The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1889-12-11
DARING TRAIN ROBBERY.
Three Thousand Dollars Taken
by Two Road Agents.
Capturing the Engine and Empty
ing the Safe of the Express Car.

A train robbery of extraordinary boldness
was accomplished in the Choctaw Nation,
Indian Territory, the other night. The Mis-
souri,, Kansas and Texas express train, north
bound for st. Louis, was held up on Pryor
Creek near Perry Station and the express car
robbed of about S3000 The robbers dis
played great coolness and went about their
WORK in such a familiar manner as to con-
vince the train men that they were old time
professionals
The road agents were only two in number:
They had concealed themselves in clump OF
bushes near the water-tank on Pryor Creek,
and when the train stopped for water they
boarded the engine, one on either side, and
covering the astounded engineer and fire
man with their revolvers, explained to them
their design of robbing the train. One OF
the robbers climbed into the tender, and
from that point Of vantage was master OF
The engine. The men in the cab were at his
nercys and were compelled to obey
his Commands. The other robber, in the
meantime, had gone back to the express car
and had uncoupled it from the rest of the
rain. Entering the car he intimidated the
express messenger by presenting a brace OF
revolvers at his head and ordering him to
iisarm himself. The messenger obeyed, and
the robber possessed himself of the messen-
yer's weapons, and then through the window
salled to his confederate in the tender: "All
right; let her co. The latter repeated the
command to the engineer, who had nothing to
10 but obey. He opened the throttle and the
engine and express car sped away from the
rest of the train.
Meanwhile the robber in the express-car
had not been idle. He compelled the mes
,enper to open the safe by threat of death
and to transfer the contents to large gun
oy-sack that the robber had brought along
10 convey the booty in. The messenger again
obeyed. The robber then made hasty ex-
animation of the car to see that nothing
valuable was overlooked, and giving signal
TO his confederate, the latter ordered the
engineer to slack up. This done, the robbers
aisembarked, and made their escape IN the
daIkneSs.
All this was done so quickly that the en-
yine had proceeded only mile and half
from PRYOR Greek, and the robbers had COM
pleted the robbery and effected their escape
before the surprised trainmen knew what had
occurred. No attempt was made to pursue
the road-agents, and the engineer ran back
TO the creek, picked up his train, and pur-
sued his trip.
The train was the regular express, which
always carries large amount Of express
matter and the robbers could hardly have Sc
lected better one for the robbery. When
it arrived at Oswego, Kansas, Express Mes
senger johnson had just completed footing
up his loss. The total figures were between
si5. 900 and $4,000. This loss must be borne
by the Pacific Express Company, which
operates on the line of the Missouri, Kansas
and Texas.
An attempt to rob the Santa Fe train was
made at nearly the same point in the Terri
tory during the previous week, but the OIL
GERS of the road in some way heard of the
plan and prevented its execution, although
they were unable to capture the robbers.