The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 24, 1904, Page 4

HIGHWAYMAN AUST HE KNOWS ALL CONCERNING RECENT R Detectives Find Discrepancies in His Story and Are Some Inclined to Doubt of It. the young highway- Austin Hooper, and former t, who was ar- | sted with Carson, alias | * Jast Sunday night at San | gavE s the eral « laims participated m‘ f the Colonial Club in ht of February 12. the confession d war- San Francisco have Authenti to the se from | Hooper | 1 claim te is taluma his er his re January home in that town of his moth: three days raided. was interviewed Marin County } day pris & d by the youth nconsister several particulars. | S b at Hooper’s statement 1 by puerile desire to glorify m found in- » be revenged the Sau- that Hooper crime with ¥ i xt man, whose r < ine to divulge. L they kn¢ whe I = H AVS ! Carson was { Club affair, as he was t released from San Quentin | INCONSISTENT STATEMENT. ng to Hooper's story he joined | vhe eft prison on Janu- n all to Los Ange- s "his cc ts with the report from n Los An- r working ¥ ated i co, wher 1 th they e Colonial Clut at he was to Colonial Club but when ques-| ve Wren on this point | ated and contradicted him . And id that d them, the t hinted 4 . ve in their : > case in the : sctive agency. hat was the last heard of one of the | Ragay al record until | r nfession restored it to pub- | t stopped the prac s city is shown by yesterday, when e made for th: the men arrested | ng, described by ms (o be | ment see the concer me can be p little to w know S 1 have well with une fa- nd while his two ips and Johnson, went vears each, he acquittal. On n was heard of in Jose red a sentence nty jail there. ns, Pt s, Ph petty of six mor DISCE THE OONFESSION. | | | | [ Police of This City of Hooper's Dishelieve ssertions. Some hus e police of this city have | heed to the San F 1 ring the afternoon Captain | s Martin ridiculed the idea | n Hooper might have tion with the "wlflm:\” during the evening nt and referred all | ant Detective WARNER'S REMEDIES. \ WEAK KIDNEYS, CAUSE MORE SUFFERING AND; DEATHS THAN ALL OTHER | DISEASES COMBINED. | 1f the kidneys are out of order the whole syst 1 is hf‘ und to suffer. Head- | . rheumatic twe r. const drowsiness, troubles ing. cloudy ur when it stands 24 hours, that your kidneys have r months, and if not ed without delay. Bright's betes, uric acid and blood poi- MADE HEALTHY BY SAFE CURE. Warner's SBafe Cure is al olutely the | ly complete, permanent, safe, home e all diseases of the kidneys, liver, r and blood. It soothes inflamma- | airs the delicate tissues and re- | to the whole entirely of' harmful drugs and is Prescribed by doctors | sed successfully in the leading hos- fifty years, Cures where all At all drug stores, or direct, 36 cents and $1.00 a bottle. | REFUSE SUBSTI1UTES AND IMITATIONS. They are worthless and very often ex- | seedingly dangerous. Ask for Warner's | Bafe Cure; it will cure you. | Our doctors will send free advice and] council to any one. Write fully and in | confidence. Medical booklet free. Ad-| dress Warner's Safe Cure Co., Roches- | ter. i the l WARNER'S SAFE PILLS move “owels gently and aid a speedy cure. he | gave Wren, who assumed charge of the mat- ter early in the day. Martin at first persisted that Hooper's statement was fa He said that Wren, upon his re- turn from San Rafael, had told him that Sheriff Taylor's prisoner was at- tempting to gain notoriety and that while he believed him responsible for the other crimes he admitted having committed, it was hardly possible that d any connection with the club robbery in San Francisc When Martin wa ked if he would make any effort to apprehend any of the men Hooper implicated, he replied that he would not. “This fellow is only trying to get a little more criminal fame for himself,” IN T NEOITEAN Stor B PP | | Crreles CoRso A~ ALBS Aok 7y~ i HOOPER MAKES CONFESSION IN WHICH HE AVERS OBBERY OF THE COLONIAL CLUB N the Marin County Prison young Austin Hooper, who was arrested at San Anselmo h.ft Sunday for the burglary of a saloon at Sausalito, is making confessions that are so at vari- ance with one another as to bring.discredit upon them from the detectives of San Francisco. He stated that he participated tn the recent hold-up of the Colonial Club in this city, but when questioned by Detective Wren he contradicted himself so flagrantly i t the officer disbelieved his entire story. At a late hour last night the young criminal sent for a Call representative and said ‘he tvas not directly implicated in the Colonial Club affarr, but knew the men who did the work and voluntarily gave their names. As they are the men who, he says, shot and otherwise abused him Sunday wight, it is logically inferred by the police that his narratic