Griggs courier., 1892-01-29
FOUGHT WITH BANDITS

FOUGHT WITH BANDITS.
Two M.sksd Mon Rob IN Express Car ~
Mlssouri and Afterward XIII Police
man Ono Is Shot Dead and the Other
wounded After nm Exciting Chase.
KANSAS City, Mo-, Jan. 35.-Friday
night was thrilling one for the crew
and passengers of the south-bound
Missouri Pacific train. The train was
stopped, once by lynching party that
was escorting Murderer Robert Hepler
from Nevada, Mo-. to Lamar, Mo,
where they hanged him, and second
time by train robbers. who robbed the
express car and its inmates.
The train had hardly left Nassau
junction, where the lynching party
took possession of the train, when 8
danger signal induced the engineer to
slow up again. When the train came to
a standstill two masked men entered
the express car and ordered the occu-
pants to hold up their hands, keep
ing them covered with revolvers, while
the train Travelled 10 miles to Lamar.
The robbers rifled the pockets of the
trainmen, taking SIS from Baggage
master Hull, small amounts from Ex-
press Messenger Houck and Passenger
Agent Bardett, of the Missouri Pacific.
When the train arrived at Lamar,
the destination of the mob, the bandits
mingled in the crowd of lynchers and
for a time were lost sight Of. One Of
the trainmen, however, soon discov-
cred them boarding passing north.
bound freight traiu on the Memphis
road and sent dispatch to the sheriff
them to ''watch for two men, no bag
gage, rough in appearance, one some
what taller than the other" The
freight train arrived at Fort Scott at
2 o'clock Saturday morning. Police
man S. b. Clement (colored) was
on duty at the station. Two sus-
picious-looking characters, of the
description of the robbers given in the
dispatch, arrived. He halted them.
when one of the men drew his revolver
and fred. The bullet pierced the po-
liceman's heart, and he dropped dead
on the instant.
It also happened that by this time
the freight was just pulling out, and
VAAS AOOOOAo OO0A0OO OIL OAARky OOA V6k
and locked themselves in. Shortly
afterward the passenger train from
Lamar arrived, and On it was
Detective Chester, of the Mis-
souri, Pacific, who was in pursuit
of the bandits. He, accompanies
by United States Marshal Mapes and
Marshal Abbott, of Fort Scott. boarded
the passenger train, which pulled out
Immediately in pursuit of the freight.
At Miamistown the freight was over
taken, but was just pulling out for
Pleasanton when the passenger train
arrived, the crew of the former train
having no knowledge of the dangerous
freight they were hauling.
Detective Chester and his companion,
however, succeeded in boarding the
moving freight and took possession Of
the car Immediately behind the one in
which the bandits had taken refuge.
The latter had seen their pursuers en-.
ter the car and immediately opened
fire upon them. The officers returned
the fire and shots were con-
tinuously exchanged through the
ends of the cars all the way to
Pleasanton, distance Of s miles. A
dispatch had been sent to Pleasanton
asking that q posse meet the train,
and when the freight pulled in the rob.
bers' car was surrounded and the in
mates were called upon to surrender.
They answered with shots from their
revolvers, and the posse returned the
fire. The two imprisoned men fred
through the side of the car at random.
and the posse returned the fire with
Winchesters and revolvers. The
fusillade lasted nearly an hour. Final
ly shot from Winchester struck
one of the robbers in the head and
killed him. The other bandit then
surrendered. He was seriously wounded
in the side. He gave his name as
Charles Meyers, of Kansas City, Kan.
The dead robber was taken back to
Fort Scott The dead robbers name