Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-08-12
A BOLD HIGHwAYMAN.
Thirteen Full Grown Men quietly
submit 90 be Robbed by q single
BrIgand.
Denvsr RepasbISoam.

H M. Burton, the alleged stage robber.
who was arrested in Pueblo and brought
to Denver in July, had his preliminary
examination before Judge Brace yester-
day afternoon. Burton is charged with
robbing the stage running between Del
Norte and Alamosa, about midnight on
the night of June &c. The robbery was
the most audacious in the annals of high
way robbery, and links the name of the
perpetrator with that of Billy lie Roy
| The story of the deed is best told in the
words Of j. B. Mcmillan. of Del Norte.
one of the victims of the robbery, and
who was the first and principal witness
for-the prosecution in the examination
of yesterday. He said in substance
There were eight men and one
woman inside the coach. and four men
besides the driver on top. was among
the latter, sitting beside the driver. 1t
was about midnight, l should think,
and about twenty miles from Del Norte,
when we were halted. 1t was very dark.
and we were just turning bend in the
road when the word came to halt. There
was only one man visible, to the left and
about ten feet ahead of the coach. The
robber was standing behind piece of
canvas stretched alongside the road,
and had a revolver pointed directly
at myself and the driver. He told us
calmly to deliver ourselves and he would
not harm us, but that if we made bad
break he would shoot. I was on the
side next to the robber, and / immediate
ly got down from my seat, followed by
the driver. After we got down the rob-
Der came from behind the canvas and
placed. over our heads cloth cap, which
came down to our shoulders and COM
pletely blinded u.s. He then ordered us
to stand still, and himself went to the
stage door and ordered the occupants to
come out, one at time. and take their
positions in line alongside the driver and
myself
He told the passengers not to make
any unnecessary movements, as they
were all covered by the guns of his men
in concealment, and their lives were in
jeopardy. After the passengers were all
in line, he put caps similar to mine over
their faces, tied their hands behind their
backs, and then proceeded to rifle their
pockets. He took nothing but money.
Everything else he would place just
where he got it from. I do not know
how much money he got. From me he
got about one hundred and forty dollars.
| which he took from my
pocketbook, replacing the pOcketbook
after taking the money out. He had a
light burning in front of the canvas be-
hind which was reflector, which shed
the rays directly in our faces. He occu-
pied about fifteen minutes in the search.
He then ordered us to kneel, which we
| did, all in row, and he proceeded to
rifle the mail bags. The woman, at his
bidding, held the light for him while he
did this. He opened only two sacks, |
believe He kept us kneeling about half
an hour He kept talking all the time,
using good language. In fact, during
the whole time of the robbery he was
very gentlemanly.
He had soft, mellow voice. He
was not nervous or quick. but did the
work in business like manner. He was
man nearly six feet in height, smooth
face, had heavy, light moustache, and
would weigh perhaps 165 pounds. He
had on dark hat and coat, and was not
disguised in any way. After he had
robbed the mail he skipped off into the
darkness. When we found he had left
we removed our caps, united each others
hands, picked up the remnants of the
mail bags and the mail, and proceeded
on to Alamosa 1t is my opinion now
that he did the work alone, and that his
comrades being in the bushes was all a
hoax"