The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1891-11-21
BIG TRAIN ROBBERY.
A ST. Paul Express Is Held Up Twenty
three Miles frem Milwaukee.


| The midnight train from Chicago on
| the Milwaukee x St. Paul road was
| robbed near Western Union junction at
l O'Clock on the morning of the 18th
inst. The robbers are supposed to have
| boarded the train at the junction. As
soon as it was well away from the sta
ton, in the open prairie, they stopped
it and broke into the express car.
The messenger, named Murphy, was
told that if he resisted he would be shot.
| The robbers then removed the two safes
| from the car.
There was quite large force Of the
| robbers, and thev stood around with
drawn revolvers, keeping the train
| hands and passengers from Interfering
| with their work.
At this stage nagman started back to
Western Union Junction and kilograms
were sent to Racine and Milwaukee no.
titying the police. A special train was
at once sent from Milwaukee with otli-
GERS to the scene of the robbery.
At > O'Clock it was learned that the
train which was being robbed had start
ed on towards Milwaukee.
The train arrived shortly after ,. Pas
sengers stated that the robbers gained
entrance to the express car by blowing
the door open with dynamite, thereby
badly wrecklng the end OF the car. The
express messengers were seen by the
passengers soon afterwards; one OF
them had bullet hole through his hat,
and another had TWO holes through his
coat sleeve.
The train had been out OF Western
| Mon junction, tWenty-three miles
from Milwaukee, about half mile anG:
the fireman, Edward Ayerill, WAS put
ting some coal into the furnace. He
was startled to hear noise behind him
and turned around TO see two heavily
masked men clam bering over the engine
tender. Both leveled their double bar
relied muskets at the fireman and the
engineer, "Blll" Mckay, with the in
junction.
Don't move an inch till we tell YOU
to or We will blow the tops OF your d
heads off.
Engineer Mckay was directed to run
the train to within q point about one
mile from Western Union junction.
Here the engineer was commanded to
stop.
Both men were ordered to step down
out Of the cab and get III line ahead OF
the robbers. They We're marched to
the express car under cover and then
the WORK OF blowing open tlle express
car began. Several bombs, the fireman
thinks they were, were thrown into the
car and the explosions were terrific and
must have aHakened every passenger
on the train. but nobody appeared on
the scene.
The robbers undoubtedly were not
less than six or seven IN number,
Judging from the manner in WhlCh they
conducted operations The tralnmen
believe they had Il team close at hand
with which to cart away the safes,
which were taken bodily out of the car
Agent John T. Bell, Of the American
Express Company, said TO reporter
after Messenger Murphy had made his
report, that an approximate statement
of the amount taken by the robbers
could not be learned. He said that
$, 600 in local packages was certainly
gone besides a sum contained i'll two
sealed envelopes.
Messenger Murphy stated that he mad
secured all the bills of the money con-
tanned in the safe, and that the SUM was
undoubtedly a very large one. 1t is
probable that the total amoGnt Of the
robbers booty will amount to 100000,
and possibly more. An official of the
st. Paul Road said that the tram which
was held up was the one which general
" carried all the money received by
Nila aaukee banks from the East in the
morning.