The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1874-09-24
A Story of Highwaymen.

On the evening of Sunday, August
80, at about six o'clock, an omnibus
started from the North Lexington
depot, in Missouri, for the ferry, with
eight gentlemen passengers and one
lady. Just as it reached an old house,
which is described as the scene of the
recent johnson murder, three masked
horsemen dashed out of the woods, re-
volver in hand. One stopped the horses
and remained at their heads, while the
others thrust their heavy army revol
vers into the windows, and threatened
instant death to any who should resist
Then one of the rufians ordered the
male passengers to get out of the stage,
an order which was promptly obeyed by
the eight disconsolate gentlemen, who
emerged from the vehicle in single file,
with their hands all raised heavenward,
as if in meek protest against the pro-
ceeding; though, IN reality, their Pc
culiar attitude was assumed at the die
tation of the robbers, in order to pre-
vent any possible use OF concealed
weapons. Seeing party which inclu-
ded several young women passing near,
one of the robbers galloped OIL, cap
tured them, and put them in line with
the other captives. In the meantime,
Miss Matte Hamlett, belonging to the
new squad of prisoners, recognized
one of the robbers, and while the latter
were pilfering their captives, an anima-
ted conversation was kept up between
Miss Hamlett and her acquaintance, In
which the young lady expressed her
disapprobation of his line of conduct,
remarking "Why, Frank, l am aston
ished to see you have come down to
such work I thought you never did
anything except on big scale. Frank
casually remarked that he was a little
ashamed of it himself, as he had never
before stopped to such small game, and
at the earnest solicitation of his fair ac-
quaintance, he refrained from stealing
a watch belonging to one eof her friends,
though by way of compensation for
his self-denial, he not only took the
watch and money of another person for
whom she inteIceded, but likewise
large portion of his clothes. Then,
having stolen all they could lay their
hands on, the thieves, who were noted
desperadoes, named William Younger
and Frank and Jesse James, quietly
rode down the river bank unmolested,
we are told, in plain view OF hundreds
of people, who had got wind OF the
affair, and focked to the bluffs on the
opposite side.
The editor of the Caucasian proudly
rehearses some of the former exploits
of these gentlemen, who, he says, have
become "pet institutions of Missouri, "
especially an instance in which they
gallantly charged into crowd at the
Kansas city exposition in 1872, stole the
gate keepers cash box, and safely got
away with their plunder; assures his
readers that the fame of the James and
Younger brothers has become world
wide; congratulates the ruffians upon
the fact that they have laughed at the
Governor, and spat upon all the State
authorities "Missouri is ahead in her
banditti as she is in her soil, her eli
mate, her minerals, her glorious women,
her-everything. Big Muddy, forever!
But he omits to say what he thinks
about the dozen or so of men who were
robbed, or of the hundreds of people
who gathered to see the rascals ride
off.