ROBBERY AND MURDER

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     Police Sergeant Hannah Slain by Two
               Desperadoes

      Sheriff Is Slightly Wounded

Owl Saloon Robbed by a Couple of Masked Men Who
        Kill Officer While Trying to
               Arrest Them


Sergeant Robert T. Hannah of 
the police force killed and 
Sheriff George W. Hubbard shot 
through the hand were the 
casualties following the robbery 
of the Owl saloon between 12 
and 1 o'clock Saturday morning.

	As near as those who 
were in the place can tell it was 
a quarter to 1 when two masked 
men entered the saloon through 
the rear door  from the alley.  
One was armed with a repeating 
shotgun and remained in the 
back room, where a roulette 
wheel and several other 
gambling games are conducted, 
and compelled the occupants to 
hold up their hands, while at the 
same time ordering them to face 
the wall.  The other continued 
through to the barroom, and 
pointing a revolver at the 
bartender, Fred Morris, ordering 
him to "throw up."

  As Told by a Witness

	Seated at a table in the 
southeast corner of the barroom 
was Paul Belque, who plays the 
piano in the saloon.  He had one 
elbow resting on the table and 
his head resting on his hand..  
While he observed the man 
enter he paid little attention to 
him until he heard him swear at 
Morris and command him to 
hold up his hands.

	Without making any 
noise Belque raised his head and 
saw a revolver in the hands of 
the holdup, which he was 
pointing at the bartender, then 
looking into the back room saw 
the man with the shotgun and 
the row of men faced toward the 
wall.  Morris was rolling a 
cigarette at the time near the east 
end of the bar and apparently in 
no haste to comply with the 
order of the man in front of him.  
Instead, he stopped, as if to 
reach for something behind the 
counter.  When he made this 
move Belque saw the holdup put 
one foot onto the railing in front 
of the bar and throw a leg on top 
of the counter, which position 
brought him immediately above 
the bartender, whom he once 
more ordered to hold up his 
hands.

	Morris was still slow to 
comply and continued to talk to 
the fellow, but raised his hands 
so that they were about on a 
level with his face and walked 
toward the center of the counter, 
where a revolver was lying on 
the shelf underneath.  With a 
curse the robber ordered him to 
walk out from behind the 
counter and into the back room, 
which the bartender at last did.

      First Alarm Given

	While this was going 
on Belque arose from his chair 
and started for the front door, 
taking another look into the 
back room as he was doing so.  
He saw the man with the 
shotgun move his weapon in a 
lateral direction, so as to keep 
the row of men in front of him 
covered, and then saw him 
lower the weapon a little, while 
with, the other hand, which he 
had now freed, he began to pick 
up the money piled on the top of 
the roulette wheel.

	Without waiting to see 
more, Belque ran out onto the 
street to give the alarm.  Being a 
stranger in the city he did not 
know where to police station 
was, and ran north in Twenty-
seventh street to the Grand 
Hotel which he entered and 
asked that a telephone message 
be sent to the police station, as 
the Owl saloon was being 
robbed.

         Another Gets Out

	In one of the several 
small private rooms back of the 
main gambling room were 
Walter Clifton and some others.  
Clifton saw the men enter and 
heard what was going on.  
Although it was a dangerous 
thing to do, he ran out of the 
room and through the back door, 
scaling the fence in the alley and 
across to Twenty-eight street, to 
the city hall.  In the office of the 
chief of police he saw Sergeant 
Hannah, to whom he hurriedly 
told what was transpiring in the 
saloon at the same time asking 
for a gun that he might assist the 
officer.

	Unfortunately there 
was no extra weapon about the 
place, but a man was there who 
had a revolver.  Mr. Clifton 
asked him for it, but the request 
was denied.  The man was 
Northern Pacific detective, 
named Hineman, who said that 
he would use it himself.

	The three ran out of the 
office, Hineman going north to 
First avenue thence east to the 
alley between Twenty-seventh 
and Twenty-eight streets.  He 
crossed the alley and took up a 
position at the east corner, 
between the sidewalk and the 
fence back of the court house.

