Weekly commercial herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1884-18??, 1886-03-19

reached the places d after the murder
vas discovered. The widest excite
ment prevailed about the depot 81 the
cline. Nichols was found with bis
throat cut from ear 70 ear, the wound
being q Jagged, uneven cash. asif Il had
been Indicted with q hatchet. Turner
had to leave for Chicago before the in.
yestigation was well under way. Il
was found, however, that everything
was all right when thetFain drew up 81
Joliet. II started promptly and &C.
cOrding TO schedule time, was due to
arrive at Morris at 100 In the morn
ing. No stops were made between
both places, and, for that reason, II js
thought the murderers boarded the
| train at Joliet. Arriving at Morris,
Nichols, as was his wont, did not ap-
pear at the door Of the express car
to deliver his packages. The
agent waited on the platform
for several moments and firing
Of the delay, opened the door himself.
The sight that met his eyes was a hor-
rible me-. Nichols body, covered with
blood, was lying in one corner Of the
car, the safe was open and the valua-
bles found missing. The United States
express officials here say Nichols had
In his custody from $4,000 to $4,000.
and had some forty packages Of jewel
ry consigned to a jewelry firm in the
country. The value Of this jewelry is
unknown, but the express people say 1t
cannot be less than 5000, and may be
worth double that amount.
The news Of the killing spread rap
idly down town, and during the fore
noon the express Office was thronged
by merchants and others who had sent
valuables in the cart Of the
company to various parts of
the country. They all wanted to know
whether their property was lost for
ever, and asked a multitude Of ques-
tions, The express company acted
promptly, once they heard Of the muir
der. They took immediate steps to
get track Of the murderers, and a large
force Of detectives were set to work
on the case.
Mr.. Wygart, the agent of the United
States Express Company, states this
evening that the loss by this morn
ing's robbery will be inside of $4,000.
There was a little over $4,000 in
money and the balance Of stolen matter
consisted Of packages of jewelry and
other things, which he thinks were not
valued at over. $500. 1t is impossible
just now to fix the loss exactly. The
express company is working jointly
with the Rock Island railroad, in en-
deavoring to catch the robbers, and the
$4,000 reward is offered jointly by the
two companies. Assistant agent
Hammond, of the United States Elk.
press Company's Office, in this city,
said in regard to the murder
ed man, (Mr. Kellogg Nichols
wal a brave and trusted employe
Of the company. He wal about forty
years Of age and had spent twenty
years with the company, being one Of
its Oldest employees running on any
road out Of this city. Mr.. Nichols
was a married man, but had no
children.
General Superintendent Kimball, of
the Rock Island road, said: at is our
belief that the men boarded the train
at the coal chute. where the train
stops, about one mile west Of Joliet.
They either laid in wait there for the
train, or left some of the other cars Of
the train when 1t stopped and went
forward and entered through the bag
gage car. Our best information is
that the baggage man saw two at
least Of the robbers"