Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1885-1890, 1886-11-06
stopped this train for robbery and we amt

can open the safe, and you've got to do it
or die" / again told him / could not. He
forced me IN my knees beside the safe
and said, snow you open that safe or you
will never get up alive" ! was pretty bad
ly hurt, and fully ~believeing that they
would finish me before they left the CIR,
| told the leader that | would rather he
would kill me than torture me any longer.
The leader of the robbers (whom | after
wards learned was named Collins was
guarding the trainmen on the depot plat
form. and could hear everything that was
said in the express car. Just at this junct-
ure he appealed to conductor Patterson
thus: "Conductor, if you want to save that
mans life you had better tell him to open
the safe, for we can't fool with him much
longer" Patterson replied, "He can't
open that safe to save his life. Ii you kill
him for not opening that safe, youkill him
for not doing something that is utterly i'm
possible for him to do. l give you my
honor as a man. [ speak the TRUTH
This little speech convinced Collins
that | could not open the safe, and detail
ing one Of the robbers to guard the prison
ers, he jumped into the car, took the other
leader by the shoulder and said, Let
him alone; you've abused him enough.
| am satisfied that he can'topen the safe"
They still persisted in abusing me, how
ever, until Collins told them severely that
they must desist. | was Their taken out
of the car, and with others that were I'M
der guard, marched to the side of the To-
connective and seated on the ends Of the
ties. One of the robbers stood guard over
us with a Winchester. When the gang
went back to my car, they discovered the
three boxes, and thinking them a little
suspicious in appearance and weight, one
of the robbers came out to me and asked,
Messenger, what's in those three small
boxes there by the safe ?" | told him l
did not know, but that | supposed they
were valuable castings Of some kind. He
started back saying, II can soon find out
what is in them" Returning to the car
he took my axe down, and splitting one
Of them open, $50 gold pieces rolled out
upon the floor. After making this dis
covery, two of the robbers came out to me-
in high glee and asked how much money
there was in the three boxes. [ replied
100000. Gns of them complained that
that was a small amount to divide among
sixteen men. They put the boxes into
sacks, and then went back to pay their re-
spects to the passengers. After they had
secured all their booty, and were leaving,
the robbers came up past the engil e
where we were still sitting. Collins So d
to me very kindly, Messenger, I'm sorry
you're hurt so badly" He then ordered
the engineer, who was a prisoner with Us,
/ kill the engine, and asked him how
long il wodld take to get up steam again
George Eroman, our engineer, told him
about two hours and a half. Nroman
knew his business aud comPletelydeceiy-
ed the robbers. By his polite deviltry
that night, Collins made quite a favorable
impression, compared with the brutal
Iieiridge (the other leaders name). Col
Inns was a dude bandit-a sort of Claude
Du Val. After the departure of the gang
the train-men began to devise some means
of reporting the robbery. The robbers
had torn out all the Geographic apppar-
o4i1S in thl. flaysDt !af5>.a TN, wiz - an,
train. Conductor Patterson was an old
train dispatcher and he quickly improvis-
ed a transinitter. Taking the ends Of the !
brokon line in either hand, and making |
the dots and dashes by touching them to-
gether, he slowly reported the robbery |
along the line and to Omaha.
Every one Of those six men engaged in
the robbery Of oar train that night are
now dead, and they all died with their
boots on-four Of them shortly after the
robbery, | was completely avenged for
the brutal treatment | received. NJ. T.
Leach, the man whofollowed the robbers,
and saw Collins administer the oath to
them on the bible not to be taken alive,
and then divide the money, is now in the
mining business atBoalder, Colorado, and
is getting rich. Tie Union Pacific Com !
pany did the handsome thing for him for
him for his services in detecting the rob
bers. George Vroman, u engineer that
night, has been employed as foreman in
the North Platte shops for a long time.
NJ. II. Patterson, the conductor, who saw