The Weekly Kansas chief. [volume] (Troy, Kan.) 1872-1918, 1873-07-31
lsp.ci,l si.u..sh J. The Chicago Trib.ne.l


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Especial di.psssh = The Chicago rribsse-l
STATEMENT OF surERiNTENDENT ROYCE
DEs MoINgs, Iowa, July al interviewed
Nr. H. +. Royce, superintendent II the Iowa di-
sisium of the Rock Island RailrOsd, VINO was on
he train when il was ditcbcd and robbssd He
,fat~,l that the train was the Atlantic Express,
hicb left Council Blnifs st lio, aud consisted oi
IN engine two baggage cars, three coaches ana
Iwo sleepers. All went we'll until they reached
! point midway between Anita and Adair ana
about sixty miles from this city IL Was about
) o'clock, aud growing rspidly dark. They we're
IrsveIliny at the usual speed. about twcnty-six
nilss an hour, through = wild, nninhao'iea pral-
rie there was not house ia any direction De-
tween them and the horizon. Mr.. Royce was
seated in the second baggage car convers,ng with
, friend, when he felt she application OF
THE AIR BRAKE.
He wondered fur . moment what 1t meant.
There was mo- station there and something must
h, an,i,s. or the train would not stop in that
lonely locality. He jumped to his feet, but had
hardly stood mp before he fels
THE SHOCK
caused by sudden stoppage, and simultaneously
the car was thrown from the track against the
the floor inclininy at An angle 0f
thirty degrees. He was pitched against the side
of the car, the bridge Of bis nose colliding with
bled copouslys He was
ROUGHLY SHAKEN CP AND STUNNED.
Recovering his faculties, he saw what he des-
crii.,sl ~ "a very powerful mixture Of men, bag
gage, bullion, and express packages" He heard
the sound of shots, snpp0sins it TO be fnrpedoes.
Stepping from the car 10 the bank to ascertain
the cause Of the trouble, he was met BY two
men,
MASKED AND EQUIPrxD WITH NAVY REvoLvKRs,
one in each hand One Of them remarked &C.
damn you, get back into that c.r Get back, or
III kill you"
In the meantime one of the robbers had
CAPTURED THE EXPRESS CAR,
where they expected to find from thirty to fifty
thousapd dollars, the amount usually carried on
through trains. The rOute agent, killingsworth,
was severely confused by the conclusion. Bur-
CESS the express messenger was raising him from
where he fell when the robbers entered. One Of
them acted as sentinel to stop any one from cOm
ing in, another held cooked pistol to the ex-
pressnan's head, while the third demanded the
keys of the safe. Burgess, finding discretion the
better part of valor, and that it was useless to
resist, handed over the key, with which the rob-
Der
OPENED THE SAFE
and took out money packages amounting in all
to S1,s00 He was disappointed mt the small
amount aud demanded information to where
there was more. The messenger replied that
there was no more. The rUbcr called Burgess by
foul and nasty epithet. Burgess then volnn-
teered to prove there was No more money by
opening the package box. The robber cut some
Of the packages with knife, and was enragcd at
finding they contained nothing Of value. There
was
LARGE QUANTITY OF BULLION
on board, bmt it escaped notice. A mail bag was
taken up and an effort made to cut il, but not
thinking it expedent to lose time with letters,
the thief threw il aside. While the messenger
was lDeing ross-examined by one Of the robbers,
another Invited Killingsworth to
FORK OVER HIS POCKET-BOOK AND KNIFE,
and he did 50. The ear was then evacuated, the
thieves scalesl the embankment, mounted horses
and galloped away in a sontherly direction, dis
appearing at once in the gathering gloom.
THE ROBBER GUARD.
While the car was being ransacketl, four men
with navy revOlvers, two on each side of the
train kept guard outside to intimi,late the pas
sengers and prevent them from interfering with
the operations of their cOnfelerates. The passen-
gers were alarmed, not knowing the moment
volley wonld be poured into the windows or how
long they had to live. Some adventurous heads
were pointed ont, when the highwaymen with
horrible profanity ordered them to disappear in-
side, or they would send a bullet into them. A
passenger ASKED if they intended to kill innocent
women and children, when of the robbers
answered: IF You get back we won't hurt you.
We are not petty robbers. We are big robbers.
We take from the rich, from those W ho are able
TO lose, for the of the poOr We are graugers
by c." Mr.. Royce says the reference to gral.-
gers was Pickwickian. The passenger took in
his head and no others ventured to put theirs
out.
THE FATAL PART OF THE BUSINESS,
was enacted at.the moment the engine struck
the gap in the track. volley was fired into the
engine. Dennis Foley, the fireman, who
STOPPING down shoveling coal into the furnace,
saw the engineer shut off the steam with one
hand and put ON the breaks with the other.
"Jack, what's the matterf" shouted Foley, and
then he heard crash, fnsilate of shots, and
Jack fell over on him dead, the wood and coal on
top Of both. When Foley, who was bruised and
stunned, came to, he extricted himself and his
faithful comrade, who died at the post of duty.
No marks OF pistol shots were found upon the
body. and it is thought death was caused by con-
cussiOD.
THE HEROIC ENGINEER.
Mr.. Royce said he could have sworn that Raf-
ferty shut off the steam and applied the brake,
and he knows the Thought Of saving the hundred
lives that rode behind him was the last that en-
tered the mind of the heroic Rafferty,. He says
that Rafferty, one Of the most careful, faith
full and brave men that ever Travelled over an iron
road. He had been in the service of the company
for five years, during which time he had gained
the confidence and respect of his employers. The
remains were Drought 10 the city, and taken
home to the bereaved family, who have the SYM
rathy Of every one.
THE ROBBER GANG.
Mr.. Royce thinks there were not less than six,
nor more than eight in the gang. The masks
seemed to have been cut out of white flannel.
They covered the entirr face excepting apertures
for the mouth and eyes, reached back behind the
ears, where they were tied, and down the breast,
Identification absolutely impossible.
They were thick k-set, powerful men, and judging
frem their dialect aud language, Mr.. Royce be-
eves they were genuine border ruffizns, and not
persons residing in the vicinity. The claw bar
,nd the spike-maul used in removing the rail
we're taken from the station house before men
ionsd.
THE PASSENGERS UNFRAMED.
There were Dinety to one hundred persons on
he train. A small ivory-handled revolver was
he only weapon in the crowd. Of course it was
# no avail, aud was not brought into actiOu.
Zone Of the passengers were injured. The coach
- and sleePers stuck % the track. Tho rear
leeper was filed by party Of aristocratic Chi
lose students, on their way to springfield, Mass,
q be educated.
HOW II WAS DONE.
The manner in which the robbers threw the
rain, indicates that they know the business At
n obscure curve where the engineer could not |
ee the track 80 feet ahead, they removed the |
lates and drew the spikes from rail on the |
utside Of the curve, so that the rail could be |
asiIy removed. To the rail they attached . rope |
NufnI1 a.