of accusation was actuated by a desire to avenge his wrongs by having them arrested. Hooper's original as- severation that e was one of the five masked men that “held up” the Powell-street clubhouse was weakened by The Call's discovery that at the time of that desperate crime he was residing at the home of his mother in Petaluma. -+ said Martin, “and we do not propose to let bats frighten us. Detective Wren to understand when he re- turned from San Rafael this afternoon that Hooper was lying, and I refer you him. One thing T do know, and that is that Carson could not have been there. He w released from San me to Quentin until February 15, and th date of the Colonial Club robbery was subsequent to that.” Detective Ed Wren discu »d the matter of h sit to San Ral The sleuth ys he went there for the pur- pose interviewing both of the men || arres for the Marin County robber- | |ies. Wren is emphatic in his asser- | tion that Hooper had nothing to do | with the Colonial Club hold-up, but he admits that the man behind the bars intimated that he knew all about it. Wren says that after;a se examination he called Hooper tion to many discrepanctes in what he offered as a statement. “In the first place,” says Hooper declared that he was the cus- todian of the diamonds stolen from the clubrooms. I asked him if he had been engaged in the actual theft, and he | replied that he had not. After a few moments’ conversation the prisoner mentioned n Jose Blackie," ‘English Dick’ Referring to him- self as a principal in the crime, when he was a little off his guard 1 asked him who the fifth man answered that it might have been him- self. When I asked him to explain his many contradictory acsertions he re- fused to do so, and from that time I branded him as a fabricator.” Wren further declares that the men accredited with the club hold-up might have been of other crimes, but their whereabouts is very uncertain at the present time, and if the statement of Captain Detective Martin be true there will be little effort made to take them into custody. Martin is of the cpinion that the Co- lonial Club was entered and robbed by men that were closer connected with it than, the ex-convicts whose names come from Marin County. Though no arrests have been made nor clews se- cured, the idea of a confession on the part of a daring criminal seems to b= scoffed at, and, as Wren puts it, un- less Martin so orders him he will not try to catch the three other men. HOW THIEVES WORKED. Hooper Tells of Incidents Relating to His Last Crime. This is a verbatim copy of the con- fession made by Austin Hooper yes- terday to the Marin County authorities concerning his participation in the crime for which he was arrested: My name is Austin Hooper, and I reside in Petaluma. There were four of us engaged in this robbery—English Dick, from Seattle;’ a man named Blackie, Shorty and myself. Last Friday I met English Dick in the Everything for a Penny Place on Market street. He told me he knew a place in Sausalito where there was a game running, and that we could get, 1 think, $8000 or $10,000. agreed to meet him at the ferry and take the 10:20 boat. met him there with Shorty and Blackie. At Sausalito Dick told Shorty and me to ride as far as San Anselmo and walk back to Sau- Wren, | was, and he | with Hooper in his series | of | we got as far as | salito, which we did @ t ito Shorty and I h rotable at n Jo they took the made me ch a sweater, part of my pa Dick and B Blgekie stood at ck stood down the street, op- stable. Shorty a1 followed and left the sa right outside. went { e residence part, and we ! they stopped. Then I put on ain and threw. the oth ey didn’t chai ) a landing a boat and went to it as I had made a study T told them steering gear, and e tank. We then kie went in erry landing, threw their clothes awa. told me to get When 1 met’ th Franeisco. The n the same boat, spoke: we all kept apart. At the n Francisco Dick and I got on the Kot off at Kearny Blackie took the 7:30 boat from San Fran ciseo for Petaluma. We all planned. o %0 to turday night to rob the shoe fac- cted that the men would’ be between $500 and $700. | | | ferry in | car _together an Petaluma We e: | tory paid that @ht 1 met k at the ferry again about ba)f- | past e over alone on the 11 o'clock boat san Rafael. Shorty and Dick eame | over on the next. My instructions were - to | hire & livery rig and meet them on the road for Petal T got the rig in San Rafael; met them about two-blocks from the stabls and drove the two of them to Petaluma. At Novato we tried to get another horse, but could not. Near Petaluma. at the draw- bridge, Dick zot out and walked the rest of | the way. Shorty and I drove up to D street. | In town we met Blackie and Dick. We went to the factory. Dick