Weekly Chillicothe crisis. (Chillicothe, Livingston Co., Mo.) 1878-19??, 1881-10-13
A MAN FROM MISSOURI.
What Gov. Crittenden said in Chicago
of the Train Robberies and the Pros
pect of Furnishing Their Perpetra-
tore


the Palmer house, yesterday afternoon
a Times representative was affordet
an opportunity of an interesting cha
with Gov. Crittenden, Of Missouri, up
on topics of interest in his st te, AM
upon matters of a general political in
terest. The governor, who is a dis
tinguished-lOoking gentleman of fin
physique and political manners, wa
atfable and communicative and wa
willing to give all he knew about tn,
Missouri train robbers. In alludinl
to the recent outrages at Glendale
Blue Cut, and elsewhere in his state
he said that measures were now bein,
taken by himself and other state au
thOrities which would, he was certain
result in aconviction and punishment
of the desperadoes who had been guilty
of the crime Of train rObbing. In his
opinion it was but a matter of little
time before all the men who had beer
engaged in those depredations would bt
captured, He was determined to have
them, dead or alive, and in prison
The conviction of the man Ryan, re-
Gently sentenced to the penitentiary
showed unmistakably the temper OF
the people of that section. rh} cX.
member Of the gang whom he l. par-
doned out of the penitentiary to .ify
against Ryan had proved a vail lc
witness both against those arrested !
others who would be, and there was
present an evident break in the rank.
of the train robbers, caused by a loss
Of confidence in one another. As for
his course, he was determined to pur.
sue a hunt for these men increasingly,
and he would show them no mercy.
Not only would he follow and punish
the principals, but also all who had
sheltered and harbOred them, and these
he would treat as accessories before
the fact, In consequence of develop
ments that have lately taken place,
there was Il deep distrust creeping
through the ranks Of the train-rObbing
fraternity, and their end and extinction
were near.
The sympathy with these robbers,
which had been 50 much written and
talked about, was entirely confined to
the small section of Jackson county
known us Crackers Neck" The men
in that section had grown up from
generation to generation hunting and
fishing and living as they could, with
out any churches and without any
schools, until the state law was en-
forced, and they were compelled to
build them. There were people in that
particular vicinity who considered pas
sengers on trains us legitimate prey,
as they We're determined to get liv.
ing somehow without working for it.
Outside of this section the population
Of Jackson county was made up of
most excellent people, and they felt
keenly the structures which the news
papers Of the country had lately pub
lished upon them. They felt indig-
nant about them both on personal
and financial grounds, us their property
interests were being greatly injured
thereby. Property which previous to
the occurrences Of these train robbrr-
les commanded a high price, now
could not be sold at all. Such con.
dition Of affairs made the people des.
perate, and they were wrought up to
such pitch that they were ready for
vigilance committees or any other
measures which would bring about re.
forms. They were determined to have
no more train robbing, no matter who
was implicated in it. In the course of
conversation, Gov. Crittenden said that
the James boys were concernel in the
Glendale robbery, but not in the Blue
Cut robbery. The people of Clay coun-
ty, where the James boys resided, were
bitterly hostile and opposed to them,
with the exception of a few of their
immediate associates
There had been a party of men from
another state who, had they done their
duty, would have male it possible that
these robbers would have been all cap
tmed before now.
When asked to particularize as to
the men and the state the governor de-
clined, as he did not think it best to.
He knew that the men were there, and
that these men, one of whom was Sc
lected as a leader, who in turn select
ed his posse, were vouched for by the
governor as reliable. Had they done
their whole duty, they would have cap
tured these gangs.
When the work of detection and
justice should be completed it would
bring developments which would as
tonish the people generally. There
were men who had escaped so long
that they supposed they would escape
always. The action of the men at the
confederate reunion at Moberly, Mo, a
few days ago, in denouncing these
train robbers, had given him a great
deal of pleasure. lie knew that such
a manifestation of feeling coming from
them would have great effect, and
would materially assist the course of
justice.
The governor said events might
transpire which would be intimately
connected with his visit to Chicago at
this time, but what those events were
likely TO be he, for the present, declined
to state. He added that the Times
editorial had been very severe upon
Missouri, and her people had by no
means enjoyed the perusal of the arti-
cles referred to. He wished particu-
larly to say that the officials of the
state of Missouri proposed so to con-
duct its affairs that the Times would
be compelled to admit that its advice
to disorganize as a state and reOrganize
as a territory was quite unnecessary.
They proposed that its state govern
ment should be honestly and economi-
cally managed, and they further pro-
posed that it should continue to be-as
he believed it was now-as safe for the
Traveller to cross its boundaries as in
any other state. In his opinion the
end of train robbing had been reached.
The people Of the state had been so
stirred up with Indignation, and so in
tensely excited about the recent train
robberies that they would rise en- masse
in the districts in which these crimes
occurred, and would punish bitterly
and TO the utmost any who ever at