	Sergeant Hannah 
turned south from the city hall 
and crossed Twenty-eight street 
into the alley between Montana 
and First avenues.  When back 
of the old Rademaker saloon he 
turned north and was at the end 
of the fence running into the 
alley between the Rademaker 
saloon and the Owl, when he 
was shot.

   Riddled with Bullets

By the time the sergeant had 
reached the place indicated the 
robbers had secured all the 
money in sight and marched the 
occupants of the saloon into the 
alley.  Here they halted them 
and forced them to lie on the 
ground face down, with arms 
extended in front of them, their 
heads pointed to the west.  One 
of the desperadoes was at the 
north end of the line, while the 
other was near the south, 
standing close to the head of 
Morris, who was the last man of 
the row at the south end.

	He heard Sergeant 
Hannah approaching and 
partially raised his head to see 
who it was.  He recognized the 
officer and heard the latter call 
out, "halt.," and then heard the 
fellow who was standing guard 
over him reply, "keep back, you 
_ _ _ _"

	Mr. Morris saw the 
sergeant shoot once, but thinks 
that he shot at the further one of 
the two holdups, as he is 
positive the office had not seen 
the one nearer to him.  The latter 
was only a few feet away from 
the sergeant and fired four shots 
at him with a revolver, while the 
other robber fired at him also 
with the shotgun.  Morris saw 
Sergeant Hannah fall and then 
saw the two robbers hurry up 
the alley.

	The bullet fired by the 
sergeant struck the ground at the 
feet of Morris and went  so close 
to one of them that when it 
imbedded itself in the earth, it 
moved the heel of one of his 
shoes.

 Detective Shoot at Robbers

	As the desperadoes ran 
up the alley they passed 
Hineman, who opened fire on 
them.  All of his shorts went 
wild.  One entered a telegraph 
pole a few feet north of him, a 
second one grazed the pole, 
while still a third struck a pole 
on the north side of First avenue 
and on the west side of the alley.

 They Make Their Escape

When the men emerged from 
the alley at the intersection of 
First avenue they crossed the 
later and ran east on the 
northside to the corner of the 
Grand hotel.  Here they 
hesitated for a moment and then 
ran back west again and when 
once more at the corner of the 
alley ran north through it and 
disappeared.

  Recognized by Morris

	Despite the fact that he 
wore a mask that covered his 
features, the man who paid his 
attention to the bartender was 
instantly recognized by the 
latter, as he is well acquainted 
with him.  At first Morris 
thought hem to be only joking 
and told him to stop his fooling, 
but finally realizing that it was 
anything but a joke played for 
time to enable him to get the 
revolver behind the bar.  He 
continued to talk to the fellow 
and several minutes elapsed 
before he could be induced to 
obey the order to join the men 
standing in a row in the rear 
room.  When at last he did so he 
also recognized the one with the 
shotgun.  The recognition was 
on both sides.

	After he had taken all 
the money he saw, the one with 
the shotgun, who acted as the 
leader, gave the order for the 
occupants of the room to 
proceed them into the alley.  
Morris was the last one of them 
to pass out the door and as he 
did so the man with the shotgun 
placed one hand on Mr. Morris' 
shoulder and gave him a pinch 
in a friendly manner.

	After the robbery hand 
been committed and as soon as 
he could, Morris gave the names 
of the men whom he said were 
the ones who did the work.  He 
said the one with the revolver 
was Ed Grady and other was 
Orton C. Moser.  Because of the 
familiarity with both he declared 
he could not be mistaken, but 
was positive in his 
identification.  He also said that 
a short time before the holdup 
"Jim" Grady, a brother and 
younger, had entered the saloon 
through the front door and 
looked around a moment or so 
and then left.  The supposition is 
that "Jim" was acting as a 
lookout for the others and 
finding the situation as desired 
gave them the signal to commit 
the robbery.

  Sheriff is Wounded

As speedily as possible Sheriff 
Hubbard, Mayor Foster and 
Chief Moorage were notified 
and they responded at once, at 
the same time sending out 
officers to scour the city for the 
robbers.

