Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-03-26


hands at the last moment. 1t seems,
though, it was a lucky thing for
Meade that he was arrested, for, as l
understand, an ambush was awaiting
him lower down the country; SO prob
ably his incarceration saved his life"
"What sort of men were these rob-
bers ?" asked the scribe.
"Well, Larry Sheehan was about
25 years of age, tall and raw-boned
and had face that could be detected
anywhere. 1t was as red as beet
and literally smothered in freckles-
that was how l first connected Shee-
han with this train robbery business.
1t was the time of the second Papago
robbery and / was hunting about in
Mexico for some clue to the Offend
ers when an old greaser
said that big, red-headed
fellow with two others had been that
way with lots of money, and it flashed
across me all at once that it must be
Larry Sheehan, a well-known charac-
ter around Tucson. He was typical
frontier desperate Of the class that is
fast dying out. One day when the
west-bound passenger was standing
on side the Tucson depot with all the
tourists walking up and down takin.
in the sights, Larry came up with one
or two OF his pals, and for jeke he
went to the end of the platform, and
pointing his Winchester at the crowd, /,
shouted, "Get on board, c. d.
you-hurry up" "It was the funniest
sight ever saw" sad Harris, smil-
ing at the recollection; "they all
stampeded for the cars as if Old Nick
Were after them"
"Dick Hart was a regular rounder
the same as the rest of the gang ;
gambled, drank and so on, buJ Dick
johnson, he was the boss OF them all.
II was well-educated and smart with
it; he was fore nan for about four
years of Senator Hearst's ranches in
the Las Animas Valley"
GOOD STROKE OF WORK.
"Rather an exciting business this
thief-tracking Intercepted the re-
porter"
eyes, and it is also an interesting
one 1t is really astonishing how i'm
portant, trivial incidents sometimes
prove. l will give you an instance in
point that is ne OF the most note
worthy that has ever come under my
notice. 1t was at the time of the
train robbery miles east of Gage on
the Southern Pacific in February
1884. tracked up the rob-
bers to spot where they
had camped for the night, and in the
bushes there l found copy of the
Cass City (Ore.) Record. 1t was
dated February 10Th, and as the rob-
berry was committed on the oath, 1
knew that | had got a good clue. I
telegraphed to the Sheriff at Cass City
and asked him to ascertain who took
the paper in New Mexico or
Arizona. He replied: STRAUSS OF
Tucson and Ross of Silver
City, 1 at once went to Strauss
place and after little search discov-
cred that he had his copy of the 10th
all right. Then knew that the train
thieves were in some way connected
with Ross, the man who took the other
paper, and with this clue in hand l
had the whole business worked up in
side Of month. They proved to be
all Silver City boys-two Of them were
hanged, one was killed while resisting
arrest and the other at the present
time is in States prison."
"It must be very lucrative business
to induce so many to go in for it.,
knowing the risks they rum" sug-
gested the SCRIBE"
cob! don't know" replied Har-
ris, "thev don't get very much out of
it as rule Such lot OF it is paper
money that they never get chance
to cash. 1t is impossible to thoroughly
estimate though what is taken, be-
cause so many people in trying to get
reduced express rates, undervalue
their goods Now, in that cave where
we found eighty rings, they were all
worth from $5 to $40 a piece,
and had been booked on
Wells, Fargo's sheets as one
package Of the total value Of $50"
"By the way" said the reporter,
'have you got any idea as to who
committed the stage robbery near
Calistoga on Thursday last?"
"No," was the response, "evidently
some one who is resident of the
place--some people imagine that it is
Black Bart out on the war path
again, but l am nearly certain that it
ia not, for to the best of my belief he
went East to his family when he was
liberated last year."
Thanking his respondent for his
cordial responses to the multitudinous
questions that had been asked, the
scribe then closed the interview aud
strolled over to meet Mr.. Hunting
toms train, which was just steaming
in.