Bridgeton pioneer., 1885-06-04
A MADMAN RUNS A TRAIN.

and half late, in charge of u madman.
Out of the twelve or fifteen men, Off
GERS and citizens who finally secured
him, one officer is dead, shot through
the body; another probably fatally
wounded, several citizens injured, and
the lunatic himself lies in the County
Hospital mortally wounded, with three
bullets in his body. Shortly before
noon Saturday, the station policeman
at the Wabash, st. Louis and Pacific
Depot, on Polk street, Chicago, re-
ceived the following despatch:
''CHENOA, ILL.,, May 31st.-I have an
insane man on my train who has pos
session of one car. The police at Kan
sas City, Jacksonville and Peoria were
all afraid to take him. Please send
ten or twelve policemen out on No. 1
to take him when we arrive in Chica-
go. They had better come in citizens
clothes. They will have to look out
sharp or some one will get hurt. Put
NAM, Conductor No. g.
mo. g." which left Kansas City Fri
day night, was due at Chicago at $50
p. H., Saturday. There was difficulty
in starting out mo. L." as directed in
the despatch, and it was decided to
meet the train at the depot Officers
Chasey, Ryan, Murphy, Rowan, Walsh,
Strenning, Dohney, Barrett and Keen
an, in uniform, and Smith, Terry. Am
stein, O'Brien and Laughlin, in citi-
zens' clothes, under the command of
Lieut.. Laugh, made up the squad,
which arrived at the depot ten min
utes before the train was due. The
train being delayed, as was subsequent
ly learned, by Intellectual efforts to
capture the lunatic, the police were
forced to wait more than an hour.
After considerable anxious speculation
as to the condition of things on board
mo. g." the officers were finally any
thing but reassured by a despatch from
a suburban station warning them that
the maniac was well armed and would
resist desperately. A little later NO
g." appeared in sight, and the police
separating, so as to form two squads
awaited her arrival on either side of
the track. AS the train approached
the whistle sounded number of warn
ing notes in quick succession. People
hanging half way out of the car win
dows were seen to gesticulate wildly
to the crowd. Before the train had
come to stand-still a dozen passeng-
ers had jumped to the ground and fled
looking backward with blanched
faces. Officer Barrett was the first to
observe the lunatic. Barrett was
standing near the rear end of the
smoking car, the madman with leveled
revolver glared at him from the front
platform of the chair car. one car
length distant Barrett turned half
around and stopped instantly, but too
late, ball from the lunatics revolver
struck him in the side and in five min
utes he was dead One look at the
maniac was enough to satisfy anyone
that while his ammunition lasted he
would not be taken alive. Seeing this.
the officers, after removing their
wounded comrade, began to fusilade
through the windows of the smoking
car, where the madman had taken ref
uge. After a minute or two he
plunged out on to the platform, fired
couple of shots into the crowd leaped
from the train and dashed down Fourth
avenue. Officer Laughlin started in
hot pursuit, and at him the lunatic
fired the last shot in his weapon, but
without effect. The maniac stopped
there and awaited Laughlins coming
with cleaning eyes and frothing mouth.
They clinched, the officer tripped his
prisoner and they both fell, the mad
man meanwhile beating Laughln un-
mercifully on the head with his re-
volver. The officer was in citizens
clothes and was set upon and terribly
pounded by an excited colored man
who mistook the officer for the pris-
oner. The rest of the squad arrived
shortly, the maniac was secured, taken
first to cell and then to the hospital
to have his wounds dressed. When
he realized that further resistance was
useless, the prisoner grew calm, and
said, quite nationally, that his name
was Louis Reaume, that he was SO
years old, and was en- route to his
home in Detroit from Denver.
The trainmen of mo. 6" tell a thrill
ling story of the trip from Kansas
City. When the man boarded the
train at that place he remarked that
people were after him to lynch him
and that if left alone he would molest
no one. At Ell Paso, ILL.,, he became
violent and, with revolver in hand.
ordered the trainmen to cease making
some changes in the makeup of the
train.
The passengers all left the chair car
| which the madman made his ouartars