St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-02-22
MONUMENTAL nerve.
A Most Remarkable Attempt
at Robbery on the Gen.
trail Hudson.
The American Express Spe-
eiaI Held Up by a Single
Bandit,
who Shoots a Messenger.
Rifles a Safe, Flees on
An Engine,
Finally Abandons 1t, Takes
to Horse and Is Captured
by a Posse.

ROCHESTER,, \. Y, Feb. 21.-The
shooting Of an express messenger on a
Central Hudson train. the rifling of 4
valuable safe, the fight of the robber
on the engine of another train from
which he drives the crew at the point of
a revolver, a running fight from the
engine for miles, followed by another
engine filed with railway man, and the
final capture of the desperate by a
sheritf'S posse in a swamp after long
chase across the country are some of
the features OF the attempt at train rob-
berry in the history of the Central Hud'
son railroad which east in the
shade as an exhibition of nerve
the famous exploits the Jesse
James band or other outlaws of Western
fame. Train No. 81 on the Central
Hudson is known as the American EX
press conpany's special. 1t runs every
day in the year between New York and
Buffalo, and carries only goods and
property shipped by that company. The
express company pays the Central Hud-
son several thousand dollars yearly for
the use of this train, and it runs on the
same time and with the same privileges
as the limited express. The train leaves
New York at o'clock each evening,
End is due in this city at 7:05 in the
morning. Nearly all the cars are run
through to Chicago, and contain the
most valuable express matter. One car
Ia known as
The ''1Eoney" Car.
and in it is sent the specie from the
United States treasury for Western
banks, as well as the money in process
of exchange between the banks of New
York and the West. The load of wealth
sent out from New York on this train
is usually greater on Saturday evening
than on any other day, and often
amounts TO more than million dollars,
IN addition to jewelry and other valu
ableS. One of the most trusted mes
sengerS of the company, and sometimes
several, is placed IN charge of this car,
and so great is the secrecy in regard to
che car and its contents that the very
men in the car do not know in which car
the money is carried. ID. T. McInerny,
of this city, was in charge of the money
on the trip Saturday night. The train
was made up of eight express cars and
q day coach for the accommodation of
the regular train crew. Only one mes
senger was assigned to the money car,
as the work of billing was light. The
other cars had two messengers. The
train left Syracuse at ) o'clock this
morning in charge of Conductor LagsS.
OF this city. The train was drawn by
Engine G92, with Caleb Cherry, engineer.
The coach was in the rear of the train
and the money car just ahead. When
the train was near WeedspOrt the con-
ductOr. who was in the coach with his
two trainmen, thought he heard
The Air whistle
sound very family. 1t was enough to
arouse him to the belief that something
was wrong in the express car. Going
out on the platform of the coach, he
climbed into it, and, looking through
the hole which the bell cord passes
through, he saw the upper part of a
man whose face below the eyes was
concealed by red flannel mask. The
messenger he could not see. He went
back, set the air brakes and called his
two trainmen. The three stood leaning
out from the platform toward the sides
of the express car. Suddenly mans
form appeared at the side door of the
express car. Revolver bullets wills
tied past their ears and a voice
was heard commanding them to signal
the engineer to go ahead or take the
consequences. The trainmen were I'M
armed. The conductor told one of his
men to jump off. run back to Jordan and
telegraph along the line that they had a
train robber or board. This was done,
and the conductor signaled the engineer
to go ahead at full speed, thinking that
the robber would not dare jump. The
train went to Port Byron. Here the
brakes were set again, and the con-
ductGr and trainmen went to the eX-
press car. The car showed signs of a
desperate struggle. Money packages
and jewelry were lying scattered about,
everything IN the car stained with
blood, and Messenger McInerny was
lying bleeding from several wounds and
almost unconscious. The robber was
nowhere to be seen and was
SuppOS ed 10 Have Jumped
and made good his escape. McInery
wanted to be brought on to Rochester.
A telegram for an ambulance was sent
on to Rochester, and the train went on
to Lyons, the next stop. The news had
spread all along the line by this time
and the station at Lyons was all alive
Among the others in the crowd was a
well-dressed young man, wearing gold
eyeglasses and carrying satchel slung
over his shoulder. Now it happened
that the trainmen had noticed the young
man at the station at Syracuse before
the train started out, and they had not
seen HIM since, and the question what
he was doing at Lyons at once sug-
gested itself. An attempt to az
rest him was made, but he
pulled two TevOlvers, held the crowd
back and backed across the yard until
he reached a coal train. the engine of
which had steam up ready to pull out
for the west. He pulled the pin hold
ing the tender to the first car, climbed
into the cab, drove the engineer and fire
men out with his revolyer5, pulled open
the throttle and started the engine. Con
ductor Laass and one of the switchmen
procured shotgun, freed the engine OF
the express. and withthe fireman and
engineer started in pursuit of the fugi
tive. 1t will be remembered that the
Central Hudson is four-tracked road