Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1893-09-28
BANDITS TRAPPED.
They Attack a Decoy Train and
Are Caught.
Two of Them Killed In a Battle on the
Train and Three Captured = One
Lone Bandit Gets Away
The Fight.
Disaster to Bandits.

Disaster to Bandits.
ST. JOSEPH Mo. Sept. 25.-A bold
attempt at train robbery was cleverly
frustrated here just after midnight this
morning. AS a result two would-be
train robbers gre dead and three are
behind the bars in the Jail. Of six men
who attempted the robbery only one
escaped.
The robbers who were killed are Ed
ward Kohler and Hugo Indall. The
three men captured are named Freder-
icl, Hirsch and Harvey.
The train which the bandits had at
tempted to rob was passenger train
No. 3, on the Kansas City, st. Joseph
S5 Council Bluffs railroad, which left
Kansas City at 9:05 p. m Sunday night,
and which arrived here at 1890 this
morning.
The officials OF the road had been
warned that the robbery of the road
had been planned and they notified the
police. When the train arrived here
dummy train was made up and sixteen
police officers under command of the
chief of police were put aboard. In or
der to thoroughly deceive the robbers
the train was made an exact duplicate
of train No and consisted of an en-
gine and tender and express and bag
gage car and the usual coaches and
Pullmans.
When the dummy reached a point
two miles north of st. Joseph the en-
gineer's attention was arrested by
lighted lantern moving two and fro
between the rails He obeyed the sig
nal and soon six masked men surround
ed the engine. One of the bandits
mounted the engine, and, presenting
one revolver at the engineers head and
another at the hreman'S held them in
subsection while the other five men
hastened to rob the express car.
They ordered the messenger to open
the door, which he did forthwith. Three
of the bandits at once entered the car,
leaving two without to keep guard
The policemen who guarding the train
were distributed in the various cars,
the ma ajority of them being concealed
in the express car.
Immediately 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
IL 1uS5tStNtS 1OI1ONCNt AOOuG
twenty five siatts were fired on both
sides. When ? smoke cleared away
the lifeless be les of Kohler and In
dali were lying on the floor of the car.
Both had been shot through the head.
The bullet which pierced Kohler's
head produced instant death. He
never stirred after he was hit. IndaN
was still breathing, but he died shortly
after he was brought here. None of
the officers We're injured.
While the fight was going on in the
car those of the police not engaged in
it 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 engineer and fireman quick
ly realized the situation when he heard
the battle going on in the express car
and promptly made his escape. A de-
tail of officers was put on his track and
quickly took up the pursuit with every
prospect of capturing the fugitive be-
fore dawn.
a remarkable feature of the fight in
the express car was the escape of all
the officers from injury. The three rob-
bers in the car were each armed with a
brace of revolvers and used them freely,
but still they did no damage.
The bodies of Kohler and Indall were
brought here on the dummy train,
which returned to the city soon after
the encounter.
They were taken to an undertalSers.
The prisoners, Frederick, Hirsch and
Harvey, were brought here on the same
train with their dead comrades and
were locked up at the police station.
Henry Gleitze, the robber who es-
capped. was later captured in this city.
StiiI Another.
CENTRALIA, Ill, Sept. 22.-The train
robbing epidemic reached this place
shortly before - o'clock Wednesday
night, when three men attempted to
hold up the Chicago-New Orleans linn
tied express train on the Illinois Central,
which arrived here from Chicago two
hours late. The attempted robbery
occurred at the coal chute just south
of the city. The robbers were given a
warm reception aud were finally beat
en- off. One of the robbers was badly
wounded and three of the trainmen,
tsro of them seriously.
As the train pulled out from the coal
chute two of the men commanded the
engineer anu nreman TO stop ana When
they refused shot and wounded both o1
them. The bandits then attacked the
express car, but Conductor Odam and
the messenger gave them a warm re-
ception. A regular battle took place
and an armed passenger came to the
assistance of the train men and sooT
routed the bandits, one of whom was
shot and captured and another soor
taken in. The wounded robber wa:
named ID. l.. Jones, and the Other
O'Dwyer. They also gave the name o
the third man.
A Warship Goes Down.