The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1877-07-05
At Bay tEa an Express.Car.
sTRuaGLE wIrH MASKED ROBBERS ON
80 r. u IEHTNINf{ TRAIG. s.-.1 I. y. =

- - r.
At Bay tn an Express-Car.
"a STRUGGLES wITH MASKED ROBBERS ON A
LTGHTNTNG TRAIN. - -
from the Toledo Blade-l
Last night, as Lake-Shore train No. 0,
which arrives In the city at 2:40 A. NJ, was vas
leaving Ligonier, Ind, -four masked robbers
entered the United States expression, and
while three of them presented reyo Divers,
and one was about to gag Messenger CarIe-
ton; several officers, aided sby the: attaches
Of the Express Company, sprang from their
hiding.places In the car, aid, after -despe.
rate fight with the mem, succeeded linGcap4
turing them. TIE names ct the robbers
were Milton N. Laddy, farmer !; a., c.
Billman, formerly a conductor on she Lake
Shore. railroad :, Enry Christie, Sat Ione
time a brakeman in his employ, but now
engaged in agriculture; and Frank l..
Hathaway. They were all young men,
and evidently new to the business. The
names Of the. officers and men who caused
their arrest were w. r. Bresie, agent for C.
Cone, Of the United States Express; Chief.
ot-golice Purdy, Detectives Tibbits and
Cavanaugh, Of the Lake Shore road; OFF,
GERS Brown and Sullivan, Timothy Bart,
Esq, transfer agent, and a. Carleton, mes
senger Of the United States Company 81;
This morning. q little company OF officers
and reporters gathered in the Office OF Cap
tain Purdy, and the officers version OF the
matter was obtained. Mr.. Bresie was the
first to give a statement OF the affair. He
said Eve, some time ago had our suspi-
cions aroused, and were led to believe that
plan to rob our express-car was being
laid We have been on the lookout for
three months. ~ :. .s''''. ~. -. -. =
About a week ago the officers were in
formed, and when it became evident that
the robbers intended to make their attack
Thursday night I telegraphed them to
come up to- Laporte and return on train
No. 6. They therefore quietly took the
train, being careful to conceal themselves
in the state-room Of a sleeping-car, and
came to the ipiace specified They thought
best to come to Laporte, where none OF
them are known, as it would not do to be
seen ut Elkhart. where they would be i'm
mediately recognized. Thursday night we
all took train No. G, and, under Captain
Purdy's directions, concealed ourselves be-
hind boxes in the car, and laid IN waiting
for our men. Our feelings Of excitement
as the train neared Ligonier can be better
imagined than described. u '
Here Chief Purdy took up the narrative,
and gave n graphic description OF the cap
lure, " SldblOucu DIOWli, anu
Tibbits 50 that il the robbers entered the
car those officers would be in the rear Of
them, Sullivan, Hart, and myself. were so
stationed that should they enter the car we
would face them. The others were stationed
on either side. There was q marrow aisle
through the stacks of baggage just wide
enough to allow q party Of men to pass
through singleitile. Manager Carleton sat
In the centre Of the car in small area where
the express matter had been cleared away.
Nothing occurred to arouse suspicion till
the train was leaving Ligonier. Then foot
steps were heard on the platform. Every
mans breath came quick, for-we thought
an attack would surely be made. s,
The train got under headWay, and was
about two miles away from the station, run
ming at full speed, when. the door was
opened and four men-two with blackened
faces, and two wearing masks-entered the
car. The messenger was quietly and coolly
looking over his bills. had previously in
structed him as to his method OF procedure.
The men walked into the car single-fle, and
Detective Cavanaugh reached his hand out
quickly and closed the door. They die not
notice the move. One Of them laid his
hand on the shoulder Of Messenger Carle-
ton and said, ".Helloi" Carleton, who had
DGEU OUltN lOuS w dll Stl ttCu
up and saw three revolvers pointed toward
him. It. required the utmost GOODNESS for
him to sit still in thatsituation, but be acted
as If il were the most usual thing III the
world to pass through the ordeal which
he was then, undergoing. The man with
his hand on the messengers shoulder was
about to pull the ropes, with which to gag
and bind him. from his pocket, when I gave
the signal, and we all sprang from our places
d, ,cOncealrnent., The robbers started TO-
rush out Of the car, but they were inter-
cepted by Officers Brown, CaVanaugh, and
Tibbits,, We bounced upon. them from all
SIDES and each selected his man. Then
occurred one OF the most desperate fights I
ever witnessed. The men knew that they
were struggling for liberty, and they were
as desperate as tigers. The air was filled with
wells, and the, sight which presented itself
was that OF confused mass OF struggling,
yelling humanity. Two officers. bore Laddy
to the floor, but.he struggled to1his feet and
fairly shook them off. One of the party
presented his revolver ut Detective Caya-
naugh's head, but that officer struck him
across the hand, and his weapon fell to the
hoor.- csr 2u,,,l ~ - .t;', NstL ..
Inever saw so desperate man as Mr..
Hart" (The gentleman alluded to is an,old
man, who is apparently feeble in ,health.)
He hit Laddy several stunning blows on
tho head with billy that made the blood
fly in all directions; but that desperate man
did not seem to feel it a particle. Every
one. of the thieves had his revolver cooked;
but they were all Knocked ous OF their
hands, and we that were making the ar
rests fought with billiss and clubs Itwas
long time before the men were oyerpower-
ed, =, At last they. were hanGcuffed and ut
terly exhausted. We sat down to cOntem-
plate the. result! : I expected to find that
some OF the men had been seriously injured,
but, aside from some bruises; the most Sc
we're ones administered to Laddy, no ione
was injured. nia ~:.f,lsfi II: q :l>:t,l >f< -1@
All the while that the terrible battle was
going on the train, was dashipg along at it's
usual rate Of speed, and not q soul among
the passengers Knew what d thrill! ling event
was taking place on the very train in which
they were riding. Great credit is due every
man who aided in the arrest, but special
praise ought in this matter to be bestowed
upon Mr.. Hart, Detectives Tibbits and
Cavanaugh, and Officers Brown and Sulli:
van, and also upon Conductor Smith.
TuE PREsIDEST's SoJTHERS, TRIP.-The
President has not yet made up his mind as
to the time OF his proposed southern tour.
It has been suggested to him that at the
white Sulphur Springs he would haye the
opportunity to meet greater ,number"o OF
leading men Of the South than by an S -ex-
t. ! - q. 49,. rHA