West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1879-09-06
MckIcn.s Gny nrlgnnd..

Spanning the river Antigua, at the mouth
of which COrtcz built hIs Vera Cruz and
sank his ships before beginning his march
into the interior, stands the famous National
Bridge, better known perhaps, by its old
name OF the Kings Bridge, the ncighbor-
hood OF which has doubtless been the scene
OF more rObbcrics than any other single spot
IN all this rObbcr-hauuted land For the
country that Montczuma ruled and COrtcZ
conquered Is the paradise Of robbers Every
variety OF the craft thriycs here from the
petty thief who steals ones handkerchief
% the daring highwayman who makes IA
swoOp upon a convoy Of dollars and thinks
little of a fierce fight with its escort In
every city in the land, when darkness
shrouds the streets, the rObbcr and assassin
issues from his lair with knife. sword and
lassO. The broad glare Of day even is not
always protection. The press frequently
directs the attention Of The authorities to
the boldness and frequency of the robbcrics
committed at high noon There is scarcely
road i'm Mexico two miles from "a city that
is not infested with bandits, and the travel
or rs generally Obliged TO go well armed
Honest men who have anything 10 loose
are always careful how they walk the
streets at night In the CITY Of Mexico
some years since "a band of midnight robbers
called Euscbadocs, from s,bO, talOw, kept
the whole city iu frenzy Of fear and piled
their ncimious calling for long months be-
fore iurdy justice overlook them They dc
rived their name from the habit of stripping
stark naked and amounting themselves with
oil, making their seizure and retention AL
most au mpOssbillty. Down Iu the pur-
licus of ihc city, in the thieves resort, I am
told thc banker sits al the monte table with
% long Catalan knife, pointed as needle
and keen as a razor and warns the eager
crowd That ii any cava.icrD pretcuds 10 mis-
take thc bank for his stake hc will Din his
hand To- the board Crimes which iu any
other country would form The subject Of
comment for weeks here pass comparative.
ly unnoticcd. and as often go wholly m-
punished lunuucrablc arc thc stories of
rObDcries which one hears, some of them Of
thrilling interest and romantic character.
II Is not sD long ago as to have passed
from memory that % considerable town iu
'hn interior became fno .ccur oi "a robbery
which bias, boo a.l essential characteristics.
been repeated boo other parts Of thc country
Ae thD inhabitants Dl ihr p.acc were about
their morning work % bare. band of horse.
weu rode into tuc p.lIi Ih. party pre-
srniDd tho usual appearance of uccu-od
patriots who-r rights bad been tmmpcd
upon by thc temporary government, agMusl
which they Wrrc about fD issue 70 prDnuu.
c1mcut0 So tbc tJwulDIks simply
shrugged their shoulders and said it was
none 0l their affair lu less than % quarter
of an hour. hoHcvcr, Che aspect of things
changed A line Of pickcts was thrown
about ihc town preventing iugrc.e or cgrc-s.
while ihc dimouutcd parlic. began .ystc.
matimlly tp p.uudor thc place N0fmng
escaped them private houses and stores
came. al alike to tbc bandits. and thp p.
lagc continued so long as anything oi value
remained. Then, collecting their losl
they mounted and rode OH In tbc regular
order id which they had come Whence
they came n0 one knew whittier they went
remains mystery to This day The rob.
berry of % specie laden train ON the Vera
Cruz Railway not long Hnco was conduct.
ed boo thc same high handed manner