Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1886-03-18
GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY
Messenger Nichols Brutality Muir
/ dered on the Rock Island.
Tho Messenger Makes a Desperate Re
sistance-The Robbers Beat Him to
- Death and Obtain an Immense
Booty.

CHICAGO, March ia Joliet III.
special says one of the most daring an,
bloody express robberies ever perpetrated il
Illinois occurred on the Chicago, Rocl
Island Il Pacific west bound express las
night between this place and Morris. Tn
Facts as learned from the baggage man ar
that shortly after the train which leave
here at 12:45 a. H., had left here he heart
q rap at the baggage car door,. Thinking /
was the express messenger lie opened thu
door and was met by masked robbers whs
covered him with revolvers and demanded
the key to the express car. The key wa
given up.
THE ROBBERY
One robber. who was Oh top OF the bag
gage car, held a revolver on the baggag,
man through the transom In the roof of thu
car, while his cOnfederates turned their at
tentlon to the express car. He thought
they rapped at the express car
door, and informed the messages
that the haggageman wanted tt
get in. At any rate the express car wa,
opened and the desperadoes entered, anG
Then occurred one of the most bloody anC
~SoPSiotC oiuSSlcS VII ltCOTu.
DESPERATE RESISTANCE.
Being confronted by the murderous vii
lians, Kellogg Nichols, the messenger
fought for his life and the property in his
possession. The interiOr,Of the express cal
shows that he fought the robbers from one
end OF the Car TO the other but al
last the murderous blows that they .rained
on his head, with an iron poker forced him
to succumb, and he was left dead in the car
The robbers then ritied his pockets for the
Keys to the safe. which they robbed of all
its contents, variOuSly estimated at from
$4,000 To 100000. Checks and valuable
packages not containing money they left
scattered about the floor.
THE DISCOVERY.
Nothing was known of the occurrence
until the train reached Morris, the first stop
west OF here except at the coal chute,
where the train stopped to lake on coal.
At Morris the local express messenger
raped on the express car door as sum-
mons. Not being answered, it was thought
the messenger was asleep. Upon
the door of the car being opened the
horrible evidences of the desperate struggle
and the dead body of the messenger were
discovered. In one hand the hero had
lock of dark -colored hair that must have
ocCh toIH lIOlli Tile Hcdu VI OIc VI HIS
aSsailants.
PURSUING TIE ROBBERS.
The news was at once telegraphed to OF
tawa and Sheriff Retz and Chief of Police
Murray at once organized posse
aud started on special engine for
Morris, stopping on the way at the coal
chute, two miles west of here, to see
If they could find where the despera-
does boarded the train. At that point snow
was falling slightly and the tracks were
nearly covered. A large force of officers
and men from this place and Morris
is now securing the country, and it is
thought the guilty men will be captured,
in which event they will probably be
lynched, as public opinion in this town is
at fever heat and it will not be safe for the
murderers to be caught here. The dead
messenger was a married man and had been
I'm the service of the United States Express
Company for about ten years and was one
of their most trusted employees. His home
is at Chicago.
EXCITEMENT AT CHICAGO.
General Superintendent kimba!l of the
Rock Island road speaking of the robbery
and murder, said: ut is likely that the
men boarded the train at the coal chute,
where the train stops, about one mile west
VI JOlitL. lucy ellIltI Idlu III wall IlltIc
for the train or left some of the other cars
of the train when it stopped, and went for
ward and entered through the baggage car.
Our best information is that the baggage
man saw two at least of the robbers" At
the murdered mans home it was learned
that Mr.. Nichols left his home at an early
hour last evening and was at the theater
until the time to 90 to his car. There was
the greatest excitement among the unfOrtu
nate mans fellow employees as they came i'm
from trips and heard the news. Six pasSen-
ger tickets were sold last night at the depot
ticket office, good from Chicago to MnOOka,
a little town about twelve miles this side of
Morris, and the circumstance was regarded
as suspicious by railroad men.
. THE BAGGAGEMAN's STORY.
The baggageman, n. ii. Watt. who is a
young man about twenty-four years old,
told the following story: 81 was sitting in
the car The chains were up on the door
which went back to the train, but the door
In the front part of the car was not locked,
as the car ahead was the one in which was
the messenger. He was checking
up his runs. | sat on trunk and
just after they had whistled for
Minooka, l heard sort of scraping
sound on the floor, but not much, just as
the floor. Before l could turn around,
big gun was poked over my shoulder and a
man said: You open your mouth or move
a muscle and III blow your brains out L
could only see the lower part of his face.
1t was covered with some cloth or paper.
] sat looking toward the back part of the
car toward the rear of the train when |
heard some one at the safe. which
was behind me, and l could hear the
rustling and tearing of papers This
went on for a while and the man who stood
over me said to me, If you move or stir
hand or foot before the train stops at Nor
ris that man up there will blow the top of
your head off, | rolled up my eyes and
there was a mans hand stuck through the
ventlator with gun init In about five
minutes as it seemed to me, the train
slowed up for Morris and l looked up.
The hand was gone and jumped out of the
car. l heard no noise nor any shooting.
The first heard was, as l said, the man
speaking to me, and at the same time put
ting the gun over my shoulder. They
must have gotten into Nichols car first
and got the key 10 the safe before they
came in 10 me-
F, Aaron Burr, President of the
United States. while making a journey
to Boston in 1903 was stopped on the
highway by a Connecticut tithing man
of the town of Milford for travelling on
Sunday. 1t required all the eloquence
and authority of the naughty Vice
President to obtain permission to pro-
coed in violation of the Connecticut
blue laws.-BoSton Journal.
Recent experiments in France show
that the transmission of an electric cur
rant oyer a distance of fifty miles was