Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1889-10-11
A DARING ROBBERY.
A Mail and Passenger Train
Plundered by DesperadOes.
The Expressman Made to Sur
render at the Point of a Pistol.

The Mobile and Ohio south bound mail and
passenger train has been held up by train
robbers at Buckatunna, Miss, station sew
enty miles north Of Mobile, Ala
Just before the train left Buckatunna two
men disguised mounted behind the tender of
the train and covered Engineer Jack Terrell
and Fireman Thomas Hnst with revolvers.
The leader ordered the engineer TO pull out
and stop at the bridge, two miles below
Bucka:unna, and to place the train so that
the express and mail car should be on the
furthur side of the bridge from the rest OF
the train, the bridge being trestle over
deep creek.
you obey instructions or it's death, he
said
The engineer reluctantly obeyed and ran
the train where the men with the pistols
wanted it.
Then there appeared third robber, dis
guised like the other two. These three made
the engineer and fireman come with them TO
the express car and the engineer had TO call
out to Expressman j. W. Dunning to open
the door of the car Dunning, taking in the
situation, opened the door and the chief
robber jumped in, the other two remaining
outside to guard the engineer and fireman.
The loader made the messenger dump the
contents of the safe into a canvas sack, but
noticing that he was not closely watched,
Dunning showed some of the money aside, so
ting $27OO. All this money belonged to the
Mobile and Ohio Railroad Company. Along
side the express car door was pile OF S1O,OOO
Government money. en- route to Florida,
which the robbers failed to notice.
Then the robbers made the expressman get
out of the car and go with them to the mail
car. W. G. Bell, the mail agent, had suspect
ed that robbery going on and tried to get
into baggage car vii q a number OF regis
tered mail packages Just as he stepped to
the end door of the car he saw through a
glass that the robbers had intercepted him.
The leader supposed to be Bunch, faced him.
pistol in hand and, finding Bells arms full Of
packages, said
dump those here on my left arm"
There were twenty-four packages in all,
and Bell dumped them requested. The
robber then made Bell hand him registered
pouch and ordered the agent to open it, but
Bell had no key, so the robber carried the
pouch off with him. The pouch was made
up at Meriden and the contents and value are
unknown.
Just then Billy Scholes, the conductor, who
had been trying to find out what the trouble
was and had armed himself with Wlnches-
ter came out of the rear of the train, waved
his lantern and shouted:
"What's the matter"
The robbers fired two shots at him, crying
out: "Come up here and you'll see what's
the matter"
The engineer told the -obher to let up on
shooting, as the train hands would open fire
and shoot their own men.
There was no more shooting and the train
was ordered to pull out at once, which 1t
did. the robbers disappearing in the under
growth on the west side of the track. Inc
train pulled down to CitrOnville and snapped
time with the accommodation train, and the
accommodation train engine and car was
sent back to the scene of the robbery "2Ih
detectives and an armed posse.
The leader of the robbers is man SIX feet
high, of about one hundred and seventy
pounds weight dressed in common clothing
and SLOUGH hat. His assistants wore com
mon clothing and nothing to distinguish
them. When the handkerchief slipped down
a little off of the leaders face the express
messenger saws he saw he had a black mus
tache and he thinks he had beard
The leader of the robbers is believed to be
Rube Burrows, a noted desperate, the man
for whom a search created so much excite
ment in the northern part of Alabama a few
months ago. At that time it is believed ne
was organizing a gang to head up some tram,
and the Mobile and Ohio company, antlcpat-
ing an attack, armed all its train hands with
Winchester rifles. This was made pubic.
and was doubtless what the robber referred
to when he said during the progress of rob
bling the mail car: The Mobile and ONO
dared me to hold up train, and L wanted To
show them could do it."
Another Train Robbery in Texas.
At a late hour in the night, as the north
bound Santa Fee train pulling out OF
Crowley, ten miles south of Fort Worth,
Texas, three men boarded the
train and two others jumped on
the locomotive. The two on the engine
placed pistols to the heads Of the engineer
and firemen and told them to stop.
The robbers cut the engine, baggage, mail
and express cars from the rest of the train
and made the engineer pull half mile
further. One of the men then got into the
express car and ordered the messenger
to show them the money. He pointed
to three bags of Mexican silver dollars.
One of the men ripped open sack and shov-
elled the silver out of the door while the 9TH
er one threw out the other sacks. They took
two packages, said to contain 5000 each, but
overlooked three or four money packages for
Fort Worth The engineer was then made
to couple up and move
night, and posse of twenty men started In
pursuit at once