Los Angeles herald., 1892-04-27
BEHIND BARS.
The Ceres Train Robbers
Captured.
BucarrO Bill and Bill Lucas the
Men.
Sheriff Gibson and VIII Smith Run
Them to Earth-The Men Who
Shot Len Harris Are
Nabbed.


Detective Will Smith of the Southern
Pacific railroad, with the assistance of
Sheriff Gibson, has succeeded in locat-
ing trio of the most desperate bandits
that have ever figured in the criminal
annals of the Pacific slope. The parties
are now behind the bars of the Jail in
Tucson, Ariz., and Detective Smith will
start after them at once. The parties
are none other than the daring desper
ADDE'S who held up the Southern Pacific
express on the Southern Pacific road at
Ceres station on Friday evening, Sel :
tember 4th, last.
The train robbery in question was one
of the most daring in the history of such
villainies. The engineer and firemen
were compelled to stop the train by
masked men and then proceed in ad-
vance OF the robbers to the express car
where the bandits exploded dynamite
bomb for the purpose of breaking open
the door. When the train men ap-
preached in the direction of
the express car, the robbers
opened fire with shotgun,
shooting Railroad Detective Len Harris
in the neck, inficting dangerous
wound, which for a long time kept him
lying between life and death. Two
masked men captured the engine by
crawling over the top of the tender and
covered the engineer and fireman with
guns, compelling them to run the train
out mile and half from Ceres, and
stop at lonely, deserted spot on the
road. They then made Engineer Nef
put out the headlight and procure a
pick and 60 to the Wells-Fargo ex-
press car and attempt to open the ex-
press car door. which Express Messenger
Reed, who was inside, pluckily refused
to do. While they were at work there,
Detective Len Harris sneaked up ON the
marauders and fired four shots at them,
none of which took effect. They re-
turned the fire and Harris was shot in
the neck and badly wounded. Two
dynamite bombs were exploded under
the car, tearing ragged hole in the
floor. Messenger Reed, who was inside,
pluckily defended the car, and the
train robbers, fearing the arrival of as
sistance, ordered the engineer and
fireman to walk up the road, and then
made good their escape. A reward OF
$4,000 was offered by the Southern Pa
cific railroad for their capture.
Since the date of the attempted train
robbery Detective Will Smith has been
on the hunt for the bandits, and the
story of the numerous clues, the tangled
mesh of circumstances which led to the
tracking down of the perpetrators, would
read like chapter from the romances OF
Gabarion. One of the men of the band
OF train robbers whom the trainmen and
passengers got good glimpses of was de-
scribed as being about 80 years of age,
tall and of sandy complexion, while the
other was dark and of lesser height,
with peculiar, crooked finger. 1t was
only recently that the unremitting
efforts of Detective Smith were
rewarded, and he ascertained beyond
possibility of a doubt that the
parties described were none other than
Bile Brown alias Bucaroo Bill, and
Charles Bilinger alias Bill Lucas. These
two men, it might be stated, are also
wanted by Sheriff Saul, OF Yuba county,
on charge of grand larceny. They
stole two teams of horses in that county
and sold one of them at Pasa Robles.
Brown is 80 years old, six feet high,
sandy complexion, hazel eyes, sharp
features, new beard, and has scar half
moon shaped on his cheek. Bilinger is
five feet ten inches high, dark complex
ioned, dark hair, brown eyes, weight
100 pounds and about "a years old. The
right index finger has been mashed, and
is now much shorter than the cores
ponding one and is crooked.
The two peculiar marks have been
important factors in the capture OF the.
men, and word has been received by
Detective Smith and Sheriff Gibson THAI
they have been tied up safely in Tucson
and the authorities there are now
waiting the arrival of the shrewd and
energetic detective to turn over the big
game.
The long search for these men, TO-
gether with the procurement of tine
evidence necessary to fasten the crime
on them, has been an almost superau.
man undertaking, but Detective Smith
has been equal to the requirements and
deserves the most golden encomiums for
making the most notable capture of
criminals that has been made in, this
state for many years.