St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1885-01-03
TALES OF THE TELEGRAPH.
Ola Telegraph Operators Recount
Their Experiences.
The Great Bullion Robbery mt Sidney-Out-
laws Circumvented-OgalaIl Mem
orable Call For Help-Minc
Hunters Tricks-Fool-
ing Grecnhorn.

Several old telegraph operators me-
here last night, and in the course of &
long conversation told some of their ex
perienees on the frontier, One of them
began by recalling the great bullion
robbery at this place. 1t was at noon
and most of the depot and stage hands
had gone across the yards to dinner.
As the operator sat in the telegraph of.
flee alone two men presented themselves
at his door and demanded admittance.
Both had reyolvers.. He jumped up and
let them in, and they quickly bound and
gagged him. Believing that he was
safe, they disappeared, and he saw nc
more of them. As soon as thew were
out of sight he managed to get to his
instrument, and by lying down on the
table fund that with one of his hands
he .sould reach the key. 1t was difficult
sTork, but by degrees he improved his
position until finally he raised the Chey-
enne Office and communicated the fact
that robbery was in progress. The
operator at that point kept him posted
as to the proceedings there, and in a
few minutes he was gratified to hear
! the intelligence licked over the wires
that the superintendent and a party of
detectives were en- route for Sidney on
special train. The distance was one
hundred and two miles, but the run
was made so rapidly thlhe people of
the town were hardly awafe of the rob-
Dery when the traile dashed in. The
operator had by thafyflne been released,
and it was found that the thieves, who
had been secreted under the depot, had
come up through a hole in the floor
made by removing board The bullion
weighed about five hundred pounds,
and. as it was thought that they could
mt have carried it far, vigorous
search was made near at hand. Before
night the greater part Of the gold was
fnnnd in a hole under the depot. and
the remainder was discovered in an adj
;o;uing coal-shed, where it had been
cropped. The thieves got away with
only about $4,000 in currency.
knother operator remarked that he
was the man who discovered the
Ogalalla train robbery. He was in
charge of the little office at kearney.
He had had q very stupid afternoon,
and as the day was miserable without,
ha dozed more or less. He tried to
Rad. hut. after it became necessary to
i;oht the lamps. he found this occupa-
t;on distasteful. and as no one came in
he.leaned forward, placing his arms on
his table and his head upon them.
..T must have slept sOundly for
.wh;le.,, he said, ssfor lost myself en-
t;relv for an hour or two, but present.
II / had an indistinct impression that
some one was calling for assistance. In
my dream it seemed to me that | could
hear the crv, .Help' 'Helpr and that l
v.s poweriess to render any assist
ance' Finally sat bolt upright, with
!. nervous feeling as if something terri
ble had happened which l ought to
esre nreyented. l rubbed my eyes
and looked around sleepily. The depot
,rss empty. 1t was dusk outside. and
the rain was falling. / stepped to the
door and looked out for minute. but
!, ,oard nothing. Then went back to
INV desk, filed and lighted my pipe,
and began to read. My eyes had just
fell on the page when my Instrument
.ounded once or twice very feebly.
looked at it closely. 1t ticked again
.imost inaudibly. Something's the
matter thought |. l got up. and
leaned over the sounder and listened.
| could just catch the faintest click, as
+ = child might have been playing with
!. - somewhere. While / listened
,eoan to comprehend the nature OF the
ressace that was being sent. could
,ot catch all the letters, but l got
,nough, after listening to II . dozen
mes to make out this much: 'Ogalai-
q Oyalalla. Help, help. 1t flashed
,non ma all at once. The overland