ANNAI BUMULÅCHO SI SCAGGS

June 8, 1901
Hagåtña

Between 130 and 2 o'clock in the morning on June 8, 1901, the peaceful sleep of Dolores Blas, and her mother Teresa Espinosa Blas, was interrupted by the sound of their dog barking. The dog was inside the house where they were sleeping. The front door of the house had been closed, but it was not barricaded by a bar or some other object. In walked an American man, later identified as John W. Scaggs.

Scaggs entered their bedroom and proceeded to lie down next to Dolores, on her bed. He had in his hand a revolver, pointed at her. When Scaggs lied down, Dolores immediately got up to put on clothes in order to exit the house. She noticed Scaggs was quite drunk, and was able to grab the revolver from his hands. She hid the revolver and left the house with her mother Teresa. They went in haste to Sergeant Nicholas Kelley, who called on two more guards. They all returned to Dolores' house. While the two women waited outside, Kelley and his guards went in to find Scaggs sleeping on Dolores' bed. They got him up and escorted him to jail.

Scaggs was brought before judge Luís Díaz Torres. Scaggs testified that all he remembers about that night was going to the home of Sergeant Kelley and leaving quite drunk. He doesn't remember what he did afterwards. He was sorry if he misbehaved in anyway; it was never his intention to do so, but he got quite drunk. Asked why he carried a revolver, he said it was only for his own protection. He lived in Asan, and was going to walk home alone at night, so the revolver was for security.

The court put a lot of attention on the fact that Scaggs carried a revolver without a license. Scaggs responded that he had had a license for it when he worked for the US Navy the year before in the Philippines, and thought that license applied on Guam as well. He also claimed that an old American law said that anyone carrying at least $100 in coins or bills could carry a gun without a license (for protection). Scaggs was carrying $340 in his pocket that night. Quite a sum in those days!

Torres issued the following sentence. Scaggs was to be fined and his revolver sold in public auction, the money gained thereby covering the court expenses. At the auction there was only one bidder, William W. Rowley, who naturally won. Rowley worked for the Navy and many years later printed the Guam Recorder for the Navy.

Scaggs was 37 years old at the time, and an Alabama native. He worked on Guam for the US Navy as stable foreman, in charge of the Navy's horses and vehicles. Records show he was back in the Philippines a few years later, still working for the US Navy.

From a 1901 list of US Navy employees on Guam