The record-union., 1892-08-05
srccial to One REcoRp-UN1oN.

Special to the REcoRD-UNIoN.
FRESNO, Aug. 4.-Los Angeles Express
: o.. II, which was due here at 1910 o'clock
this morning, was held up by masked
men at Rolindo station, about seven
miles west of this city. The robbers are
believed to have secured $4,000 out of the
express car, although the exact sum is
not known.
Two robbers boarded the tender as the
train was pulling out Of Coils, about
fifteen miles west of Fresno. They
covered the engineer and fireman with
double-barreled shotguns and announced
that they had to obey their orders under
penalty of death. When the train passed
Rollndo station the engineer was ordered
to stop. The fireman was ordered with a
lighted cigar to touch off the fuse of a
dynamite cartridge which the robbers
had placed on the piston Of the driving
wheel on the left-hand side of the loco
motive. The explosion was terrific,
breaking the piston rod and partially dis
abling the engine.
The robbers then ordered the engineer
to get off the train and to walk a short
distance along the track, while they pro-
ceeded to lombard the two doors of the
express car by exploding dynamite cart
ridges, about eight in all, which tore the
door into splinters and smashed the floor
of the car.
The robbers, who were masked and
completely disguised, entered the express
car, and covering Louis Roberts, the mes
senger, with their double barreled shot
guns, ordered him to open Wells, Fargo
IL Co.'s safe.
Roberts set about doing this, but was
SO excited and norVOI1S that hn fOroot bo
combination and so informed his captors.
They thereupon struck him a heavy
blow on the head with gun and threat
ened to kill him if he did not immedi-
ately open the safe. With trembling
hands he did so, and they took out the
sacks of coin, which are believed to have
contained 5000.
When the desperadoes exploded the
first cartridge on the engine the passen-
gers poked their heads out of the win
dows to see what was going on, but they
drew them back again when they felt the
pistol bullets and buckshot whistling
past their ears. A panic ensued, and the
passengers made wild scramble to get
under the seats, to keep out of the range
OF the flying missiles.
8 LIKE AN EARTHQUAKES.
The explosion of the bombs that were
employed to wreck the express car
rocked and shook the train with all the
force of violent earthquake. a window
in front of the passenger coach which
was Immediately beside the express car
was shattered into atoms by the concus-
sion.
After the highwaymen had made their
escape into the darkness the engineer
sent a short dispatch TO the depot in this
city announcing that the train had been
held up, and he proceeded slowly on his
way, the train arriving here at 1:3O P. NJ,
an hour and ten minutes late.
The time occupied in blowing open tn
car and securing the treasure was not
more than twenty-five or thirty minutes.
A large crowd was awaiting the arrival
OF the express at the depot, and when it
rolled in with the footing of whistles and
changing of bells they all gathered around
the shattered express car and locomotive
to inspect the effective work of the dyna-
mite cartridges.
although only two men appeared to do
the principal part of the work. it is be-
heved that there were several confeder-
ates, for several buckshot were found i'm
bedded in the rear passenger coach.
STATEMENT OF PASSENGER.
Among the passengers was S. w. Hol-
lis, representing G. II. Perkins & Co. OF
Newark, n. Y. He made the following
statement to Republican reporter:
I'VE left Coils on time and after we
had gone about seven miles the brake
man came through the train and an
i stepped out on the platform and heard a
bomb explode. l did not pay particular
attention to it at the time, because |
thought that it was a railroad torpedo
signal, and this belief was confirmed
when the train slowed down and came to
q halt l went back to my seat and heard
the reports of guns or pistols apparently
fired at the coaches, and it created a panic
among the passengers. They got down
on the floor and under the seats and be-
tween the seats, but the robbers did not
come into the coaches. There were eight
or nine bombs fired in all and half dozen
or more gunshots. 1 learned afterwards
that two men boarded the rear end of the
tender as the train pulled out of Coils,
and, elm bling on to the engine, COM
manded the engineer, under pain OF
death, to obey their orders and to stop the
train when they gave the word. He
stopped at the signal, which was bomb
fired alongside the track. Then they
ordered the engineer and the fireman TO
take a walk up the track out of the way,
and they began to blow open the doors OF
the express car. After they had accom-
plished this they commanded the messen-
ger to open the safe. He attempted TO do
so, but was so excited and ratified that he
- forget the com animation, but the robbers
beat him on the head with gun and told
him that they would kill him if he didn't
open the safe. This he succeeded in do
ing and they took the money. After do
ing this they made the engineer place a
dynamite cartridge on the piston rod of
the driving wheel, and after exploding it
they left the train. When they started in
to blow the car open the messenger had
one of the robbers covered with his gun,
but one of the train hands was in the line
of fire and he could not shoot: and when
the train hand got out of the way the
robbers had the messenger covered, and
he was compelled to surrender
Mr.. Hollis brought with him to the
Grand Central Hotel pair of shoes be-
longing to the messenger Luckily they
were not on the messengers feet at the
time. for they were torn into tatters by
one OF the bombs.
w. Z. Knowles of Selma saw two men
oct on the tender at Coils and spoke to
the brakeman about it, but the brakeman
said that he supposed they Were only
About the time that the train was
stopped some of the passengers saw a
Iioht at some distance from the track, and
another light in q farmhouse long way
off +. Elliott of Bakersfield had the
curiosity to poke his head out of the car
window, and he had also the good sense
to withdraw it when q bullet whispered
close to his ear that it would be well for
him to do so.
Some of the railroad hands reported
that two men stole two handcars last
night from the roundhouse, and went up