of them.
An attempt is also being made by
Petersen and by the Sacramento police
to trace Hanson in the river city. Han
son, whom George Marsh, the engineer
of the China-Japan train, identified
positively as the shorter bandit, has told
the police that he was in a Sacramento
hospital and was discharged April II.
Captain Petersen has the record of a
man known as Owen Graham leaving
a Sacramento hospital on that date and
has requested a full investigation.
If Hanson can be traced to Sacra-
mento and back, or if he can otherwise
be definitely connected with Smith, the
against the suspects nearly completed.
HUNT ROBBERS PALS
Hunt for the two Martinez suspects,
the pals in the robbery who escaped
capture, is being kept up persistently.
Last night patrolmen of this city ar
rested four suspicious characters, who
are held for Identification or for re-
lease. The police are holding the men
because they answer the descriptions
of the pair who lived at the Martinez
farmhouse, who stole the dynamite
from the Alhambra valley store, and
who, after the robbery, covered up the
escape Of the real perpetrators.
Sheriff Veale is prosecuting the same
search in Contra Costa county. The
sheriff was told that two men answer
ing the descriptions of the Martinez
suspects were working at the Cowell
lime and cement company plant at
Concord. Veale went to Concord and
found the men, but they did not answer
the descriptions.