The historic times., 1891-11-14
TRAIN ROBBERY.
Another Bold Hold Up Of an Ex-
press Train.
EVIDENTLY THE SANE GANG.
They Crawl Over the Tender and Use Dy-
Mantle the Express Car - The
Amount of Booty Taken Said
to Be Large.

MILWAUKEE, Nov. Is. The midnight
train from Chicago on the Milwaukee
& St. Paul road was robbed by masked
men near Western Union Junction at
o'clock yesterday morning. The train
had been out of the junction, twenty
miles south of this place, about half a
mile when the fireman, Edward Averill,
who was putting some coal into
the furnace heard a noise behind
him. He turned around and discov-
cred two heavily masked men clam ber-
ing over the engine tender. They
leveled their double-barreled muskets
at the fireman and the engineer, "BilP'
Mckay, with the injunction: Don't
move an inch till we tell you to, or we
will blow the tops of your heads OFF,
Engineer Mckay was directed to run
khe train to within point about one
mile from Western Union Junction.
Here the engineer was commanded to
stop. Both men were ordered to step
out of the cab and get in line ahead of
the robbers
They were marched to the express
car under cover and the robbers then
demanded of the express messenger
that he open the door of the car, which
he refused to do. The conductor came
up by this time and he was taken
prisoner. The robbers next broke in a
window of the car and threw in some
kind of an explosive which forced out
the end of the car. They then went in
side and covered the express messen-
ger with revolver and tried to make
him open the safes. This he positively
refused to do and the safes were thrown
out of the car.
'Less than five minutes out of West
'rn Union Junction." said Messenger
Murphy, ''the train slowed up sudden
". A musket was pointed through
top window of the car and seco1d
later terrific explosion occurred that
knocked both myself and Mr.. Cook in
heap. Half dozen more explosions
followed and both doors flew off the
bolts Then two men wearing big
black masks climbed quickly into the
car and covered us with double
barreled muskets We were cautioned
to maintain silence at the
penalty of getting our heads 'blowed
off, After glancing hurriedly about
the car the robbers fastened their eyes
on the two iron boxes of the American
Express Co. The robbers brought the
fireman in a little later and went
through all the boxes out on the road
bed One of the robbers kept us COW
cred with his musket all the time,
while the other robber superintendent
operations of the fireman"
In the meantime the rear brakeman,
understanding the situation, rushed
back to the junction and got help and
an engine. The engine and posse at
once went to the scene and the robbers
fled. The train went on to Milwaukee
and the fast mail train which leaves
Chicago at 3 a. m. picked up the safes
and carried them to Milwaukee. The
police of Milwaukee and the secret
service of the system together with the
sheriff of Racine county were sent in
pursuit of the robbers. Their flight
was so hasty that they did not take the
precautions they had evidently in
tended, so that the officials believe they
will get them before noon to-day.
Some of the passengers who were
asleep did not know anything about
the ''hold-up" until the train arrived in
Milwaukee. Some of the passengers
thought there were twenty or thirty of
the robbers; others thought they saw
only dozen, while others said there
were more robbers than passengers
When the train started up again
the passengers saw the safes lying
beside the track, but the robbers had
disappeared. When the train arrived
at the Union depot at 2:20 o'clock the
express car presented an appearance
that it had been attacked by heavy ar
tlllery. Every door and window had
been blown out and the platform and
walls were shattered in half dozen
places, while the contents were piled
in one indiscriminate heap in the CEN
ter of the car.
Messenger Murphy states that he had
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 amount of the
robbers booty will amount to S10O, 900,
and possibly more.
An official of the st. Paul road said
the train which was held up was the
one that generally carried all the money
received by Milwaukee banks from the
east in the morning.
Agent John T. Bell, of the American
Express Co, said to a 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 s., 900 in local /
packages was certainly gone, besides a
sum contained in two sealed envelopes.
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