	With the knowledge 
gained from Morris the mayor 
and sheriff concluded to go the 
home of Mrs. Davidson, in 
South Fourth avenue and Thirty-
third street, where the Gradys 
were know to stop when in the 
city, expecting to find them 
there.  At first it was suggested 
that they take several men with 
them, for if found, the men 
might offer resistance.  Instead 
of doing so they decided to go 
alone, thinking that if they were 
there the men would make no 
show of resisting, but depend 
upon their ability to prove an 
alibi, as more than an hour has 
passed since the robbery and 
murder.

	Acting on this, they 
proceeded to the house.  Mr. 
Hubbard approached the front 
door and rapped.  "Jim" Grady 
responded and opened the door.  
He was asked if the other boys 
were there, to which reply was 
made by Grady that only he and 
the girls were at home, which he 
repeated a number of times.

Mr. Hubbard was not satisfied, 
but ordered the fellow to light a 
lamp and show him about the 
house.  This the "kid" as he is 
generally known, readily 
consented to do, repeating, 
"certainly, Mr. Hubbard, I'll 
light a lamp, but there is no one 
in the house but me and the 
girls."  While this conversation 
was going on and Grady was 
lighting the lamp, Mr. Foster 
remained on the sidewalk a few 
feet from the door, intending to 
watch the windows above.

He saw the light and leaving the 
door open, saw the sheriff and 
Grady go upstairs, where he 
next observed the light shine 
through a window and then 
heard Mr. Hubbard say, "What 
are you boys doing here?"  He 
next heard three shots, then the 
light went out and the sounds of 
a scuffle reached him and he 
heard Mr. Hubbard call for help.  
Before the call for help reached 
him, the mayor ran to the side of 
the house and saw two men 
jump out of a window.  He 
called on them to stop and one 
did so, turning partly around so 
as to face him.  Mr. Foster was 
unarmed, but thought to deceive 
the man and pointed both hands 
at him, as if holding a revolver 
in each.  It was light enough for 
the other to seen that he was 
empty handed and he ran in the 
direction of a shed back of the 
house.

	Hearing the sheriff's 
call for aid, Mayor Foster ran 
back to the front of the house 
and started to go upstairs.  He 
had taken only a step or two 
before he met a man coming 
down whom he grabbed.  At 
about the same time he saw the 
sheriff behind the man and that 
he, too, had hold of him.  
Releasing his hold on the fellow.  
Mr. Foster asked Mr. Hubbard 
whether he was hurt and was 
told by the sheriff that he had 
been shot.

	Sheriff Hubbard was 
bareheaded and requested the 
mayor to go upstairs and get his 
hat, which he had dropped in the 
melee.  In response to an order 
from Mr. Foster one of the girls 
in the house lighted a lamp and 
went with him upstairs into the 
room where the sheriff and the 
others had been.  He found the 
sheriff's hat, also a couple of 
others, two or three soft shirts 
and a shotgun lying on the floor.  
He picked up all of these articles 
and then made a hasty survey of 
the apartment and observed two 
bullet holes, one in the floor and 
the other in the ceiling, and 
returned down stairs

    Injury Not Serious

	Examination of the 
sheriff's person revealed a 
gunshot wound through the 
fleshy part of the right hand, 
with some cuts and bruises 
about the head.

	Mr. Hubbard said that 
when he entered the room 
upstairs he saw "Ed" Grady and 
Moser there, Grady had a Colt's 
automatic pistol in his hand and 
held the weapon above his head, 
at the same time ordering the 
sheriff to "throw up" his hands.  
Instead of complying, Mr. 
Hubbard jumped forward and 
grabbed Grady by the wrist of 
the hand holding the pistol and 
attempted to wrest the weapon 
from him.  He also secured hold 
of Grady's other hand and pulled 
both downward.  It was while in 
this position that Mr. Hubbard 
was shot.

	The sheriff secured the 
pistol and using it as a club, 
knocked down "Jim" Grady and 
then Moser, both of whom had 
jumped onto him.  Mr. Hubbard 
attempted to shoot, but the 
weapon refused to work, 
although he pulled the trigger 
three or four times.

