The record-union., 1891-01-11
ABOUT HIGHWAYMEN.
Only the New Talent Has to be Looked
After Nowadays.
Detective Hume's Confidence That
Black Bart Has Given Up the
Business-A New Aspirant.

At the depot yesterday SUNDAY UNION
man bumped into j. b. Hume, Wells,
Fargo & Co.'s justly famous detective,
and they talked about highwaymen and
stage robbers.
Well" said the detective, with a grim
smile, ''the only highwaymen we have to
look for now arc those belonging to the
new geneTation-new talent, you know.
All of the old boys are behind the bars
except Black Bart, and / am satisfied that
Bart viii never again trouble California.
Thorne, alias Dorsey, and his partner,
Shinn, are safely housed, as you well
know, and all of the others who have
won notoriety on the road are out of mis-
chief
''But, as 1 said before, the fact that
these men are behind the bars is no rea-
son why we should case up in our vigil
ance. New desperadoes are constantly
springing up, and, after doing two or
three jobs they become quite as eff
cient road agents as their predecessors ]
have several of these individuals located
now, and will not be surprised any day
to hear of
A SENSATIONAL. STAGE ROBBERY
Up north. When / do, though, you can
gamble that ii will not be long before the
depredators are i'll cuStody.''
In the course Of the conversation the
reporter suggested that probably Black
Bart, in order to earn an honest living,
had opened up an academy somewhere in
the backwoods for the education of rising
aspirants in the art of stage-stopping.
The detective laughed good -naturedly.
NO." he said, Bart is not in the State
and he's not likely to come back either.
Every now and then we hear stories to
the effect that he has been seen lowering
about certain camps and interior towns
in the vicinity Of stage roads, but the
stories were given birth in the fertile
imagination Of some romancer These
stories have never worried me any, be-
cause / know that Bart has long since
given up operations on this side of the
Rockies. l know q great deal more about
him than l would care to talk about"
BLACK BART's RENDEZVOUS.
They chatted along merrily for some
time about the famous ''Po s." and Mr..
Hume gave some interesting anecdotes
regarding his life and habits While
sojourning in Stockton recently, the de-
tective became possessed of some facts
regarding Bart's operations on the
Sonoma and Milton road, which were
interesting indeed. This road zigzags
over what is known as Funk's Hill, and
right here are located a dozen or more
charming robbers roosts. Black Bart's
best work was done on this road, and
nowadays the driver always points to
Barts. favorite station on the road and
tells the passengers all about Bart. 1t
was the driver of this stage Mr. McCon-
nell, who took shot at Black Bart, and
forced him to leave evidence that led to
his capture. Mcconnell is still employed
ON the line, out has been promoted to the
position OF messenger, or guard, and,
although he has had little to do of late
the reputation of Funk's Hill alone is
enough to keep him ever on the alert for
road agents.
The truth of Detective Hume assertion
that, because all the old-time robbers are
in Jail or out of the way, does not
mean the extinction of the stage-robbing
business, was aptly proved only few
weeks ago on this same Funk's Hill.
A MASKED MAN.
The stage was making the down trip.
and Superior JudgelNicol of Tuolumne,
occupied a seat on the box with Driver
Thomeyer. 1t was early in the morning
and misty. Conversation naturally drifted
to stage robbers, as several of the famous
Waylaylng points were passed, and the
Judge began to feel decidedly uneasy
Suddenly the horses began to sniff and
act strangely.
well, we are in for it this morning,
guess" said the driver pulling In on the
reinS.
'In for what?" asked the Judge,
Don't you see?"
The Judge looked ahead on the road,
and Immediately his hair began to rise on
end, for there, about 600 yards in front of
them he could distinctly see man wear
ing mask of white cloth; white covered
his entire head and most of his shoulders
and breast, and in his hands he clutched
q shotgun.
"What will we do?" gasped the Judge.
Take our medicine, l guess" was the
reply.
But they didn't have it. The highway
man was not Black Bart, nor any of the
"old boys'' referred to by Detective
Hume. He may do better next time, but
on this occasion he did not carry out his
purpose. He in all probability mistook
THE TERRIBLY FRIGHTENED JUDGE
For Messenger Mcconnell, and, remem-
berlng Black Barts experience with this
worthy, took to his heels, disappearing in
the brush. When the stage passed the
point where the robber had been seen
there were no signs of him whatever
Several days later q mask was found in
the brush a short distance from this place
and the driver has identified it as the one
worn by the new stage-robber. The
finding of it leaves no doubt as to the
mans intentions. 1t is neat contriyance
and would have served its purpose ad-
nirably. 1t was constructed of a flower
sack, narrowed sufficiently at the bottom
TO fit a PERSONS head Snugly when in
yerted, and with two eye-holes.
This is counterpart of the mask worn
by Black Bart, but the fellows cowardice
was not Barts.
POCK T-PTGKJNG