St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-12-31
ROUND OF ROBBERIES.
Leader Of the Glendale Dyna-
miters Captured at Los
Angeles.
4 Female Accomplish Also
Taken In, But Neither
Will Talk.
Adelbert Sly Is the Name of
This Successor Of Jesse
James,
And His Deeds of 0utlaWry
and Record Of Crime Are
Sensational.

SENSATIONAL.
ST. LOUIS, Dec. 3O.-The leader of the
gang who robbed the Adams Express
messenger. Mulrennen, on the Frisco
road at Glendale, a suburb of St. Louis.
on the night of Nov. 80. is under ar
rest, a female accOmplice is also in GUS
tody, and the capture of the remainder
of the gang seems only 4 matter of time.
The leader turns out to be Adelbert ID.
Sly, noted ex-convict from the Mis-
souri, penitentiary.
The latest series of exploits by Sly
and his fellow bandits began with the
robbery Of the street car barns at
Omaha, in October, il which they used
dynamite and secured a large amount
OF money. They committed a robbery
on the Metropolitan street car barns in
Kansas City in the same month, and
then came the robbery of the Pacific
Express company on the Missouri Pa
cifc railroad, near Omaha, on the night
of Nov. 6, and the American Express
company robbery. near Western Union
Junction, Wis. on the night of Nov. y.
In all of these robberies Sly figured as
leader and their engine Of war almost
invariably was dynamite.
On the Trail.
After the robbery at Western Union
Junction, William A. PinkertOD found
ont that Sly, in 1883, while acting as
driver for the American Express cont
pany at St Joe. Mo, defaulted with a
package containing $40, 600 After
long search, Sly was apprehended in
California bV the IinkertOnS. lie was
returned to Missouri and sentenced to
seven years i'm the Missouri peniten-
tiaTy at Jefferson City. On coming out.
1t was learned, Sly became associated
with a gang of burglars who made
their headquarters around Kansas City
ana Omaha.
On the theory that Sly was possibly
concerned in the robbery at Western
Union junction, the PinkertOnS quietly
began investigation toward locating Sly,
and succeeded in tracing him TO st.
Louis a few days previous to the Glen
dale robbery on the Frisco road.
PinkertOn's force and the force of Chief
of Police Harrigan, of st. Louis, soon
Joined hands. and some days after the
Glendale affair Chief Harrigan received
valuable information from furniture
dealer, who furnished houses on the in
stallment plan. concerning a woman
and four men renting house i'll ST.
Louis on the outskirts Of the city. This
furniture man had fitted up the house,
and the people occupying the same had
E9ysteriOUsIy Disappeared
after the robbery, leaving the furniture
and everything behind them. This re-
port Chief IIarrigan investigated very
carefully, and it was found that the
house had been occupied by a blonde
woman supposed to be the wife or mis-
tTess of one OF the gang of four men.
They disappeared from the house three
days after the Glendale robbery. Their
baggage was traced to the depot and the
check numbers showed that they were
all bound West.
They were traced to Omaha. where
the party split up. taking different
routes West. Chief Harrigan's men
managed to get accurate descriptions of
the fugitiVes, and Sly's identity was
fixed beyond a question. as also the
identity of the woman connected with
the gang. Robert a. PinkertOn at this
time was in California. and on the eve
of departure for the East, but remained
and assisted the San Francisco police,
who had been communicated with.
Sly had, it was asceTtained, gone by
way of Denver to Southern California
With this information, X. A. Pinker-
ton went at once to San Diego and
searched that place thoroughly: thence
to Los Angeles, arriving there a week
ago. For several days he kept up a
search of the saloons, gambling houses
and places of that kind without success
Through a breakage in the railroad
there had been no mail delivered for
three days at Los Angeles, and on Sat
urdav last Mr. Pinkerton, accompanied
by Ross Whitaker, of the San Fran
cisco detective force, and an officer of
Los Angeles, took up watch in the
pOStotfice and express offices at that
point.
Enter Mr. Sly.
All three were furnished with photo
graphs and accurate descriptions of Sly.
On the afternoon of Saturday Mr. Pink
ertOn observed a man in the DostOffice
atIOS Angeles who answered to the de-
scription of Sly and resembled the old
photograph he had very closely. Tap
plng uim on the shoulder and stepping
up and taking his hand so that he could
not attempt to use 4 gun, as Sly is a
desperate character Mr.. PinkertOn ad-
dressed him by the name of Sly.
Sly denied his identity and said his
name was A. S. Denton. That settled
it in PinkertOn's mind at once. for Sly's
real name is Adelbert Denton Sly. He
was at once taken into custody and
searched. In his possession was found
$4,000 and a lot of personal property.
and on his person was found the gold
watch taken from the person of MesSen-
ger Mulrennen, of the Adams Express
company, after lie had been injured by
the explosion of dynamite at the rob
berry, Nov. 80, at Glendale, Mo. Sly
tried TO throw the watch away. but it
was recovered by PinkertOn. Sly's ar
rest was kept very quiet until TODAY.
with a view of getting some of the bal
ance of the gang.
IEc Isn't Saying a Word.
Sly refused TO make any statement
whatever. knowing full we'll that. being
an eX-cOnyict of the Missouri peniten-
tiary, his next Imprisonment, if convict
Ell. means life. The search of the house
OF Swan avenue in this city gave Chief
Uarrigan positive evidence against the
thieves, as in this house were found
parts of paper and other evidence taken
from the express car. which had not
been thoroughly destroyed. The finding
of the messengers watch in Sly's
pocket fixes the crime on him very
strongly.
Chief Of Police Harrigan and the Pink
ert0ns here feel confident that it is now
a comparatively easy task to succeed in
learning the identity Of the other men
and taking them into custody. Abel
bert D. Sly is better known in the
crooked fraternity as Bert Sly. He is a
native OF Wisconsin, being born and
raised mar (,c,-oc1, A e+,.,. g.