The Andrew County Republican. [volume] (Savannah, Mo.) 1871-1876, 1876-07-20
RAILWAY ROBBERY.

Ttgfft nm inc HphsOuIE q
by RGdishs-rhe P~"s.engsfs intimi-
dated aud IN. r. ,."ress Car Plahdtred-
Exciting scenes Daring ~ OP'
Escape Of she Desperadoes.
tFrom the st. Louis journal, July o.
One Of those daring and desperate
train robberies for which our State Is
becoming famous took place on the
Missouri Pacific Railroad, on Friday
night last, at a place called Rocky Cut,
between Otterville and Upton. For
daring on the part of the thieves and
''masterly inactivity" On the part Of the
passengers, this exploit probably
e~cllpscs any thing Of the kind which
has t%ranspited within our borders for
some time.
Train number 4, from Kansas City,
was coming east with their passenger
coaches, baggage and express car and
two Pullman coaches, en- route for St.
Louis. Four miles east of the little
town of Otterville, they struck a deep
cut known as Rocky Cut. This was a
quarter before IL O'Clock p. m. At
this point they discovered the danger
signal, n red lamp, and the engineer at
once applied his air-brakes and slowed
the train, to ascertain what the trouble
was. AS he neared the cut, the train
caE1e to a stop, and the engineer was
somewhat surprised to observe the
Waterman at Lemoine bridge, standing
near the engine.
At this juncture the train was board
ed by
TWELVE MASKED MEN,
and the train men readily surmised then
what the matter was, and why the train
had been tagged at that place. These
were what are termed "route agents."
or, in palmer ~parlance, train robbers.
Had the engineer disregarded the sig
nails given, a serious and probably fatal
accident would have been the result, as
the thieves, to make their work doubly
certain, had piled a large number of
ties upon the track, so that even rs 1t
was the engine was lifted several inches
from the track, but fortunately settled
back to her place on the rails again,
after running on the ties.
The men all wore DISCUSSES, except
one small man who seemed to be act
ing as captain of the expedition. All
wore cavalry boots with their pants
tucked inside of them, and nearly all
had, affixed to their heels, a pair of
spurs, plainly indicating that they came
mounted and equipped for whatever
might turn up. From passengers and
others we CLEAN the following further
particulars Of the raid:
After entering the train, the first
thing the robbers did was to station
guards at the doors of the cars and also
upon the outside of the train above and
below, some being near the track and
others on either side of the bluff bank
above the train. The captain was a
bustling, business looking chap, and is
sued his orders as though in command
of a legally organized force. He gave
directions to those on the hill on either
side to take a pop at any heads they
saw peering out of the car windows. 1t
was afterward estimated that about
sixty of the passengers were armed,
and yet they all seemed perfectly panic
stricken and helpless, while the ladies
were, if possible, more seriously
| n1arnnnl than tha MAN aud sn,-n.al at
them swooned when the fact was made
known that the train had been stopped
by robbers. Many of the passengers
preserved sufficient presence of mind
to stow away their money. watches and
other valuables in their boot legs and
in out-of-the-way places about the car.
THE OBJECT OF TIL THIEVES
was soon made apparent, by all those
not engaged as guards to KEEP
the passengers quiet making di
rectly for the express car
Hurried inquiries were made fol-
Bushnell, the express messenger, and a,
every thief of the gang carried a nav,
revolver at full cock, their interroga
tons were very promptly answered
and the messenger was pointed out Il
them. He, learning what was up, hat
taken the %precaution to transfer tn,
keys to his safe to a train boy, with in
structions to conceal them in his boots
About this time about a dozen shot
were fired outside the car, for the pur
pose of i%ntimidating those inside tn
car, and the ruse worked to a charm
Not a soul among the passengers stirred
and no resistance was therefore offere,
from that source. They approache,
the messenger, and the leader of tn
gang
DEMANDED II KEY OF THE SAFE.
They we're told that he hadn't the key
when they intimated, in language un
~mistakable, that unless the key wa
forthcoming in less than a minute, the
would not be responsible for the cir
cumstances that might accrue to tn
messenger. That gentleman, as h
looked into the two or three "navies.
leveled mt his head, concluded that
was useless further to prevaricate, an
! started after the train boy, who had tn
| key, n Of the worthless keeping a bea
on his head all through the operation
D He finally obtained and delivered til
key to the rapacious cormorants, an
, the way
, THEY WENT THROUGH THAT SAT-
would have made Boss Tweed hide h
head in shame. The engineer and fir
man were Gagged in the baggage ca
and were "protected" by two of Il
r%ufians so that they could render I
assistance to the messenger, who W
at the mercy of the robbers. They fir
opened the Adams Express safe,