Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1884-10-31
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TALES or THE TELE6RAPH.
The esss, Bullion Rebbsry- Outlaws '''e""
vented Over the wires-Osniaiia" "se"''
rnbIe CaI for Heip-Trishs OF the mine
Hunters.

rnbIe CaIl for Heip-Triehs OF 'ns MINI
Hunters.
Several old telegraph-operators met mere
la.t night. saws correspondent OF the New
York Sun, writiI from Sidney, NED, ana
In the course OF a long conversation to'd
some OF their exper,enees on the frontier.
One ~ them began by recalling the great
bullion robbery at this place. IL wa.
M noon. and most OF The depot and
stage hands had gone across the yards
10 dinner. As the operator sat In the
felepronh.oflice alone two men present.
ed Themselves nj his door and demanded
admitiance. Roth had reyolyer-. lie
jumped up and let them In, and they quick
lv bound and gagged him. Believing that
ne was safe. they disappeared. and he saw
no more OF them. As soon as they were
ont of sight he managed 10 ge: 10 his IN
strument. and by lying down on the table,
found that with one OF his hands he could
reach the key. It was difficult work. but
hy degrees be improved his position until
finally he raised the Cheyenne Office and
communicated the fact that a robbery was
in progress. The operator at that point Kept
hIm posted as 10 the proceedings there, and
IN few minutes he was gratiGed 10 hear
the intelligence licked over the wires that
the superintendent and party OF detee-
tiycs were en- route for Sidney on special
tram. The distance was 102 miles, but the
run was made so rapidly that the people OF
the town were hardly aware OF the rob
berry when the tram dashed in. The
operator had by that time been re-
leased, and il was found that the
thieves. who had been secreted under
the depot, had come up through hole IN
the floor made by removing board. The
bullion weighed about five hundred
pounds. and, a. il was thought that they
could not have carried IL far, vigorous
search was made near at hand. Before
night the greater part OF the gold was
found IN hole under the depot, and the
remainder was discovered in an adjoining
coal-shed. where 1t bad been dropped. The
thieves got away with only about sl3,OC0
in currency.
Another operator remarked that he was
the man who discovered the Ogalalla train
robbery. lie was in charge Of the little
office at Kearney. lie had bad a very
stupid afternoon, and as the day was misera-
BILE without, he dozed more or less. He
tried 10 read, but. after IL became necessary
to light the lamps, he found this occupation
distasteiul, and as no one came in he leaned
loI Ntlus hIS ~ AhN Ob hiC h'bi' anu
head upon them.
al must have slept soundly for awhile"
he said, "for lost myself entirely for an
hour or two, but presently had an indis.
tinct impression that some one was calling
for assistance. In my dream it seemed 80
me that I could hear the cry, 'HelpN
'lIelp' and that | was poweIleSs TO render
any assistance. Finally sat bolt upright,
with nervous feeling as II something
terrible had happened which ought TO have
prevented. rubbed my eyes and looked
around sleepily. The depot was empty.
II was dark outside, and the rain was falling.
| stepped 10 the door and looked out for
minute. but heard nothing. Then |
went back 10 my desk, filed and lighted
my pipe, and began 10 read. My eyes had
Just fallen on the page when my inStru-
mcnt sounded once or twice very feebly.
looked al IL closely. II ticked again
almost inaudibly. Something's the mat
ter thought /. got up. and leaned over
the sounder and listened. l could idst
catch the faintest click, "a II a child might
have been playing with key somewhere.
While listened | began TO comprehend
the nature Of the message that was being
sent. i could not catch all the letters, but
| got enough, after listening to II a dozen
times, TO make out this much 'Ogalalla,
Ogalalla. Help, help II flashed upon me
AL at once. The overland tram was being
robbed, or had been robbed. grabbed my
key, and let every one have il from Cheyenne
10 Omaha. There was some lively tele-
graphing there for time. They sent en-
gines out from two or three points, and got
to Ogalalla in time TO scare the robbers Of.
You see was good deal further OF than
a dozen other operators, but somehow |
was the first one that caught on. The
way that happened was this: The robbers
came into the depot at Ogalalla about an
hour before train-time, and bound and
gagged the operator. After they got him
fixed they sat around and waited. When
the train drew up they left hIm, and he i'm
mediltely got himself in a position where
he could use the key little. The boys who
saw him say il is mystery how be ever
did it. His legs were tied twice, and ms
arms were pinioned behind him. 20 that il
was almost impossible TO move even the
fingers The fact that | could not catch
two consecutive letters until had heard
the message ten or twelve times shows how
faint the stroke was. II was the queerest
experience Of my life
A third man said he had seen good deal
Of service on the border and had had q
good many adventures, only one OF which
ever impressed him much. Down at Gre
NADIA, on the Santa Fe road, when it was first
opened, he had had a circus all one night
with a party Of robbers. The country was
then a very dangerous one. and the man
agcmcnt was in continual fear OF dcspcra-
does.
IL was in the office in the evening"" he
said, "getting ready to close up, when
four or five hard men came in. They didn't
say mucn at first, but seemed to be looking
the ground over. We were always on the
lookout for that kind Of chaps, and ss the
machine was ticking | pretended that
somebody was asking me a question. |
laughed little, and seizIng the key broke
in with: 'Everybody-Don't stop the ex-
press al Grenada tonight, whether signalled
or not. Robbers here They eyed me
sharply, but said nothing. The soundcf
kept up merry click. and |
leaned back in the chair. They
fooled around for half an hour, and
then one of them asked me what time the
train was due. Eleven five | said.
We'll, We want it, one Of them replied.
| told him that | would signal il. Abont
1880 got out the red lantern and lighted
il. just as | got il fixed two OF them
jumped up with revolvers in their hands
and said they would save me the trouble.
While one of them covered me with pl>-
tol the Others tied me Hat on my back TO a
settce. couldn't move head or foot.
After they got me there began TO think
what sort Of scrape had got
myself in. The train would come
presently, and 90 flying by, and
then those cut-throats would murder me
lust for the fun of ii. / had thought the
thing all over when heard sharp whistle
and roar. The men ran out to the plat
form With masks on and revolyeFs IN hand.
one Of them had the lantern, which be
swung vigorously. In going out on the
platform they had left the door open, 50
that could see things pretty well. be-
gan to hope that the train would stop, for
knew il contained men enough 10 do up
that crowd il not taken too much by sur
prise. The roar came nearer and nearer
until at last / knew by the sound that
they were not going to stop. with
the whistle blowing at full blast ana
the dust flying in clouds, she swept
by like a streak lof lightning. IL was
all up with me, ! thought. The rob
bers dropped the lantern and began Ia
swear. Then | could hear them talking.
and pretty soon ] made up my mud that
the train had stopped down the ROAD way
and that they were watching IL. BeiOr'
long they took 10 their heels. mounted theif
horses, and were gone. When the tram
men came up to the depot, all armed win
Wincbesters, | was the only occupant.