The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-07-10

ton to his goni. In tho natural order Of
things II ought to contain wealth, but tho
heartlesa express companies sometimes load
II with bricks and cause great loss of time
and anguish OF spirit TO an industrious and
painstakina robher. When tobberies were
i~fornin, the express compnniea invented the
dummy box and worked IL of frequently on
the enterpriSinR ngont, but tho joke didn't
last long. The agent acquired the habit OF
bufsting the box in the presence Of the
a tn SSrd sn oat sh 4ea o phe,a har ,p pdau nee hion h,m
f%oolishnosa. As the { rivers weren't hired to
be shot, thoy discouraged the use Of the
dummy boz and it WAS abandoned by all
well-regulased lines. although 1t was worked
in occasionally on some amateur. robber.
When Budd Philpot was driving the Lake
cheerily tossed out an empty box belonging
to tho Great Western mine and drove along
with Wells Fargo's box safely slowed under
his feet.
The scheme of building m iron box into
the body OF the conch worked for II time,
ing tho driver and passengers along the
road afoot and brcaking into the box at
their leisure with cold chisels. AS they
usually concluded the evenings entertain
ment by setting fire to the coach and burn-
ing up $1,000 worth of the company's prop
DGpk0Ub Al uWhy . uAo ~O'"S't
the stage mon concluded that the iron box
Going through the mail sacks used to be n
tedious job for a road agent, and 1t didn't
often pay for the time wasted. Beside 1t
doubled the number Of pursuers by setting
ali the United StateS maishnls on the hunt
for the robber, and when caught 1T landed
him in the United States court and insured
a heavy sentence. Nevertheless, a great
deal of money is tent by mail, and for the
convenience Of road agents and other
thieves who may desire to take tho chance
of being caught, Uncle tam invented tho
Registered letter and its especial pouch. No
other reason for the invention of the regis
tered letter system can be imagined. A reg
istered letter is not insured, and Uncle Sam
will not pay for it If it is lost or stolen. The
registered mail is put into n little pouch.
which is put inside of the ordinary mail
sack. When the road agent gets hold of a
mail sack he rips it open, either by running
his knife around the sack near the bottom
and thus cutting tho bottom of at one
sweep, or by making two slashes, crisis cross
in one side of the sack. Thanks to Uncle
fam's kind consideration and foresight he
isn't obliged to ransack n thousand letters.
but finds all the valuable mail sorted out
and neatly done up in an easily portable
pouch, which he takes along to open at his
leisure in the brush.
OF all tho devices n inventions for the
protection Of treasure and the ciroumvon-
tion of the road agent, the only one that
has stood the test of time and experience is
q big, ugly-tempered man with a sawed-otf
shotgun on the box. OF COURSE, when the
other fellow has the drop, a shotgun isn't
of any more use than a piece of lead pipe;
but the lone road agent cam watch a lot of
passengers and a driver and at the same
time keep the drop on a man who has been
hired to shoot him full OF holes and only
wants half q chance to do it. If the robber
gets the drop on the messenger and keeps
It, and contents himself with ordering the
driver to throw out the box, he may win;
but it is the business of the man with the
sawed-off shotgun not to let him get the
drop, but to blaze away as soon as he shows
up. The gun is sawed off for
the greater convenience of the messenger in
potting road agents. 1t is loaded with buck
shot and %scatters like a charge of bribery
fred into a California legislature. The
length of the gun is such that when the
muzzle rests upon the footboard the locks
are level with the messengers knee, and he
can swing it up into position very readily.
If he gets it pointed anywhere near the rob-
Der some of the buckshot are sure to hit
him.
An old Nevada drivers modification of
the messengers was a single-barrel
shotgun worn in his right boot, the muzZle
protruding through the bottom near the
heel. When held up he stuck out his leg
towards the robber, az If he were feeling for
the brake, and pulled the trigger. But one
hand was required to work the gun and the
effect was something in the line of painful
surprise. .