The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1893-12-29
THE WOOTEN GANG.
The Recent Holdup South Of Cof-
feyville, Kan.
THE GOVERNMENT TAKES A HAND.
Bloodhounds Put on the Trafl-FIve nited
states Deputy Marshals and Posses
Take Part I'm the Hunt
for the Robbers.

day was day of great excitement i
n this locality. Sunday nights DARN
$ and unusually successful train robber
on the very border of the city ha
3 aroused the people to the highest pitcl
and deep settled determination to Ri
; the country of the bold desperadoe
has taken hold of the officials Al
day long marshals were Selling upol
. clews and following up information a
, to who compose the gang.
A young Cherokee, who was arrested
here on Saturday on charge of steal
ing pair of pants from one of the
: stores, when questioned yesterday
morning admitted that he had beer
sent to Coffeyville by man, at whose
house the robbers stopped on Saturday
for two quarts of alcohol for the gang.
lie was to meet them at a certain point
about ten miles from here, and, as he
failed to show up they evidently came
to Seminole station to intercept him,
and planned the robbery while they
were waiting for him on Saturday
evening and returned on the same
evening to carry their purpose into
effect They were seen near the sta
ton on Saturday evening and on Sun
day they were observed at several
points on the Verdigris only a few
miles from town.
This holdup has feature that is
new in this section. In no previous in
stance has the United States mail been
disturbed. The robbers not only went
through the postal clerk, but they
opened the mail bags, rified the regis
| tered packages and carried off a lot of
mail matter. This certainly will put
the United States authorities on their
mettle, and it is to be hoped that the
strong powers of the general govern
ment will be used to catch the perpe-
traitors of the outrage
Last evening five deputy United
States marshals and their posses, with
carload of horses and a number of
bloodhounds, were unloaded at Semi
mole station. A telegraph station was
established in the box car that figured
in Sunday nights aff:ir and a vigorous
pursuit is now under way. The direc-
ton taken by the band has been as
certained and full description of the
men obtained from parties who saw
them on Saturday and yesterday.
They are undoubtedly the Wooten
gang, and two young men and two
boys, all white, composed the outfit.
They were all very poorly mounted on
Saturday, and were very indifferently
clothed. This accounts for the
eagerness with which they seized
upon overcoats and other pieces of
clothing. They took the newsboy's
coat and pocketed a lot of his goods,
which proves that they were hard up
The gang has been in the brush since |
July, and are in desperate straits
DETAILS OF THE ROBBERY.
LITTLE Rock, Ark, Dec. 26.-The de-
tails of the Kansas & Arkansas Valley
hold-up at Seminole. j. T., Sunday
evening, reached Little Rock when the
robbed train arrived.
Seminole, the scene of the robbery.
is nine miles south of Coffeyville, Kan.
There is no town there, and nothing to
mark the spot save a side-track and a
small platform. Train No 232 reached
Seminole Sunday shortly after dark.
The switch had been turned, throwing
the train on the siding. The switch is
on a heavy upgrade, and the train
soon came to standstill. There were
no cars :1pon the track. as reported.
When the train stopped three men
sprang upon the engine and began by
robbing Engineer Bush Harris of his
watch and $40 in cash. They then pro-
,eeded to the mail car and rified the
nail pouches Mail Clerk IL b. Pinck-
hey, who was in charge, was forced to
leliver the registered packages After
the cash the letters were1
handed back to the clerk. Pinckney
vas relieved of his watch and IS cents
n change, 25 cents of which was re-
urned to him to buy a lunch. An
entrance to the express car was gained
without resistance on the part of the
Express messenger, as there was moth
ng of value on board. The robbers
Messenger Ford to open
he safe. from which they took two
mall packages, value unknown, and
100 in money.
Finishing their work in the express
ar. the no bbers turned their attention
o the coaches. Two men went through
he cars while the other two main
aimed a constant firing on the outside.
% much time had been consumed in
obbing the mail and express cars that u
he passengers had ample opportunity u
D secrete their valua bles and very lit
lie of value was obtained in the coaches.
he robbers appropriated all the over \,
oats and watches in the cars, but the Z,
nm total of cash they secured will ap-
roximate less than $500. Several pas
engers saved large sums by hiding T
heir purses under the car seats
Both of the men who went through
he coaches were young men, neither IN
eing over %, and had the appearance e;
being unsophisticated country W
ouths. When they went through the h
eepers they displayed an utter ig- b.
ORANGE of sleeping cars. The robbers
ID not use any abusiy> language to
lie passengers and offered 10 violence. d
one of the passengers were ermed: W
lere Were no acts of heroism or I'M c.
'ual incidents The train was held 70
lie hour and twenty minutes. 1t is NJ
ated p sitively that the railroad Off pl
ais here have the names of the four er
bbers, and it is believed their capture CO
only question of few days to
cardinal in Rome says that the DO sp
ion of Mgr. Satolli in this country fu
mot be affected by the bitter at tn