Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-08-01
TRAIN ROBBERS.
An Attempt Made Near Trinidad, Col. +,
to Hold Up a Passenger Train.
Engineer and Fireman wounded-The Plucky
Engineer Opens the Throttle and
the Robbers Tumble Of.


TRINIDAD, COL, July S1.-One of the
most daring attempts at robbery re-
corded since the days of the James and
Coleman brothers occurred last night at
IL o clock, when four men attempted to
hold up the Santa Fe passenger due
here at 11:40 p. m. The train left
StGrksFille on time, and was
proceeding at the usual rate. AS bridge
No. l29 was reached, three miles south
of the city, William Riley, the engi-
neer in charge of the train, saw some one
violently swinging a red lantern across
the track and Immediately stopped the
train. No sooner was the train
stopped than he heard several
shots and man Immediately boarded
the engine, holding pistol in his hand.
The engineer took the situation in at
glance, and grasping the throttle pulled
it wide open. The highwayman leveled
his pistol and shot, the bullet striking tine
engineer in the hand another shot and the
fireman fell to the floor of the cab, hav-
ing received a bad scalp wound. The
robber fired twice more then jumped
from the engine and disappeared in the
darkness. The engineer increased the
speed of the train and in q few minutes
he arrived at the depot and q posse
was organized Immediately aud
the company offered the use
of an engine to take all who desired to
go to the scene of the attempted robbery
ana endeavor to capture the highway
men.
The brakeman was standing on the
platform of the Pullman when the train
stopped. He heard several shots fired,
one of the bullets passing within
few inches of his face. He said he
could see two of the men standing near
the middle of the train with pistols in
their hands.
Several of the passengers were leaning
out of the window when the train stop
ped, but upon hearing shots they jerked
in their heads in a remarkably quick
time. disappearing beneath seats. Two
of the passengers who were standing on
the platform when the train stopped
said they saw two masked men with
pistols in their hands standing near the
train.
MI. Riley said that the very moment
he saw the men in his cab he realized
what was going on and grasped the re-
verse lever, which had been pulled back
10 stop the train, ard pushed it forward.
AS the robbers saw him do this they lev
eled their pistols at him and shot,
ball striking the lower part of the
thumb and his foreflnger. Turning to the
fireman, as Mr.. Riley supposed, the rob- :
Der leveled his pistol and shot him in the
head. Several other shots were fired at
them but missed their aim, one of them
striking the roof of the cab.
Nv q
the intention of the men to rob the
train.
Fireman Hall s condition, when he ar
rived here, was such that he was obliged
to leave his engine and be taken to a
hotel, where he is now under DOCTORS
care. An examination showed two very
ugly scalp wounds back of his ear,
neither of which will prove fatal.
Engineer Riley, despite the entreaty
of his friends, took his train on to La
Junta.
In an interview this afternoon Hall
said as near as he could tell there were
four of the men. He was sitting on his
seat looking out of the cab window when
the train slowed up. They began shoot
ing and he had to get down in the cab
where they could not see him. He
could not describe how they were
dressed, but he said the man who shot at
him tripped and fell backward into the
brush. He seemed to have a long black
cloak wrapped around him. The engin-
esr, Mr.. Hall says, received wounds in
the hands while grasping the barrel of
revolver which the robber was pointing
at him, and he was trying to get hold of
the throttle at the same time with his
right hand.
A posse of officers with blood hounds
left here at CLOCK this morning, and
were soon on the spot where the robbers
had jumped from the train. The hounds
quickly struck the trail, which they fol-
lowed through the mountains and back
to the city, reaching here about
o clock. Two hours afterward two
men were arrested on suspicion;
two others were arrested later.
They gave their names as
Ed Carol, Ed Mccarthy, Thomas Hig-
gins and d. p. Old. All were hard
cases, and are well known here. They
before Justice Spandy this
morning and their trials were fixed for
morning. Bail was placed at
5000 each.