The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1882-03-07
RAILROAD HIGHWAYMEN.
Freight Car Robbers and Whisky
Smugglers in the B. I. T.
Denison Democrat.

OenlSon DtuOCIdt
For some months past the officials of the
Missouri Pacific road have been annoyed
by continued depredations on freight in
transit through the Indian Territory. The
operations of the depredators are as novel
as they are harrassing to the company.
The thieves operate singly or in squads
and they are, generally speaking, desperate
characters-fugitives from justice-and are
armed and prepared for any emergency.
The general plan of operations, as near as
we can learn, is as follows: If one man is
operating he will get aboard a south-bound
freight train at Muskogee or Eufaula.
During the trip he will manage to enter a
box car loaded with merchandise. Then he
will wait until he has reached a place
along the road which has been previously
selected as offering advantages for the Sc
cretion of stolen goods, and as the train
passes this point he pitches out as much as
he can of whatever comes TO hand. Then
he either jumps off, or rides to the next
stop, gets off and goes to the place of rem
devious.
Ii more than one is engaged the plan is
the same, except that they have two or
more points at which goods are pitched of
and at each of these confederate is sta
toned, who picks up and secrets the stolen
property. BY this plan it is possible To
about unload car.
The there's are partial to whisky and
beer, either i'm cask or key, but they do
not hesitate to take in any class of mer-
chandise that can be sold in the territory.
In one instance barrel of whisky was
thrown off at South Canadian. This was
captured before much of il had been sold
and returned To the agent at Eufaula.
Here il was not safe. While awaiting
shipment it was left in the freight office.
Its location was discovered AMI the con-
tents extracted by some thieves. who crawl.
ed under the freight Office, bored hole
through the floor and into the barrel and
carried the frewater away in buckets.
The sparsely settled condition of the
country in the territory is especially IA
vorable to this species of robbery. There
is no way of estimating the amount and
variety Of property that has been stolen in
this way Nor are the depredatiOns con-
fined alone to freight south-bOund.
In this connection We may say there is
an immense traffic in whisky i'm the ter
ritory by violators of the intercourse law
The bulk of this business is done from this
point. The whisky peddlers are usually
mistaken for tramps. They steal their
transportion each way on freight trains,
and carry their goods in saddle bags or
gunny sacks.
Railroad men inform us that they never
knew a time when the road through the
territory was so infested with tramps.
There Is no doubt but the bulk of these
tramps are the robbers and whisky ped
oilers referred to above. 1t occurs to Us
that the Missouri Pacific company should
take some steps to suppress this species OF
depredations. and We would suggest that
If they would put special officer ut this
station To watch every incoming freight
train, with authority to arrest and deliver
to the city authorities every tramp disem-
barking. that it would have a tendency TO
stop great percentage of tie depreda-
tiOns.