stood on one corner, Blackie on the other; I staved In the rig and Shorty went Into the factory. He was_ to hold up the clprk and get the mioney. Dick and Blackle had their weapons drawn. Shorty returned and said: ‘‘There is no money; the men are not being paid off.”" We then went to Sonoma, expecting to be able to rob a saloon that had three nickel-in- | the slot machines full of money. On the road we | stopped at the saloon, but got no opportunity to commit the robbery At Sonoma Shorty | put the horse and rig up. I went to bed Sunday morning, at half-past 7, we started to walk for San Rafael. Dick and Blackle | kept about a_mile ahead all the time. Shorty and T arrived in San Rafael about 10 . m. About ten blocke north of the broad-gauge de- pot we met Blackie and Dick. We then agreed to go to San Francisco, Dick and Blackle by the electric road, Shorty and I by the steam road. Dick and Blackie left us for the electric rallroad. Shorty went to the broadgauge depot to buy a ticket and then found out that no more trains left for San Francisco that night. When Shorty was com- ing back 1 noticed a man following him al- | most alongside. 1 started to walk and kept in the shade. I turned the corner in the shado | As 1 did so, T heard the strange fellow sa | “Is that you, partner?’ Then I -tarted to run. The fellow called me to come back. I ran as hard as 1 could and the first thing I knew 1 heard three or four shots and sald, “That fellow Is shooting at me.” T ran about a block and turned around and Shorty joined me and sald he bad lost his hat in a scuffie with this fellow. We circulated around back of the Hotel Rafael, down the road that crosses the c¢reek to the electrie road; walked up the track to the depot and again met Dick and Blackie. They told us they knéw of a sa- loon at the outskirts of the town that did-e 200d deal of business and that the proprietor would scare easily and that we could get his money. We_then agreed to rob the saloon. We got to Shannon’s place, passed the door and went beyond the light cast by the lamp. Shorty went inside and I stood right across the street, alongeide of Dick. We heard Shorty keep telling a fellow to put up his hands. Dick told me I had better go in, and T went over and looked in the door. Dick had &iven me two guns. They never. let me the guns, and I went and helped Shorty. know what h‘l?'p:nrd in there. er we left we all started for San An- selmo. On the way we saw a fellow comAl:‘ with a bicycle and we jumped the fence and ran over a plowed fleld. We got about a hundred feet and then stopped to talk. Dick and Blackie wanted us two to make another attempt in Sausalito. as we had robbed the wrong saloon. 1 said 1 didn't want anything more to do with the business; 1 was known In San Rafael and that my people lived near carry You xt morning | street. | Pl | but | o % 7 CRIMINAL CHARACTERS WHO ARE CHARGED BY THE POLICE 1 WITH BEING IMPLICATED IN VARIOU HOLDUPS AND ROB- | BERIES IN THIS AND OTHER CALIFORNIA CITIES. ‘ +7 — - — hete: and the others sald: “What is the| Sunday night he thought he was after I ome money | matter with you? You want | said I didn’t want any mor 1 was tired | and disgusted; 1 wanted to go home and be | decent; and - Blackie said, “No, I will be | you go home.” I started to run from | ped over the fence, commenced to | ! r d climb the hill. 1 could hear them | I fell. Blackie and Dick were | close behind. Shorty was shouting: “‘Cut it! out. Don't hurt the kid Let him go. H As 1 went to get up, I think, It was Dick |xoz hold of my hand as 1 lay on the ground, and Blackie then threw his arm around my | neck, and then 1 siruck out at Blackie, and | | then’one of the others shot. The bullet struck | me in the leg, here (showing place), then Dick Blackic ran down the hill and disap- peared, Shorty stayed there and helped me bind up the wound. The rest you Know. English Dick is one of the hardest crooks In the United States. He is an expert pistol ishot and carries these German automatic re- | volvers. He knows the efficieney of every po- lice officer and Sheriff in the country; knows the distance between eve town and all the means of travel He has plenty of money, showing us as much as $500. He is an expert prizefighter and is muscular. I believe and some others are implicated in the Turk- street robbery. At a late hour last night Hooper made the following additional state- ment to a representative of The Call: Now, let me tell you—don't be steered off by any go-called confession 1 made to having been in the Colonlal Club hold-up. 1 might have been and might not have been, if I had been there in time, but it just happened that 1 was not there and can prove an alibi. It don’t make any difference to me one way or the other what you =ay. My so-called confession is all right except the Colonial Club trick. Carson, of course could not have been there, as he only got out of prison last week. An- other thing you will notice—I never signgd that confession. I don't mind telling even of the past week. 1 am up against it, any- way, and will probably do life, but don’t ever | think I will plead guilty. 