The Wahpeton times., 1889-03-07
It's yyropg

a It's wrong. sE|s' '
Some Of the newspaper men wno
write up highway robberies and things
for the papers, at fifteen dollars a week.
whenever they have occasion to chroni.
Gle q train robbery, or the robbery Of !
stage coach, speak Of the cowardly pas.
sengers who cravenly allow two OF !
three men to rob q train load. The m.
pers advocate the mobilizing of pas.
sengers, in such cases. and q charge ON
the robbers, with fire arms. A train
was robbed on the Illinois Central rail-
road few nights since, and q young
man named Hughes, who had a rife.
went out of the car to drive the robbers
away. He was killed at once. That is
always the way. The facts are that the
robbers are we'll armed, with heavy
guns that kill at once, while If q mas.
senger is armed at all he has a little
pop gun that shoots homeopathic pills,
the whole six charges not being suffi-
cient to cause an able-bodied robber
any pain If he got them all. The pas
senger who attempts to fight the rob
bers Is fool-hardy, and the passengers
that sit still and let the
robbing 60 on, are sensible, and they
are not towards. They have not enlist
ed for any war. They have paid their
fare to a certain place, and they expect
to be taken there, alive, with
no bullet holes in their skins,
1t is against the law for them
to carry arms. and If all were
provided with big revolvers, the same
as robbers use, they would be the
laughing stock of the travelling public.
To compete with robbers, passengers
would need to have revolvers, a foot
long, not concealed, but in their hands,
cooked all the time, ready to shoot. It
would not be pleasant for passengers to
be looking into revolvers all the time.
And yet it would be necessary to carry
them that way, for years, before they
might have chance to use them. II
the revolvers were in their pockets, or
valises. they would be no good, for
suddenly the robbers appear, perhaps
among the passengers, and in the
twinkling of an eye every passenger in
car is looking into the muzzle of gun.
The least movement on tho part of a
passenger, to draw O gun, means
death. The robber can shoot q mans
eye out, the length of the car, while
not one passenger in fifty could hit a
barn that distance, The passenger is
wise who keeps still, and let's himself
be robbed. His money, or watch, is Of
no account beside his life. He has friends
at home who want to see him alive. II
he is afraid he will be considered a cow
ard, and shows fight, and is killed, his
friends at home do not endorse his action
when his corpse comes home in the ex-
press car. His widow would give all
the world if her dead husband had kept
his seat and let them rob him. She had
rather he would be robbed every day
in the week, than to have him killed
A man wants to stop and think couple
of times before he begins to feel around
for his pop-gun, to be brave, when a
navy revolver or Winchester is look
ing at him, owned by q reckless fellow
who is there to rob, peaceably, if pos
sible, but to rob. I should like to see
some of these newspaper men who talk
about craven passengers, in a car that
was being robbed by highwaymen.
They would just keep still and take
their medicine, and if they lost seven
dollars and silver watch, they would
sue the railroad company for thou
sand dollars and q gold watch. There
is nobody that is braver than Gen. Sher-
idan was, and yet heard him say once
that II robber should appear in car
in which he was travelling, and tell the
passengers to hold up their hands, he
would be the first man to raise couple
of hands. He said it would be death
not to obey, when a reckless man had
the drop on you, and it wouldn't be
bravery to refuse to obey the order,
and die like dog. I suppose,
ordinarily, I am as brave as the
fellows are generally, when in repose,
but if am ever in car where some
follow is doing little robbing. and he
faces the audience and says, ''the first
man that moves will be killed. / shall
sit SO still he will think am bust. If
he says "hold up hands" my lily-white
paws will be seen higher than any,
body's, and if his partner comes along
down the Car taking up a collection he
can have all I have got, and I will
smile and ask him what kind of nerve
food he would recommend. may try
to be funny, and say something smart,
but shall be scared all the same, and
if he tells me to shut my mouth, shall
shut it too quick. No robber can ever
have it to say of me that 1 made any
trouble, and tried to secrete valuables,
or draw a gun. / shall not crawl under
a seat, because I know shall be drag
ged out by the hair, and humiliated.
shall just sit still until tho gentleman
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