The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1889-09-26
TRAIN ROBBERY.
"A TRAIN HELD UP IN MISSISSIPPI
BY MASKED MEN WITH
REvOLvERs.
Captain Bunch Supposed to be the Leader
They Get Away With $1,000,
Overlooking $4,000.

MOBILE, Ala, September 5.-The Mobile
and Ohio south bound mail and passenger
train was held up at 8 10 this morning by
train robbers at Buckatunna MISS, a sta
ton seventy miles north of Mobile. The
train was due here at a. m. Just before
the train left Buckatunna two men mount
ed behind the tender of the train, and
climbing over covered Engineer Jack
Thorel and Fireman Thomas Hust with
their reVolvers. The robbers were dis
guised with red bandana handkerchiefs
over the lower part of their faces.
The leader ordered the engineer TO
pull out and stop at a bridge twenty five
miles below Buckatunna and place the
train so that the express and mail car
should be on the further side of the bridge
from the rest ofthe train, the bridge being
a trestle over deep creek.
"You obey instructions, or it's DEATH"
he said.
The engineer looked down the barrel of
the pistol and slowly pulled the lever. The
train ran rapidly around to tine spot in
dicated and the engineer put the train
Just where the man with the pistol wanted
it. Then there appeared third
robber, disguised like the other
two. These three made the engineer
and fireman come out with them to
the express car and the engineer had to
call out to the expressman, J. w. Dunning,
to open the car The wooden door was al
ready opene. but the iron barred door wa s
closed and locked.
Dunning was seated with his back to the
door, and when he turned around he
looked down the muzzles of three revolVers.
The command was given and Dunning
opened the barred door, and in the chief
robber jumped. The other two remained
outside to guard the engineer and fireman.
The leader made the messenger dump the
contents of the safe into can
vass sack, but noticing that he
was not closely watched Dunning
showed some or the money aside so that
about thousand dollars was hidden, the
robbers getting $2,7OO. All this money be-
longed to the Mobile and Ohio railway.
Alongside the express car door was pl ?
of $4,000 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. c. Bell, mail agent, had sus-
pected that robbery was going on, and
tried to get into the baggage car with a
number of registered packages of mail.
Just as he stepped to the end door, of the
car he saw through the glass that the rob
bers had intercepted him. The robber
leader, supposed to be Capt. Bunch, faced
him, pistol in hand, and finding Bells
arms full of packages, exclaimed:
dump those here on my left ARM" -,
There were twenty-four packages in all
and Bell dumped them as requested. he
robber made Bell hand him the 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 Meridian and the contents and
value are unknown. Just then Billy
Scholes, the conductor. who had been try
ing to find out the trouble had armed him
self with a Winchester, came out of the
rear of the train, waved his lantern and
shouted:
"What's the matter2"
The robbers fired two shots at him, cry
ing out,
SCome up here and you'll see what's the
matter"
The engineer told the robber to let up ON
shooting, and the train was ordered to pull