1 will give them a rum for their money. Further, in regard to the Colonial Club: 1 know about it and don't mind saying that and were there. Fahey was in on it, too, but neither the “Kid’ (Carson) nor I was there at_all. Detectivs Wren was here to-day and tried to implicate me in the Colonial. "Of course he Qid not tell me his correct name. - Said he was Mr. Brown, a_member of the club. That was all right. When a man thinks he is wise, don’t disturb his thoughts. I recognized him | just as soon as he came in the cell That is part of this business, never to forget faces and be acquainted with all of the offi- cers, 1 knew Sheriff Taylor well. I used to attend Mount Tamalpais Military Academy and met him then. Why the other night he drove by Shorty and me. He was in a buggy and had a shotgun. then dead easy, but murder is not in ms, {4 1 could Lave picked him | though I take no chances. A fellow in ' thi business has to be prepared to do_anything, and kill if necessary. 1 knew Tayvlor was after us and would kill us, but I let him pass. I have good parents and have tried many times to be decent, but I guess it's the ex- citement that kept me in the business. There was good money in it, too. Carson substantiated Hooper's ver- sion of the gang's operations. He stated that when Hughes called to him them, and took no chances. He said he shot to kill, and titought he got his man, as he saw him fall against the fence. He then ran. Carson left San Quentin on February 15, after doing | time for assault with a deadly weapon. He is an old pal of Engiish Dick, and came west with him. Carson and Dick made several hold-ups in Denver, Salt Lake and Seattle. He met Hooper in San Qu?fin and there their friendship originat Carson told Hooper of the | gang, he' says, and when the “Kid" left prison in January he immediately | Jjoined them in Los Angeles. This con- flicts with Hooper’s narrative. HOOPER ROBBED HIS MOTHER. PETALUMA, Feb. 23.—Austin Hoop- er came here soon after his release from San Quentin on January 18 and | remajned at his mother's home until a week ago yesterday, when he started for San Francisco. After his departure | from the residence, his mother discov- ered that he had taken her watch and a diamond ring belonging to his sister. The police were notified and they | caught the young desperado at the railroad station awaiting the south- bound train. They found the watch on his person, but the ring was art- fully concealed in the handie of a re- volver which he carried in his valise and he got away with it. His rela- tives were too pleased to get him out of town to insist on his arrest. A brother of Hooper visited San Francisco a few days later and met Austin, who told him that while jour- neying to that city he had fallen in with several ex-convicts 'from San Quentin, with whom he finished the trip and Had “a high old time.” He bought lots of drinks for them, he said, and treated them to dinner. He boast- ed to his brother that he had held up a woman in San Francisco and got quite a nice booty. The brother was sufficiently interested in the story to investigate it further, and found that on the date mentioned a woman had | street, about. 3 o'cloek ¥y + erday morn- after a desperate m was shot in ing were captured struggle and one of th the arm by James McMahon, a reomer | They are Joseph M. Wal- in the hous: lac years of age, and George Lang, 18 years of age. McMahon, whe occupies a front room, was awakened by the ncise of his window be opened. He saw Wal- lace as he was step to the room and asked him what he wanted. Wal- lace repiied that he wanted his money. All right, aid &dcMahon as he jumped out of bed, “here’s my clothes, and Uil go into the other room and get some more money from the old weman.” McMahon knew there was a shotgun in a room occupied by Mr. and Mrs. lugene Wright and he hurried into room. He told them there were es in the house and he wanted the Unfortunately, there were no car- sun. | tridges in the house, but McMahon was not to be balked. Clad in his pajamas, he ran out of the rear doer and along Jessie street to a saloon on the corner of Fifth strect. He asked the barten- der if he had any cartridges and was fortunate in getting two. He told the bartender to blow his police whisfle and ran back to the house. Policeman H. Wilson met McMahon, who told the officer to watch the front door, while he entered by the rear. As