St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-08-09
He Gets a Few Watches and q
Few Dollars From Scared
Passengers.
And Takes a Pop at a Colored
Porter With a Big
Revolver.
Wisconsin officers Are SeouP-
ing the Woods for the
Bold, Bad Man.

That the train robber is still a sub
stantial and very disagreeable reality,
even in thickly-Settled country, was
Illustrated yesterday in a partlculf
forcible manner by the action OF a
bronzed ruffian carrying big sombrero
hat and two desperate-lOoking rev0l-
vers, who interviewed the passengers IN
the sleeper attached to the Wisconsin
Central arriving here yesterday morn
ing at 7:45. Among the passengers had
been man who boarded the train at
Cadotte at o'clock. He is described as
lightly-built man, wearing an ordinary
black slouch hat and suit
of dark clothes. Barring slight
scar on the right cheek, there was
nothing in the appearance of the silent
passenger to excite comment, much less
fear. The fellow occupied seat in the
smoker, and sat still until the train had
left the depot some ten minutes, when
he pulled the slouch hat still Il further
over his eyes. and, according to the
statement of a passenger in the same
coach, became somewhat restless. Sud
denly he arose, threw down the stump
of cigarette he had been smoking, and
pulling bottle apparently containing
whisky from his pocket,
TOOK BIG DRINK
and started toward the rear of the train.
Arrived at the door of the sleeper, this
modern disciple of the Jesse James idea
adjusted crepe mask III such manner
as to hide the upper portion OF his race,
and thus disguised he entered the sleep
r. h. ,Ol-i ri a
travelling man bound for point short
distance beyond Saltwater, and to him
the dusky robber first disclosed his in
tentions.
'Wake up, dye hear" was the man
neT of SalutatlOn.
1t didn't take the commercial gentle
man long to wake up. but being OF a
combative disposition he felt inclined
to resent the somewhat abrupt manner
of the request. AS he afterwards
stated. he was just getting ready to
knock a lung out of the man when,
quick as a flash, the long, blue barrel OF
Remington A stared him in the face.
The commercial gentleman didn't care
about going against an argument OF
that sort, so when the request Your
watch and monevp' was Kissed from
between the robbers teeth, he parted
like little man. With increased con-
fidence in the effic " of the revolver
treatment, the masked rutfian then en-
tered the sleeper, where he found the
colOred porter, Charles Cough, doing
on a camp stool. In reply to a query
from that dignitary as to whether he
wished berth, the man with the hat
made reply, mo: but
WANT YOUR ROLL,
and be ID quick about it, toO." 'pll
see YOU in hill first" replied the porter,
but when as he attempted to move from
the stool, the two big guns again came
into play, he recognized the value of
discretion in some instances, and handed
over his gold watch worth $75, together
with his purse. At the reYolyer's point
he was then compelled to walk out to
the platform of the car and stand there,
being informed that at the first
attempt to move, he would be
Immediately shot. l was never known
to miss" said the bOaStful bandit,
land if you move one finger, you're a
corpse.' Returning, the Tobber was
met by Conductor Whitney, of the
sleeper, whom he commanded to
'throw up his dukes" according to
formula. The conductor replied that
he had better quit any monkey work of
that sort or he would stop the train and
have him put off. Again were the muz-
zles of those terrible forty-fours
brought to bear, and again the process
of shelling out was gone through with.
In a berth near the end of the sleeper
A. Crandall, of the Durham Manufact-
uring company of Chicago, was sleeping
the sleep of the just, and it was to this
gentleman that the thief next turned
his attention. When asked to hand
over his cash, MI. Crandall replied that
he had none. "You lie, damn you," re-
piled the road agent. Fork it over
quick now, or you're gone"
At this juncture the attention of the
robber was attracted by violent
JERKING OF THE BELL CORD,
and turning round he found that the
porter was standing on the brake wheel
and doing his best by means of the cord
to bring the train to a Standstill. With
a curse the masked villain turned from
Crandall, and just as the porter entered
the end of the car, fired at him. The
ball cut cash in the hat OF the gamy
cOlored man, and the rObber, recogniz-
Ing that a general alarm was now i'm
mnent, jerked the bell cord, grabbed a
blanket from the top of a sleeping pas
senger, and while the train was still
running at high rate of speed, jumped
overheard. The whole thing, from the
time the man first entered the
sleeper to the time of his leaving
the train, did not occupy longer
than five minutes, and, but for the fac
that there was not a gun in the entire
crowd on the sleeper, the report of the
affair might read differently. Account:
are conflicting as TO whether or not the
man was masked, some stating that he
wore a short mask of crepe, while other!
state that his hat was pulled down Ovel
his eyes, but that he wore no mask.
THE DESCRIPTIONS GIVEN
of the man, however, tally well, and eS
tablish the fact that he was of medium
stature, determined expression of face
and wore a light mustache. Conductor
Pierre, who was in charge of the train
knew nothing whatever of the affair
until the cord was pulled, and by the
time he reached the scene of the events
recorded the rObber had made his es
cape. The amount secured by the THE.
was $50, together with three watches
two of which were valuable and the
third of little value.
At a consultation of the Wisconsin
Central officials, held yesterday morn
ing as soon as the facts became known
adecision was promptly arrived at tt
offer $1,000 reward for the capture O
the robber. The affair has created mucl
comment in railroad circles, and it il
believed that suspicion exists il
the minds of the officials tina
the robbery was the work O
former emplOye, whose nam,
they refuse to divulge. Detectives wert
sent out Oh the track of the would-b,
murderer within half an hour from tn,
time Of his escape from the tram, ant