	Because of the wound 
in his hand and the little time he 
had, together with the fact that 
he was kept busy defending 
himself the sheriff could not 
draw his own revolver, which he 
carried in the band of his 
trousers near his right hand.  To 
this chain of circumstances is 
probably due the escape of the 
two outlaws.

	"Jim" Grady was 
brought up town and placed in 
the county jail, where his head 
was sewed up by the county 
physician.  The blow given him 
by the sheriff had laid his scalp 
open.

  Moser's Narrow Escape

	Among those who went  
in search of the murderers was 
Under Sheriff Sayles.  Thinking 
that Moser would endeavor to 
go home, his parents reside a 
short distance up the Blue creek 
road, the other side of the river, 
Mr. Sayles secured a team and 
drove in that direction.

	When near the bridge 
he saw Moser riding a horse and 
ordered him to halt.  Moser put 
spurs to his animal and made a 
dash for the bridge.  Being 
unable to reach him, the under 
sheriff jumped out of his buggy 
and taking hasty aim at the 
fugitive with a rifle pulled the 
trigger.  The weapon failed him 
and again he tried to shoot, but 
with no better results.  After 
snapping the trigger several 
times more, Mr. Sayles re-
entered his rig and started in 
pursuit.

	At the Moser house he 
was told the young man had 
been there, but had remained 
only a few minutes and had 
ridden off on his horse.

   Clifton's Fast Ride

	Having learned that 
Grady and Moser had separated, 
armed men were sent in several 
directions to look for them.

	Among those 
dispatched was Walter Clifton, 
the man who gave the alarm to 
Sergeant Hannah.  Sheriff 
Hubbard secured a Northern 
Pacific engine for him and he 
was given a record breaking ride 
as far as Silesin, on the Red 
Lodge branch, as it was thought 
Moser was heading for the 
mountains in that direction.

	It being reported that 
Grady had crossed the 
Yellowstone east of town, the 
sheriff started men in the 
direction of Junction, near 
where the fugitive has relatives, 
as it was believed that he would 
endeavor to reach them and 
secure a rely of horses and try to 
get out of the country.

  Haul Made Not Heavy.

	As their reward for the 
robbery and murder the 
assassin's secured something 
over $200.  Apart of this 
amount, $63.50, was in a canvas 
sack and belonged to J. F. Wall, 
who runs one of the card games 
in the saloon.  A short time 
before the robbers entered the 
game was closed for the night 
and Wall's son, who was 
dealing, placed the money in the 
sack and handed it to the man 
behind the roulette wheel.  This 
and the money taken from the 
top of the wheel was all the 
desperadoes got, as they made 
no attempt to take anything from 
the men, neither did they touch 
the cash register behind the bar 
nor the drawer on the wheel.

	The men who were 
forced to face the wall and 
subsequently were forced to life 
on their faces in the alley, were 
Fred Morris, R. L. Nix, 
proprietor of the saloon, Walter 
Owens and a couple of 
strangers, supposed "hoboes," 
lounging about the game.

     Hannah's Wounds

	At the instance of 
Coroner Rinehart, Doctor 
Lindsey performed an autopsy 
on the dead body of Sergeant 
Hannah and found five bullet 
wounds.  One was through the 
stomach and emerging from the 
left shoulder.  Another was 
about three inches to the right 
and slightly above the 
umbilicus, another was in the 
left elbow, the point of which 
was shot away, while still  
another was in the first joint of 
the second finger of the right 
hand, and the last three inches 
back of the right hip.  All were 
made by bullets fired from a 
revolver, except the one near the 
navel, which was made by a 
charge of what seemed to be No. 
6 shot.
	If Mr. Morris is right in 
his description of the shooting it 
is evident that the man supposed 
to have been Grady hit the 
murdered officer each time, as 
he is said to have fired four 
shots, while the one believed to 
have been Moser fired only one 
with his shotgun.  His aim was 
no less accurate than that of his 
companion.

    Had Horses Waiting

	When it became 
daylight Saturday morning 
evidence was secured which it is 
believed went to show that the 
men accused of the double 
crime carefully planned to get 
away in case they were 
recognized.

