The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1883-10-05
ATTEMPTED TRAIN ROBBERY.

NJ Coolidge, Kans.-The E0gineer
Killed and Fireman WOunded-The
Express Messenger Successfully DE.
tends His Treasure-RHsht and Prob.
able Capture Of the Robbers.
A daring but unsuccessful attempt
was made to rob the east-bound express
train on the Atchison, Topeka &
Santa Fe Railroad at Coolidge station, at an
early hour on Saturday morning, Sept. %.
The attack was made by three men, two
boarding the engine while the third entered
the express car and made a futile attempt
| to kill the messenger and rob the safe. The
two men who jumped upon the engine held
drawn revolvers in their hands, and seeiEg
the engineer, John H. Hilton, with his hand
upon the throttle, called upon him to pull
out quick" Instead of doing this Hilton
pushed the lever clear over, when one of
the men shot him dead, the bullet passing
through his heart. At the same time the
second man shot George Fade, the fireman,
through the back, Fable falling from the
platform, while the dead body of Hilton
remained in the cab. The third robber en-.
tered the express car and began firing at s.
! s. Peterson, messenger for Wells, Fargo &
Co.'s express.
| STATEMENT OF THE EXPRESS MESSENGER.
The following account of the attempted
robbery of the express car was given by
Mr.. Samuel s. Peterson, the messenger, to
a Kansas City Times reporter:
| You are of course aware that the raid took
| place at Coolidge, u station on the line of the
| Atchison, Topeka s. Santa Fe Railway, about
! ten miles east of the Colorado State line, be-
| tween g and o'clock Saturday 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,
| Conductor Greeley, Engineer John Hilton,
| Fireman Fable and Baggageman johnson.
'When the train stopped" continued Mr..
Peterson, 81 put of some railroad mail which
had and there being no express to put off and
no further work for me to do, lay down on
my box, just in front of the front side door on
the side of the car next to the depot. After ~
ing down for few minutes dropped OF into
a doze. 1 was lying on my back, with my arms
folded over my bosom. Both of the doors on
| the side of the car next to the platform were
open, Baggageman johnson being seated in
the back side door, looking out on the plat
form. My revolver, a Colts 4l-caliber, double
action, lay at my side. had taken il out of
my scabbard and laid it down that might be
ready for any emergency that. might arise.
The pistol lay where could easily lay hands
upon it.
ut was about time for the train to start
when heard the words, Come out of there,
you -. This woke me up, and l after
wards learned that the remark was made by
Conductor Greeley to man whom he noticed
getting into the car.
the car and saw standing within four feet
of me man with pistol in his hand. was
lying with my head toward the front of the
/ did not say a word; in fact 1 did not have
time to speak before he covered me with the
revolver and fired. The bullet went over my
head and / could feel the fire burning over my
face. The man then fired a shot out of the
doorway at the conductor. Fortunately was
completely self-possesssed, and when he fired
realized that train robbery was going on.
With the hope of making the robber believe
that he had killed me unclasped my hands
which were folded on my bosom, and allowed
them to fall at my side. My right hand fell
that it would never do to allow the robber to
see that i was about to defend myself.
worked my hand slowly into position, until L
had hold of the pistol. with my finger on the
trigger. The robber did not notice this man
euver because it was quite dark in that part of
the car where lay. Meantime the man was
working his way toward the rear of the car,
evidently supposing that he had finished me,
and intending to kill the baggageman or any
one else who got in his way. AS soon as got
hold of my pistol ! sprang into a sitting, pos
ture and fired at the robber. l jumped up
then and walked toward the man. He raised
his revolver as If to shoot again, but il went
of prematurely, the ball striking the roof of
the car. When shot at him part of his body
was behind st9ye. aimed at his abdomen
and believe that my ball took effect. About
this time saw another man, who proved to
the Side door. No sooner had 1 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 rob-
bers. l calculated that they would come up
to the front side door of the car, and Selling
some freight barricaded the door so as TO
protect myself and the property which had
been entrusted to my care.
LESS than half a minute after the robbers
left my car heard some shots at the engine.
Three shots were fired in half as many minutes.
l stood at the front side door of my car. revolt
yer in hand. Just then Conductor Greeley
came up. Have they gomez asked. Yes,
think So replied he, but believe our en-
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
II then jumped out on the platform and saw
the engineer and fireman lying on the platform
alongside of the engine. The fireman was still
conscious and was taken into the hotel. where
l talked with him few minutes. The body OF
the dead engineer, poor John Hilton, was put
aboard the train and taken to Dodge.
AFTER considerable delay We got new en-
again on our journey, an hour and forty min
utes late. At CimarrOn twenty miles distant,
we met special train from Dodge City, con-
yeying to Coolidge Sheriff's posse to pursue
the robbers
Failing in their effort to secure the treas
ure in the express car, which was obvious
ly the chief object of the raid, the robbers
took to their heels, going around in front OF
the engine and disappearingi in the darkness.
They made their escape to the southwest,
discharging their revolvers into the air in
order to brighten any who might have the
hardihood to pursue them.
When the real state of affairs became
generally known among the passengers,
the widest excitement prevailed. Men
were pale with fright and women were in
Mysteries. For some time after the raid
few of the passengers were bold enough to
leave their seats, but after while, when it
became certain that all danger was passed,
they came out and thronged the platform.
The news was Immediately telegraphed
to Dodge City, where forces were quickly
organized for the pursuit, These left in
special car furnished by the railroad COM
pany.
Two men, arrested on suspicion, are John
Looney, a cowboy belonging to the Arkan-
sas Valley Stock Company ranch, and
Lewis Chambers, also a cowboy with Bates
& Beal or the al. "" brand. Both men
have an exceedingly hard reputation about
Coolidge. They were committed to Jail at
Dodge City.
A Philadelphia schoolgirl had
heard that arsenic was good for the
complexion, but her varied and extern