The Russellville Democrat., 1893-09-28
KILLED AND CAP TURED.
SIX MASKED TRAIN ROBBERS THWART-
 ED IN THEIR PURPOSE.
EARLY THIS MORNING.
There Were Sixteen Policemen With Win chesters Waiting for Them and They Fired a Deadly
 Voliey.

l ST, JOSEPH, Mo-, Sept. 25.-A bold attempt at train robbery was cleverly frustrated here just after midnight this morning. As result two of the would-be train robbers are dead and three are behind bars in jail. Of the six men who attempted the robbery only one escaped. The robbers who were killed were Fred. Kohler and Hugo Gleitz. The three men cap tured are N. A. Hurst, Henry Carver and Charles Fredericks. John Gleitz escaped The train which the bandits attempted to rob was passenger train No. 3 on the Kansas City, St. Joseph and Council Bluffs Railroad, i, which left Kansas City at 9:05 pm. Sunday night, and which arrived here at l1g30 Monday morning. The officials of the road had been notified that a robbery of the road had been planned and they notified the police. When the train arrived here a dummy train was made up and sixteen police officers, under the command of the chief of police, put aboard. In order to thoroughly deceive the robbers the train was made an exact duplicate of train No. 5, and consisted of the engine and tender, express and baggage car and the usual coaches aud Pullmans. When the decoy reached point two miles north of St. Joseph, the engineers attention was arrested by a lighted lantern moving to and fro be- tween the rails. He obeyed the signal, and soon six masked
 men surrounded the engine. One of the bandits mounted the train and presented one of his revolvers at the engineers head and another at the freman's, keeping them in subiection, while the other five men hastened to rob the express car. They ordered the messenger to open the door, which he did forthwith. The bandits entered the car leaving two without to guard. The police men who were guarding the train were distributed in the various cars, maj lrity of them being concealed in the ex- press car. Immediately after the three bandits who had undertaken the work of robbing the car entered the door the police within ordered them to surrender. The robbers were taken completely by surprise, but they opened fire at once upon the police. The police returned the fire and general fusilade followed. About twenty y-6ve shots were fired on both sides. When the smoke cleared away the lifeless bodies of Kohler and Gleitz were lying on the floor of the ear. They had been shot through the head. The bullet which pierced Kohler's head produced in. stant death. He never stirred after he was hit. Gleitz was still breath ing, but died shortly after he was brought here. Fredericks, the third robber engaged in the fight, was not injured and was placed under arrest. None of the officers were injured. While the fight was going on in the car those of the police not engaged in 1t were looking after the two robbers who had been left outside to keep watch. The police quickly took them in and placed them under arrest. The bandit who had been detailed to guard the en- gineer and fireman quickly realized the situation when he heard the battle going on in the ex- press car and promptly made his escape. A detail of officers were put on the track and quickly took up the pursuit with every prospect of capturing the fugi- tive before dawn. The remarkable feature of the fight in the express car was the escape of all the officers from injury. Three of the robbers were in the car, each armed with brace of revolyers, and they used them freely, bat still they did no damage.
 The bodies of Kohler and Gleitz were brought here on his dummy train, which returned to the city soon after the encounter They were taken to an undertaker's. The prisoners, Fredericks, Hurst and Carver, were brought here on the same train with their dead comrades and locked up at the police station. All the robbers lived here.
 It is rumored this afternoon that Geitz, the escaped robber and thief, was captured.