Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1883-12-08
JULES ALVORD,
Conductor Texas Pacific Railroad
Train Robbery,
Mesquite, Texas,
April 10, 1878.

OLED AL OIoOS
Conductor Texas Pacific Railroad
Train Robbery,
Mesquite, Texas,
April 10, 1878.
"ThIs, l suppose, was presented
because of valiant service :?
"Yes it was given me 10y the ex-
press company in acknowledgement
of services rendered during an at
tack on my train by the notorious
Sam Bass gang of robbers. But it has
been so long ago it has lost its in
teresto
"Oh, no; the revival of such sto-
ries is always interesting when the
hero is present"
81 do not call myself a hero"
modestly replied the mild-mannered
little man. "All that did was to
stand at my post and fight till / had
wounded three men, two Of whom
died son afterWard. You will re-
member that in the spring of '78
there were a number of train rob.
berries on the Texas Pacific end
other lines i'm Texas. Sam Bass, a
noted desperado, who went from
Seymour, Ind, to Texas a short
while before, was known to be the
leader of the gang, but all the et-
forts to catch any of them were for
a long time futile. Within period
of two months before my train was
robbed two trains had been success
fully held up.
"On this account the company
placed an armed guard on the train
and / carried a pistol, but it hap
pened that on the night of the rob
berry | had left it in the sleeper. 1t
was just 1910 p. 10. on the 10th OF
April, when the moon was shining
unusually bright, that we pulled
| into Mesquite, d small station,
where there were no passengers
either to get on or off. At the in
slant the train stopped l jumped
off, with my lantern in my hand,
and at once cried 'all aboard AT
the same instant, and before | could
wave my lantern TO go ahead |
was confronted by man with a
mask over his eyes and a Winches-
ter rifle in his hands, who COM
manded me to hold up my hands.
1t flashed through my mind to par
lev with the fellow first and thus
gain time. | then did not know
| that two men had already taken
possession of the locomotive, and
! that the engineer and fireman were
prisoners. A second time the fel-
low commanded me, with an oath,
to throw up my hands, saying: "lf
you don't hold up I'll kill you in a
SecOnd.'
"Of course, Iuy hands went up.
The muzzle of the gun was not
more than six feet from me. Just
at this time one of the passengers,
unaware of his danger stepped of
the train and came to where L was
standing. Just as he came up the
robber turned his gun upon him,
commanding him to hold up his
hands. At the instant he drew the
gun from me / broke and ran down
alongside the train TO the rear OF
the sleeper. Before had gone ten
steps tke robber fired, and a minnie
bali went whistling close by me.
Finding the rear door of the sleeper
locked, | sprung off the platform
and ran up the other side to the
front platform. Before / reached
the inside fully a dozen SHOTS had
been fired at me, but =! reached the
inside unhurt and got my pistol.
Then stepped out on the platform
and found eight men in front of me,
all of them armed with Winchester
rifles. They were not more thar
fifteen feet from me. -Four of them
! / observed wore handkerchiefs
around their heads in Il manner to
disguise them, Immediately
opened fire on these fellows. l had
but six shots, while they kept up 8
continuous firing on me. My second
shot struck one of them in the neck
and saw him fall against one o.
his companions, who dragged him
away out of sight. My third shot
struck one of them in the side anC
the shot went through his liver
Nv fourth struck one in the side
making only a flesh wound. He
was afterward captured and is now
in the penitentiary. The one sho
in the neck died the next day, am
the one wounded in the liver dice
at his home, nine miles distant,
few days later.
"After had emptied my pistol
and before | could load again th'
remainder of the party had skulket
away and hid"
"And you escaped unhurt?"
"Oh, no; received one wount
only. Here you can see," and Mr.
AlvOrd, raising his sleeve, exhibit
ed two large depressions where
minnie ball passing through haC
shattered the bone and almost tori
off his left arm. my escape wa
almost miraculous, for the end o
) the car where l stood was literall.
, riddled by bullets"
Ibid no one come to your assist
ance?"
"Only one other shot was fires
from the train. j never knew VIII
fred the shot. There were abOu
fourteen men in the gang. Th
train was held about an hour, bu
there was no more firing. The me-
I fought with never came back
The rest of the gang, who had sta
toned themselves at the head G
: the train, applied themselves to tn
maitland express and baggage. tn