Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-10-03
THE KANSAS TRAIN ROBBERS
story Of the Express Messenger who
Put Them to Flight


Patterson. the express messenger on the
AtchisOn, Topeka and Santa Fe train.
which highwaymen attempted to rob
tells the following story: ''YOu are aware
that the raid took place at Coolidge sta
ton. about ten miles east of the Colorado
State line, betWeen2 and 3 O'Clock in the
morning. There is an eating-hOuse in the
station, and the train stopped there as
usual twenty minutes in order to give
passengers an opportunity to get lunch.
! The train was No. 4, bound east. with
Conductor Greedy, Engineer John Hilton,
Fireman Paddle, and Baggageman John
son. When the train stopped |
put of some railroad mail
which had, and there being
no express TO put off and no
further work for me to do | laid on nv
box just in front Of the side door on the
side OF the car next to the station. After
lying down few minutes | dropped off
into doze. | was lying on my back
with my arms folded over my bosom. with
both doors on the side Of the car next To
the platform open, Baggageman johnson
beng seated in the back side door looking
out on the platform. My revOlver-a
Colts 4l-caiibre dOuble-action-lav at NV
, side. l bad taken ii out of my scabbard
and laid 1t down that might be ready for
any emergency that might arise. NV
pistol lay where | could easily Law nv
hand upon it. 1t was about time for the
train to start when ! heard the words
Come out Of there, you d -
This woke me up, and | afterward
learned that the remark was made bV
Conductor Greeley to a man whom he no.
ticed getting into the car. When awoke
naturally glanced down the car, and
saw, standing within four feet of me. a
man with pistol i'm his hand. ] was "
Ing with my head toward the front end of
the car, and the man was standing near
my feet. did not say Il word, In fact,
/ did not have time to speak before he
covered me with his revolver and fired
The bullet went over my head and | could
feel the lire burning over my face. The
man then fired a shot out of the doorway
at the conductor. Fortunately | was
completely selt-pOssessed, and when he
fired | realized that a train robbery was
going on. With the hope of making the
rObber believe that he had killed me,
l unclasped my hands. which
were folded on my bosom, and allowed
them to fall at my side. Ny right hand
fell on the muzzle OF my revolver, ard
realizing that it would never do to allow
the rObber to see that | was about to de-
tend myself, worked my hand slowly into
position until had hold of the trigger.
The rObber did not notice this manmuYre,
because it was quite dark in the part of
was working his way toward the rear OF
the ear, evidently supposing he had fin
lshed me, and intended to kill the baggage
man or any one else who got in his Wav
As soon as | got hold of my pistol |
sprang into asitting posture. jumped up,
then walked toward the man. He raised
his revolver as if to shoot again. but if
went off prematurely, the ball striking
the roof of the car. When | shot at him
part OF his body was behind the stove. |
aimed at his abdomen, and | believe my
ball took effect. About this time | saw
another man, who proved to be ''pal'' of
the first, trying to climb in at the side
door. No sooner had | fired, however
than he disappeared, and the man | shot
at jumped out on the platform from the
rear side door. That was the last | saw
of the robbers. | calculated they would
come up to the front side door, and. seiz-
ing some freight, | barricaded the door so
as to protect myself and property which
had been intrusted to my care.
Less than half minute after the rob-
bers left my car ! heard some shots at
the engine. Three shots were fired in
half as many minutes. | stood at the
front side door of my car, revolver in
hand. Just then Conductor Greedy came
up. "Haye they gomez | asked. eyes,
| think So" replied he, ''but | believe our
engineer and fireman are hurt Then
Greeley went forward to them, and,
coming back to me. said: "They
are both killed The engineer is shot
through the heart and the fireman
through the neck.'' | then jumped
out on the platform and saw the engineer
and fireman lying on the platform along
side of the engine. The fireman was still
conscious, and was taken into the hotel,
where ] talked with him few minutes.
The body Of the dead engineer was put
aboard the train and taken to Dodge City.
After considerable delay we got a new
engineer and fireman at Coolidge, and
started on our journey 1 hour and 40
minutes late. At CimmarOn, 20 miles
distant we met a special train from
Dodge City, conveying to Coolidge
Sherif's posse to pursue the robbers.