Los Angeles herald., 1891-09-05
FlU0llNU DANUllO.
Express Messenger Reeds
Exciting Experience.
Accounts of the Train Robbery
at Ceres.
The Robbers Evidently Had all Ac-
cOmplice on the Cars.
The story of the Affair as Told by Mes
senger Reed - A Passenger who
Sat by One of the
Gang.

Inc TRAM lIOu odu rIduCl6CO uu6
here yesterday afternoon rolled into the
Arcade depot about 8 ;35 yesterday af-
ternoon. The express car looked as if it
had been through siege, a jagged hole,
big enough to admit horse, occupying
the space where the right hand rear
door formerly had been.
Wells Fargo Manager w. w. Reed and
his helper, Charley Charles, looked as
cool as the weather would permit, and
showed no signs of the exciting conflict
they had had with the train robbers at
Ceres, on their trip down on Thursday
night.
Mr.. Reed modestly said at first that
there was nothing to tell about the af-
fair, but at last made statement which
was in substance as follows: "When
the train stopped did not think much
OF it, until l heard some shots. l in
stantly surmised that it was a case of
train robbery, and that these shots were
signals to pals of the robbers to have
their horses ready. / Immediately put
out my lights, while Charley Charles,
my helper, got the guns all ready for
fight. In a few moments the engineer
and fireman knocked at the door of
car. They said they were in the
hands OF the robbers, and begged
us not to shoot. but to open the door or
they would be killed. We kept per-
fectly quiet. Then the engineer said:
IF you don't open the door, these fell
lows say, they will blow you to pieces
We never answered, and in few mo-
ments there came a deafening sound,
and we knew a bomb had been ex-
ploded. The rear right-hand door was
blown off, and that big hole you see
was in its place. We were in the other
end OF the car, and so were not hit by
any of the splinters.
"Soon / saw head wriggling about
in the hole, and was about to fire, when
it spoke: Don't shoot, for Gods sake
and 1 saw it was the fireman. These
fellows are pushing me in; can't help
mvself,' he continued. | told him not
to come any further when he was in,
and the robbers passed him in a
candle and told him to light it, but
he was too frightened, and passed
it back to them, and they lighted
it, and handed it to him, telling him to
light the lamps. / warned him not to
come further, or / would fire at him,
and he thought he would be safer with
the robbers than with me for he backed
out.
''In few minutes they threw another
bomb in the hole made by the first,
and it rolled along the floor sizzling
nastily, and l thought my time had
come, but it took turn and rolled out
of the hole down on the ground, where
it exploded without doing any harm. l
then saw man begin to crawl in the
hole again, and | fired, but | fear |
missed him.
"All was quiet for some little while
then when l heard number of shots
coming from the further side of the
fence on the opposite side of the car. The
robbers got underneath the car and re-
piled, about twenty shots being fired.
Another interval followed, and Judge
the robbers then left, though l would
not, of course, open the car to see.
''The engineer then came along with
a lantern and asked us if we were all
right. l answered him but would not
let him in, because thought he might
still be in the hands of the robbers. A
few moments later number OF the pas
sengers brought Harris along in a
stretcher, and l then opened the car
and took him in. At the next station
we took on doctor, who said he was
seriously hurt"
Mr.. Reed is a brave man, who does
not seem to realize what plucky re-
sistance he made.