The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-03-16
ROAD AGENTS.
HOW MEXICAN sTAGE-COACH ROB-
BERs TRANSACT TBEIR BUeI-
NESS WITH TRAVELLERS,

Together With Their Ingenious Way OF
Capturing Government specie
from Railroad Trains.
| IN. Y. Timesl
There are different ways of getting rid OF
your money In Mexico; but OF all that have
seen or heard OF, the easiest and quickest Is
| to put some yauables In your pocket and
take short ride In one OF our Stage-coaches
1t is such common thing for these coaches
| to be robbed that an attack Is considered al
most matter of course. The railway trains
answer almost as well, but they are not 80
certain and then In the cars there Is not the
delightful experience OF being ordered out OF
the coach by the brigands and being searched,
and then being CONSIDERABLY sent ON your
way. The railway trains are frequently
| robbed, but the passengers, as far as could
| iearny are never molested. On the day before
the chicago excursion party were to start
Tor Mexico brief dispatch appeared In the
newspapers, purporting to give an account OF
the roDbing OF railway train from the CAPT
tai to Vera Cruz, and the stealing OF $4,000
In COIN The story was at once denied by
everybody who was in any way connected
with the excursion, and Its appearing at such
| an inopportune time was given as a reason
| Tor Its being merely canard a device of the
| enemy. Upon reaching Mexico, your cor
respondent took some pains to Investigate
| this story, and ne learned, not ONLY that 1t
was true In every particular, but that such
robberies are OF frequent occurrence, railway
trains, stage coaches, mounted Passengers
| or any unprotected traveller, being robbed
with impunity
THE BRIGANDs
have reduced the robbing of railway trains to
| q science. AS each train is accompanied by a
| military guard, the usual freights and the
| money In the passengers pockets are not
| worth the risk OF capturing. It is only when
| the government or some banking firm sends a
large quantity OF specie on one OF the trains
that there Is any Il likelihood of an attack and
the thieves seem to have some sure means OF
learning when there is a large sum of money
aboard. The trains on the railway from
Mexico to Vera Cruz are usually very long.
| all drawn by huge double locomotive. At
the rear end OF the train Is always small
car, about half the size of the others, very
much like the "caboose' at the end of Amerf
can coal trains. This is for the escort or
military guard, dozen or fifteen men under
command of an officer. These men, like all
the Mexican soldiers, are copper colored, full
or half-breed Indians, clad In very light stuff,
wearing sandals, and very small In stature.
The specie Is In one Of the freight cars that
go ahead OF the passenger cars-the thieves
easily find out which one. Besides the escort
on the train there iss small military guard
that meets the train at each station, and
gives the country the appearance, to a traveller
by rail, OF being full up to the brim with
soldiers and running over. On account OF
this latter guard the thieves are very careful
that the robberies shall be committed be-
tween stations. They have
VERY INGENIOUS WAY
of 0atfinO rid of the military ooooy-t +t4o4 -
companies the train. They get In the cars
separately at different stations, and when the
proper time comes one Of the band, who has
previously been selected. goes to the rear OF
the last passenger car and uncOuples the car
containing the soldiers. This is always done
on q sharp curve when the engineer connOt
see the end OF his train, and always on an M
grade, 80 that the uncouDled car will soon
stop; and there are plenty of such places on
this steep and crooked railway. Then they
go through the train till they come to the
treasure car, break into it, saw hole through
the bottom, and when the place Is reached
that has been determined upon the boxes
containing the money are dropped through
the hole. Another part OF the brigand party
OF course, are waiting at the appointed place
and pick up the specie and make off with II as
soon as 1t Is dropped. The specie and the
brigands disappear together, and the govern
ment, the only loser, bushes up the story as
much as possible, and seizes another church
to make up the loss. The passengers, Der-
haps, know nothing about the robbery, or il
they do they know better than to interfere.
And all this time the twelve soldiers i'm the
rear car, finding they are In no Immediate
danger, sit still and resolve to defend their
Car to the very last gasp.
This was the plan by which
THE ROBBERY OF LAST DECEMBER
was committed, with the slight variation that
then 1t was found necessary to kill the enoi-
neer, and he was accordingly shot. The
thieves, when they do not adopt the plan of
boarding the cars, are always mounted, and
are always In large enough force to make a
good fight with the escort If the soldiers
should by any possibility resolve to fight.
The robbery OF stage coaches is done, of
course, on smaller SCALE but much more
frequently and with more disastrous results
to the passengers. The coaches are called
dihgenclas, the O in the word being pro-
nounced IKE an n. They are very much like
the stages that are still In use In some Of the
remote places in this country, such, for in
stance, as meet the railroad trains at Gatsklll.
and go back over the mountains They are
mounted on the same old leather straps, for
the tracks that the Mexicans call roads would
soon take metallic springs out of any vehicle.
They are drawn generally by eight mules,
arranged in this fashion, two
leading four following and two at the pole
The stages may be said to drive into the mar
Tors OF the hotels, for the hotels have no bar
lots Out tne Dig square court-yards, paved
with stone, where the guests SIT In the shade.
and where the stages take in and let out their
passengers. The only advantage that I can
see In this stage system Is that the COMPANY
charges, you so much for your fare, and the
place where you stop for your supper and
lodgings takes another such liberal slice that
there Is very little left for the bandits to take.
l am in doubt whether it Is more agreeable to
pay greasy landlord for tough beefsteak
and hard bed, or to let brigand have the
money; but it would be indescribably pleas
ant to see the brigand take it away from the
landlord.
The process OF
ROBBING A STAGE COACH
is very simple. 1t Is the American idea that
a really brave traveller will have one or two
revolvers in his boots and a knife down his
back, and that when the brigands appear he
Should spring out at them, bringing one or
two OF them down before be touches the
ground, and shouting, "Aha, base robber,
begonep' | have known Americans who
started out with these revolvers and these
ideas. But the base robber would not begOne. |