McMahon entered the house he saw | Wallace coming from the dining-room , into the kitchen. Wallace raised his revolver and McMahon responded by raising the shotgun and firing. Wal- lace threw his left arm over his face to protect it and received the charge in the forearm. Wallace turned and *‘Babe’” Curtin Again Gets Into Hands of Police. e — fled toward the front of the house. Mc- Mahon pointed the gun at Lang, who threw up his hands and howled, “For God’s sake, don’t shoot; I'm only a | kid@.” He also turned and followed Wallace. . Meantime Policempen M. J. Cullinan, F. C. Nobmann and George Small had heard the police whistle and had joined | Wilson. As Wallace and Lang sprang out of the front window the polic men grabbed hold of them. Wallac shoved the muzzle of his revolver into Cullinan’s mouth, but before he could pull the trigger he was clubbed and overpowered. Lang fought like a wild | beast and had to be clubbed into sub- mi Both Wallace and Lang were taken to the Central Emergency Hospital and after their wounds had been dressed they were booked at the City Prison on a charge of burglary. Wallace being detained at the hospital,.as his | arm may have to be amputated. While McMahon was hunting for car- | tridges for the shotgun the burglars entered the room of Mr. and Mrs Wright and stole a lady’'s gold wateh and $8 in coin. The watch was found on the street, where it had been threwn by either Wallace or Lang CURTIN Anthony Curtin, alias “Babe.” arrested at an early hour morning by Detectives Taylor a cahey and locked up in “the tan | the City Prison. He was out on 32000 bonds, awaiting his trial on a charge ! “BABE"” ARRESTED. vas yesterday 1 Mu at of burglary in Judge Cook’s court this morning. | The police have suspected that Cur- | tin was implicated in the holdups in saloons throughout the city par | riy the one at Thomas D. | phy's liquor store at Tenth and M | streets a w st Monday when the bartender was shot. ( | Martin detailed Detective Tay | shadow Curtin, who had a ¢ named “Dummy For | Taylor had been shadowing and from information he rece he was satisfied the suspect i hold up the bartender i son’s saloon at Seventh ts about 3 o’clock ye 1 Nei Curtin had been the loon £ Meyer Cohn at Seventh and Market streets on Sunday night, and the tender saw him seerete a revolver side the top of his trousers. He there, accompanied by his comy and went to Neill & Simpson's about 11 o'clock. The time was | dently not ripe for holding up the b | tender, and Curtin and his companion left. Taylor had been notified by Cohn’s bartender about Curtin and the revolver and that Curtin and his com- panion had gone to Neill & Simpson but while Taylor was telepho police headquarters for Mulcahey, Cur- tin and his companion left the saloon About 2 o'c yesterday morning Curtin, with his companion. dropped into Cohn’s saloon, and something mage Curtin suspicious. He ran | of the saloon and up Jones street, pur- sued by Taylor and Mulcahey H dropped a handkerchief in his flight which the officers picked sup. Curtin turned into Turk street toward Market | and Mulcahey ran down Golden Gate avenue to head him off, while Tay kept up the pursuit. He was captured by the two officers on Turk street, near Mason. When searched two strings hat could be used for tying a hand kerchief over his face and a revolver were found in his pockets. He re- marked that he was sorry he did not let Taylor “have it,” meaning, that offi- cer thinks: that he did not shoot him The “Dummy” made his escape. The erime for which Curtin will tried in Judge Cook’s court this mo ing is for entering the groeery and sa- loon of W. G. Schroeder, 925 Mission street, on March 28 and attempting to blow oven the safe. He was accom- panied by Clarence Franklin, who ha been tried and convicted, but not sentenced. At that time Curtin in ar- n left sa oon out yet fired "a shot at Special Officer Maloney. woman Nalure Mother’s Friead, by its our been waylaid and robbed, just as Aus- tin had stated. BOARDER SHOOTS BURGLAR. Two burglars who broke into the residence of Mrs. Lola Joakin, 341 Jessie have testified and worth its weight in 147 bottle of druggists, B said, “it is . Book contai valuable information mailed free. THE BRAD7IELD REGULATOR CO., Atianta, Ga. ADVERTISEMENTS. Is to love children, and no home can be completely happy without them, yet the ordeal through which the ex- pectant mother must pass usually is so full of suffering, danger and fear that she looks forward to the critical with apprehension and dread. penetrating and soothing properties, allays nausea, nervousness, and all unpleasant fgee];ing and so prepares the system for the s eal that she passes through the event safely and with but little suffering, as numbers other’s Friend