, 1876-02-17
A DARING ATTEMPT,
Express Robbers Undertake thu Murder
Of tho Only Witnos, Of Their
Crime,
by Throwing Her, Weighted With Iron.
from the st. Louis Bridge Into
tho Mississippi nircr.

H. Loafs Hxrnblican, Etb. 16.
Sunday night nbout o'clock Two men In q
buggy, having third party batWeon them, droEe
on to tho brfdgn from Washington avenue. They
appeared to 10 In greRs hurry, and. though
Tbs faro Is only 10 cents, they hAnt1od tAe COL
lec.or Is ccu.a. but refused 10 wait for the
change. On getting opposite 3faia street cry
OF
"HELr. ron nan's saxz."
was heard, and Jerry Miller, ths COLLECTOR, ran
10 SOC What waa the matter. lie found Tint tho
buggy WAS stopped. and q negro hoy. apparent
ly, was tumbled ont Of tho buggy from behind,
who begged for protection. Jerry Miller heard
one OF the men 1t, lilo buggy utter fearful
oath, and urge the other to la7 whip aud "drIre
like IT,"
A large crowd was Immediately collected
around tho eeeming colored boy, vIio claImed to
BIO woman. 2S years old, md tlIat taoee mon
wero the tobboss at lilo United Station cxpress
about ax wceks ago near 81. Charles. on the ST.
H., X. @. d N. llailroad, md that their names
wore Wilson and Holland, anil tlla. nhc was tho
only person who waB aNnro Of the robbery. Sho
told her story As fo!lowH; Having known Mr.
Holland for several years. sho had liatson Nitl,
him. Of which boy waa tho Issue; and
further, that aho iivcA on Seventeenth,
Btrcet. between Washington avonuo and
ChfiBtv asenuo that Holland. who was
formerly o rntlroad conductor, had since tho
rnbbcry occupied room tn lilo fourth story Of
the building No. 8l4 North Third stroat ovor
tho American Express office, md that sl,o had
been In the habit Of cleaning tho roo mH and pro-
vidlnG tho men with their mea!s. Yesterday
morning che went to tho room and With koy
opencd tho adjoining room. where she found
4f.,tss
Of the stolen papefs mud articles. aud soou ~
they found that they were discovered they at
once dccidcdt to
RI1L THE NEoEo wo,tAn.
hmey and gaEged sr and kept
Ing they l!aroho4 her and put mons closhoe on
hori1 aud hired buggy. About I o'clock, when
the buggy waa brought to tito door, they, for
safety. put gaeg in her mouth and carried hor
down etairs- She saya that size waH aousihlo
whom BlIe was carried down tho tlreo pars Of
Gtairs, aud heard the conversation betwcon tho
two men. Wilson advised Holland to cut her
throRt before they would rench tho skrcet, but
tho 1Rttar obfactod, a. It would
"LrAvE HOOD On THE STEPS,
and On their clothes. by which they could be
Identified. Aftor they got her In the buggy thny
heated her betwean them and drove towards the
bridge 'shero they paeaca. tho collector, as bc-
an finding that It was decl1ed by the mon to
attach q weight to her neck aud throw hoz oror
tho railing Of the bridge into tho b1eslARippi
Ntvos, struggled for Freedom and succeeding In
In calling for help. Finding tint tloy could no.
got her ovor the railing without being caught,
they throw her out and drove OH ut d breakuock
Apeed. Special Officer Armstrong and Collector
Z. A.. McCalilon at tho east cnl heard tho err
and the rapid running Of tho horse, aud tho
former. thiuking tlero WIS a runway. wont
towards the cast plor to catch tho horso. IIe
failed to do so. but alr. A1ccallion. who was near
tho pasoda, caugtt the horao mud dcmandod Of
fast, Tic tall ono (Wilsop) stated that tley
worc in hurry, ~ d woman In Enat st. Louis
wnH vorY sick. Ho naked them thoir names.
Wilson replied: ''My namo isJoues and my cou-
paulon (uolland) is WiliauR." Medallion to.
piled;
"rou ARE UNDER Arrest" -..
AZ this both men got out Of tho buggy, and did
not btand on tho order Of going, hut wont down
tho approach for dear life. Armstrong lad By
Aolso and buggy Into lila charge. nnd followed
tho fugitves down the approach as far aa tho
return roadway over Fourth street, East St.
Louls. whore they turned mud etartod down to.
buggy were taken to 1lr. Wyatt's ltyegy-sable.
In tho buggy WIS found a 4-ouuco bottlo which
lul contained chloroform, o new trace-chafn,
aledge+ md Il railrohl couplfng-tink, NIL OF thom
Weighing FL pounds and II ounccr, which wero
no doubt intended for weight around tho me-
lis river.
sergt. Doyd and ofhccr Kohhnua took tho
woman, stsil drasacd like mar, over to East st.
Louis about u o'clock Sunday night. Ihoy
turned into Lee 3. Mitcloll'H saloon 10 take ro-
freshments, whero the pseudo boy took whisky
and enear." They then notified Chlof nonshRw.
but, ~ tho fugl.iycH had start Of fon5 hours
they vera Of c0utao not found in EaHt st.
Louis that nlEhs nor noxt morning.
TIE rLAEr.
1t Heems cartaio that tho story ~ giy0n by
tLs woman Is substantially true. anu that tho
men In the wagon we're without doubt ths per
thus far bafod tsle skill Of cur deteotlyos to
ferret out. Immediately OF learning the drift of
tho womAna tale after ehe WAS thrown from tho
wagon. Officer iiohlhund took ler to tho Third
District Police Station where she was closely
waa 80 straightforward Tint 1t at onco inspired
confidence. 6he said, among other things, that
she know whero the men lad "plautod" their
booty. which lad remained buried ever sinos tho
robbery until saturday night, whom thoy dug It
up and took It to tho room. intending 70 divide
mud 10 abroad for hpasou. She offered 10 show
whero tho swag had boau buried. mud, in ordor to
test the truth Of heE statement, Capt. ltunble1
Immediately dispatched M officer With lGr to
not disclosed, but It WAS within the limits Of tue
city. The woman SLOWED whore nometlllng Ind
evidently bocn recently rosurrecsed. and In polt-
ing over tho luohe dit tho officer found bct ap
oonpanya envelope. On ouo pldo Of It was oae
OF thodo
nnoAD PATCHES OF RED WAX.
stamped with tho Express Company's stamp,
such w III alwayA used III soaiiug money envol.
opas. This waH mighty interesting evidence Of
tho Importance Of tho caAe, aud every effort WIZ
ut once pu. forth TO secure tho iascals who lad
10 narrowly escaped.
It appeafa that Holland Or IfoSland {tte name
Ia not certRin), laA, III stated above. occupied
tho room montionod over Aiucs the robbery. tlo
las been frequently visited by smother .nan
whom Ils called JIM, but whose nalue tho col
oled girl doos not kuow. This mn is tho sau'e
who ID called Wilson above and who took part
u tho abduction. During his ytsits tho girl was
neyer admitted to tho room, nor was aho Oyer
permitted To oyoF,eaf any OF their conversation.
except by accident. From several circumstances
1t appeass thxt tho woman lhs been all the time
aware OF Hollands Bhre in tho rubbery, l,t
HtlI t..uugh tho rolrbora had no apparent reason
10 lonbt her 1dullty, they took care to giyo hoI
np hold on them unnecessarily.
TUE GAO AND CHLoRofonM.
She had slsays then basn strictly prohibited
from coming around whon "Jlm" WA4 ~, aud
hau always kept sway until yesterday morning,
when abs suddenly walked III upon theln uMex.
j1,t1 -