Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-02-11
A BAD MAN BAGGED.
The Pinkertons Land Another of the
Glendale Robbers, and
BREAK UP A DESPERATE GANG.
Records of Men Who Made Daring Deeds
Business and
FACED DEATH FOR COLDS SAKE

NEW 1ORh, I tU lU.-IeOpcTb a.
ton received to-day from I. w. Lees, Cap
tain of Detectives at San Francisco, tele-
gram saying that he had arrested Marion
Hedspeth, one of the leaders of the Glen.
| dale, Mo-, train robbery. When arrested
he had on his person two large reyolvers
and attempted to use them, but was over
powered. /. r. Wilson, alias Dink Viii.
son, is the only one of the robbers now at
large and Mr.. Pinkerton thinks that San
Francisco authorities will have him in
custody within the next "a hours.
The gang that committed this robbery
were Adelbert d. Sly, of st. Louis; Marion
c. Hedspeth, of Pisgath, Mo-; james Fran
els, of Kansas City, and L. r. Wilson, of
Omaha. Sly and Hedspeth are brothers-in-
law, having married sisters Sly served q
term of seven years in the Missouri State
Prison for robbery of the American Express
Company in 1888. Hedspeth served a term
of seven years in the same for highway rob-
berry. Dink Wilson served a term in the
Nebraska State Prison. Francis was never
convicted.
Bad Gang From Way Back.
Sly and Hedspeth were leaders of the
December % BY Robert A. Pinkerton, aided
by Chief of Police Glass and Detective
Whitaker, of the San Francisco police He
was taken to st. Louis, where he is now in
Jail. His trial will take place on the
10th inst. He will get long term of i'm
prisonment. Sly had in his possession the
watch stolen from the messenger at the time
of the Glendale robbery.
Maggie Hedspeth, the wife of Marion
Hedspeth, was arrested at Oakland, Cal,
by Captain Lees and his detectives on De-
cember %, when she called at the Wells
Fargo Express for her trunk. She refused
to tell the whereabouts of her husband,
Jim Francis, was killed near Lamar, Kan,
while attempting to hold up and rob an
other train.
This gang of train robbers is probably the
most desperate that has operated in this
country for many years Within the last
year they have committed the following
robberies: They entered the Treasurer's
Office of street car company in their barns
in the bottoms of Kansas City and COM
PEELED the men sitting in the Office to face to
the walls and hold up their hands while
they robbed the safe. They perpetrated
the same Kind of robbery at the car barns in
Omaha.
Handy With Guns and Dynamite.
They next boarded Missouri Pacific
train at West Omaha, captured all the hands,
then blew open the express door with dyna-
mite, overpowered the messenger, and
robbed the safe of about 81, 900. The next
robbery was at Western Union Junction,
Wis. on the Chicago, Milwaukee and st.
Paul Railroad. They first overpowered the
train hands, marched through the express
car, overpowered the messenger, and secured
S. 900 and quantity of jewelry.
The last robbery was at Glendale, Mo-,
suburb of St. Louis on the st. Louis and
San Francisco road, on the night of Novem-
Der 30. AT the time of this robbery, as in
the others, the gang was masked, all the
train hands were captured and the express
car blown open with dynamite. The passen-
ger coach was shot into, but fortunately no
one was hurt. The estimated loss by this
robbery was about S25, 900.
One of the principles of the Adams Ex-
press Company is to never let any one who
robs them escape punishment. Immediately
following this robbery the ST. Louis police
force and the Pinkertons were called into
the case, and through their efforts Hedspeth
and his wife, Maggie, and Dink Wilson
were traced to San Francisco Jim Francis
had purchased farm in Kansas with his
share of the money secured at the Glendale
robbery. The detectives were watching his
home awaiting his return at the time he at
tempted to rob the train near Lamar, Kan,
where he met his death. Had he been sue
cessful in this robbery and returned to his
home, he would have been captured or
killed by the detectives who were watching
his house.
Long Record of Daring Crimes.
Marion Hedspeth. has been store and
safe burglar for ten years. For time he
worked with two safe burglars named Cody
and /. M. Officer. They robbed safe at
Tuscumbia, Mo-, and secured 81, 400, after
which they were located by detectives at
the home Office at Bonner Springs, Mo-, 90
miles west of Kansas City, where they had
lived for some time They escaped
before the detectives could cap
ture them. Later Cody and Hedspeth
were surprised robbing safe in small
Kansas town. Cody was killed, but
Hedspeth escaped. He was finally cap
tured in November, 1888, and was sentenced
from Cooper county, Mo-, to years i'm
prisonment in the Jefferson County peni-
tentiary. In an attempt to escape he nearly
killed Deputy Sheriff E. L. Williams, and
escaped being lynched. He is a
living at Pisgath, that State. He was a
farm laborer and is of temperate habits.
Hedspeth appeared ut the San Francisco
postofice about IL o'clock, and inquired for
! letter. A detective and two assistants,
who had been on watch at the postoffice for |
the fugitive express robber, attempted to
place Hedspeth under arrest, when he
reached around to his hip pocket. The
three men, however, overpowered him be- |
fore he could draw his weapon, and hand |
,uffing him took him to prison. Two re- |
uolrarc WARE fnund on him ana in aaal, Ii, |