Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1893-09-30
THE BANDITS FOILED
TRAIN ROBBERS GET A WARM RE-
cEPTioN IN MISSOURI.
Dummy Train Rugged Up and Loaded
with oniAers-They Met with = DIsas.
trous Reception--Two Killed Instantly.
The Others Captured.

A Dummy Train Rugged Up and Loaded
with Onlncrs-They Met with Disas.
trous Reccption--Two Killed Instantly.
The Others Captured.
ST. JOSEPH, No., Sept. 2e.--Henry
Gleitze. the sixth and last member Of
the gang, whose plan to rob train on
the Council Bluffs road resulted SO dis
astrously. has been captured. Officers
tracked him from the scene of the
holdup to the house of Mary Elsmer in
South st. Joseph. His pockets were
full of ammunition and three fingers OF
his left hand were shot off. He denied
strenuously that he had taken any part
in the attempted robbery, but refused to
talk further. The police are confident
that they have the right man, and he is
securely locked up at police headquar-
ters.
The bandits had two sticks of dyna-
mite, to each of which was attached a
fuse about three feet long. II was
known to the officers ON the bogus train
that dynamite might be used and It
was at first proposed to let the robbers
explode some of il before firing upon
them, Before leaving st. Joe. how
ever, Chief Broder decided 1t would TO
a dangerous risk and he instructed the
bogus messenger to open the door bo-
fore the robbers had a chance to ex-
plode the stuff. Chief Broder says
there was enough dynamite to blow the
car into splinters.
The bodies of the two dead bandits
and the three captured men were placed
on the train which they had attacked.
The train then returned to the Francis
street depot and the regular train went
ON its way. The passengers did not
know what had happened. 1t was
quick work and the train bearing the
officers was back at the Francis street
depot in just As minutes from the time
it left.
The railroad officials knew of three
different plans to rob trains, and pro-
pared a warm reception for the robbers,
but something happened each time to
prevent the robbers from trying to put
their scheme into execution. Six men
attempted the robbery. The names of
those killed are Frederick Koehler and
Hugo Engle. The three men captured
at the scene of the attempted robbery
are N. A. Hurst, Henry Carver and
Charles Fredericks.
The bandits selected train No. 8, due
here at 1890 in the morning from Kan
sas City. Upon the arrival of the train
a dummy train, an exact duplicate of
No. 3, was prepared and 10 police under
command of the chief, was put aboard.
When the train reached point two
miles north of st. Joseph man ON the
! <,- IL - Id
engineer obeyed and six masked men
surrounded the engine.
One of the robbers boarded the en-
CINE and covered the engineer and fire.
man with revolver in each hand
The other five ran to the express car
and ordered the messenger TO open the
door, which he did. Three of the rob-
bers jumped aboard, leaving two out
side as guards. The police were massed
/ in the express car, and ordered the
three robbers to surrender as soon as
they entered.
/ The bandits. although surprised.
opened fire at once. The police replied,
and fusilade followed. Twenty-Five
shots were fired during the fight, and
when it ended Koehler and Engle lay
shot through the head. Koehler was in
stantly killed, but Engle lived until he
reached here. Frederick was uninjured,
and was arrested. None of the police
were injured.
During the fight another detachment
of police captured the two guards left
outside, but the bandit ON the engine
hearing the firing realized the situation
and escaped. A detail of officers started
in pursuit and he was captured. A re-
markable feature of the fight was the
escape of the officers from injury.
Each bandit had two revolvers, which
were used freely.