Omaha daily bee., 1884-03-17

ness" Such were the comments made by a
weIl.ki own man upon the arrest Of Tiller. the
Pacific express robber, and the capture Of the
plumber. An old Pacific express employee, to
whom the remarks were addressed, expressed
a very different opinion of Tiller. That
trunk business, said he, "was the cutest thing
that Tiller did in the whole business. No one
but an express man would have thought Of IL.
Why, nearly every day some countryman
goes into store, buys a trunk, and fills it with
has old traps and any new things which he may
buy, and has IL shipped by express TO his
home. That's o very common occur.
renee, and no one knows 1t better tban
an express man. Tiller was posted on this
thing, and when he went into the Milwaukee
trunk store and bought a trunk, TO be shipped
to Detroit, he was only doing what is done
every day by countrymen. The careless man.
ner in which he threw down his valise, con-
tanning the stolen money, and told thei clerk
TO pack It in the trunk, as he didn't want tr
have the trouble of carrying 1t any longer, was
q very natural way to disarm suspicion. If
the valise hadn't bursted afterwards, while
being handled by the clerk, the plan would
have worked all right. The bursting of the
valise was the merest accident. Tiller's OBJ.
ject was to get rid OF the money, as he didn'S
want 70 be caught 10 possession of it. II cap.
tured and sent to the penitentiary, his plan
was Go serve out his term, and then go to De.
troit and get his trunk. Under the laws of
Missouri, as 1 i have been told, Tiller can only
be convicted for grand larceny or embezZle-
ment, the extreme penalty Of which is only
FIVE years, which, by good behavior, can be re.
duced to about three years and a half" But
wouldn't the express company have opened or
sold the trunk before his term expired, and
thus discover the money" asked the BEES
terested ''I listener. THE chances are
that they would not. I have
known old trunks and bundles to lay for years
in the express Office, before being sold or dis
posed of. Even when examined before sale
ior valuable papers, etc, the examination is
very hastily done. / remember at one sale |
assisted in the examination of the trunks,
valises and packages. Among the stuff was
an old greasy bundle of mems clothing, and II
was SO dirty that we wouldn't undo it. A
colored man bought the bundle for twenty-five
cents, and upon ,unrolling the clothing and
feeling in the pockets he found four twenty
dollar gold pieces" "By the way, who will
get the reward for the arrest of Tiller, and the
recovery of the money! asked the BEE man.
81 suppose the clerk in the trunk store will
get the reward for the money. Thu reward
offered was ten per cent of the whole amount.
SO he will get between IS, 900 and $1,000, and
probably a large part, If not all, of the reward
" iilC . bitCoOs \ CICNo pp, " Wdb oiolCo
for the capture of Tiller alone, and l think q
like amount for the arrest of his confederate. y
IT,
TT saw quite a number of Omaha people
over in California; said Mr.. Charles H.
Dewey, who returned the other day from a six
weeks visit on the Pacific coast. eat San
Gabriel l saw S. H. H. Clark and E. B. Chan.
dler, who spend most of their time in hunting
and fishing. Mr.. Clark is improving in health
very rapidly. Jake Markell is at Madri Villa,
on the mountain side. near San Gabriel where
the sun shines cheerfully, and the weather is
as warm as July. The cows are grazing on
the grass in front of the Villa, and oranges
and lemons are hanging ripe on the trees, and
the peach trees are in blossom. Jake sits
with his overcoat on the porch, taking sun.
baths and whiting, and is satisfied to stay
there until he feels better. By the way, I've
just got q letter from him saying that he il
saw NJ. G. McKoon, who is in the insurance
business. Pretty morning! why, how do YOU
do, Brother Dewey?' said he, with a wave o.
his hand, as his met me-, and l replied in thu
same tone and gesture, Pretty morning. why
how do you do, Brother McKoon?' isn't Thu
just lovely out here? Did you ever see any
thing in Nebraska to equal it! Look at tn,
oranges, the lemons, the peach blossoms, ant
the flowers! just smell the fragrance of the per
fume in the air!' said Brother McKoon, VIII
was very enthusiastic about Los Angeles. +
V. Smith is also at Los Angeles. He is look
ing around for some business to engage in.
saw several other Omaha people in California
but | can't remember their names now. Mr.
Cruickshank is keeping a store at Pasadino
i didn't see him, but l understand he is regain
ing his health yery rapidly,"