Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1892-08-25
"REMINISCENCES OF THE ROAD.
The Victims DO Not Always Act as They
Previously Fancied They Would.

i
Previously Fancied Thcy would.
group Of men were lollinR In the
loungers' corner Of n San Francisco
hotel. Each was reading n morning
paper. Each had his paper omen at the
page describing the robbery that star
tied berkeley Saturday. 81 can not
help having an admiration for such bold
thieves" said very respectable looking
member OF the gathering. Not" he
added mot that approve stealing in
any form, but II one is bound to loot a
strong box II Ia more manly TO do IL at
the point of a pistol than 10 sneak into
the victims confidence and then betray
it,"
One by one the readers threw their
papers aside, and without difficulty dis
posed Of bandits and plumber in the re-
markably short order that always pre-
walls on such occasions Then they grew
reminiscent.
The pluckiest robber I ever heard
oil, said Denverite, twas the one who
made Dan Moffatt give up S2t 900 about
three years ago. The story became
familiar enough, but the sequel has
been generally squelched. A young
fellow walked into Moffatt's private
Office at the First National bank. COW
cred Moffatt with pistol, displaying n
bottle Of harmless oil that he said was
nitro-glycerine, made Moffntt fill out n
check and thep get IL cashed and hand
MIN the money lie specified Just what
he wanted, demanding 81 900 in gold,
$4,000 bill and smaller bills. When
monatt went TO the paying teller for
the cash the visitor was Just behind
him with the revolver close TO his ribs.
out hidden by an ovcrcoat Having Sc
cured the money, the robber backed
out the door and disappeared.
did they ever catch him? Well, now,
that Is hard TO state, There Is some
mystery about II. Some people did not
think that Moffatt wanted him caught
hut big row was made about IT, and
rewards offered. In perhaps a year,
after numerous arrests and releases, IL
was announced that n prisoner in iail
In Clay county, Mo-, charged with
demonstrating, had confessed TO being
Mofatts robber The bank teller went
there and identified him. The Denver
chief of police told me, however, that
the prisoner was n pretcndcr, and that
he did not believe he had ever been in
the state OF Colorado Then the chan
went crazy. You can't try lunatic for
robbery, and the public does not keen
track OF the crazy prisoners OF Clay
county, Mo, So the matter rests"
The Denver man had the floor. "You
remember, don't YOU the way senator
Tnbor's gold bricks from the Vulture
mine In Arizona were stolen? The out
put In the form Of brick left the mine
every two weeks. One of these bricks
was worth about eight thousand dol
lars. Tho foreman thought he could
carry the treasure himself, but a lone
hiRhwayman fooled him; got away
with the game, too lie was afterwnrd
caught in the City of Mexico and the
brick recovered. The foreman took
some assistants with him the next time
and on this trip ran into an ambush.
Ono assistant was killed and the other
wounded. One of the robbers was hurt
and afterward caught nursing his
wound In n hut. The other robber was
picked up In u lonely canyon dead, a
bullet through his head, q revolver in
his hand and the brick ON his breast.
Must have been n grimly sarcastic cuss.
| h'Ni'b Nbu uIt nhNlnR n HONU many
stage robberics out here. Used 90 have
them In Colorado. Abolished the rob
berries first and aftorward the stage.
hut speaking Of rohbcrics reminds me
OF one highwayman who could give
your Black lIart points, lie had held
up stage after stage in southern Colora-
da; taken everything in sight He al
ways gave orders rs though he had u
whole posse In his gang. When he was
captured II was found that he was a
cripple weighing about one hundred
| pounds and never had any confederatcs
except dummies armed with broom
sticks. lie Is in the government pen at
Detroit now"
whats the use Of resisting when n
man has the drop on your" This from
"a iicrce-loolting individual whose pierre
ing eyes would have scared the
ordinary highwayman, IAN nonsense,
| say. Now In the Redding robbery
Messenger Montgomery resisted. What
did he get2 Why, u system full of lead.
| lie didn't save the treasure. lie didn't
do himself any service, and the good
opinion of the company is nothing to
dead man I say it's all right TO give
up when gun is at your head. There's
nothing else TO do. Shoot your high
wayman as he runs II you can, but look
out for your own hide. You'll never
get another"
Are the authorities severe upon
stage robbers In California;" queried
Philadelphia.
"Oh, not very" answered the fierce
looking one. "ln the first place, they
usually do not catch them. Two boys,
frightened half 10 death, stopped IL
stage near Cazadero the other day.
They trembled so that they couldn't get
the quaver out Of their voices for IA week,
and this gave them away. They were
sentenced TO two years each. As TO
the RoddinR robbery, the comparative
ly innocent lad who was led into II was
captured. His elder brother, the one
who killed Montgomery and got the
booty, is still at large. Tho San An
drcas murderer who shot into n stage
few weeks ago and riddlcd young
lady passenger, has never come to
light. No. California Ia not particular
ly hard on stage robberA"
Coming back TO the Berkely case"
remarked the quietest Of the loungers,
1.-THE pair Of brignnds were audacious
enough 10 have been trained under
Jesse James. I do not blame the men
for yielding, When robbers are so
desperate ms 10 make such an attack in
daylight and In the midst OF a crowd
they are desperate enough
| for anything. | was In the Big Blue