	In a yard at the 
Davidson house a place was to 
be seen where a couple of horses 
had been tied, evidently for a 
considerable time, as was 
manifest from the surroundings.  
Marks on the ground also 
showed where the horses had 
been suddenly wheeled about, as 
by some one taking hold of the 
bridles and turning them sharply 
preparatory to mounting.

	Another piece of 
circumstantial evidence 
regarded as significant was 
learned Saturday morning.  C. 
E. Smith, who conducts a 
second hand store in Montana 
avenue, said that the night 
before "Jim" Grady had called at 
his place of business and asked 
for cartridges fitting a 12-gauge 
shotgun, saying he knew where 
there was a flock of wild geese 
and was going after them.  Mr. 
Smith asked him about his 
brother, "Ed," and was told that 
he was "out in Oregon."  Only 
two or three days before Fred 
Morris asked the "kid" as to the 
whereabouts of  "Ed," to which 
the "kid" said he was in Salt 
Lake.  These two contradictory 
statements are accepted as 
indicating a desire on the part of 
the more youthful of the two 
Gradys to make it appear that 
the other was not in the state, so 
as to throw off suspicions of 
complicity in a crime plans for 
which had then already been 
laid.

     The Inquest

	Saturday afternoon and 
evening Coroner Rinehart 
conducted an inquest at which  a 
number of witnesses were 
examined.

	Fred Morris, the 
bartender, repeated his story of 
the robbery and murder as 
already given earlier in this 
article.  He was positive that 
"Ed" Grady and Orton C. Moser 
were the men who committed 
the robbery and subsequently 
murdered Sergeant Hannah.

	R. L. Nix was another 
witness.  He could not tell who 
the man were.  He said that 
while he and the other occupants 
of the saloon were being 
marched out into the alley the 
taller of the two outlaws had 
stopped him and made a search 
of his pockets see whether he 
was armed.  Mr. Nix said he told 
the fellow be had no weapon, to 
which reply was made that he 
wanted to see if he had a gun.

	Nana Gaughan testified 
that she and her sister were with 
"Jim" Grady at a dance and that 
they went home together.  She 
also said that "Jim" left for a few 
minutes shortly before the 
murder and robbery and 
rejoined them.  She appeared to 
be willing to tell the truth, 
although she said she had not 
done so when questioned about 
the movements of the men 
earlier in the day.  They had 
been in the house only a very 
short time before Sheriff 
Hubbard arrived and said that 
just before the arrival of the 
officer she had heard some one 
quietly enter the house and 
cautiously go upstairs and into 
the room in which the struggle 
occurred afterward.

	The jury found that 
Hannah was killed by "Ed." 
Grady and Orton C. Moser and 
that "Jim" Grady was an 
accessory before the act.

  Funeral of Hannah

	The funeral of Sergeant 
Hannah took place yesterday 
afternoon from his late home, 
corner of Montana avenue and 
Thirty-third street.  It was under 
the directions of the Eagles, 
which order the deceased joined 
a few months ago.  The society's 
ritualistic services ere conducted 
by Worthy President Carwile 
and other officers of the aerie.

	In addition to being an 
Eagle Mr. Hannah was also a 
Mason and held membership in 
the Ancient Order of United 
Workmen, in which he carried 
on insurance.

	The pallbearers were 
former Mayor George, 
Benjamin Radcliffe, Andrew 
Cederholm, L. H. Fenske, C. W. 
Harding and J. C. Cashen, all 
Eagles.  Many beautiful floral 
offerings were made and the 
funeral was one of the largest 
ever held in the city, showing 
the esteem in which the brave 
officer and good citizen was 
held.

	Mr. Hannah was an old 
resident of Billings.  He came 
here during the earlier eighties 
and was employed as a 
machinist in the local shops of 
the Northern Pacific company, 
in which position he remained 
until about two years age.  He 
was appointed to the office held 
at the time of his death by 
Mayor Foster when that 
gentleman assumed the 
mayoralty, now considerably 
over a year ago.

Besides a widow, deceased 
leaves three children and a 
grandchild.  The oldest of his 
children is a son, who is a 
fireman on the Northern Pacific 
and resides with his family at 
Helena.

Billings Gazette
Billings, Yellowstone County, Montana, Tuesday, July 5, 1904