Huntsville gazette., 1893-09-16
DONE BY DARING MEN.
A Lake Shore & Michian Southern
Train Held Up.
The Engineer Wounded, the Express Car
Shattered with Dynamite. and the
Robbers Get Away with
Big Doodle.

ShiNAUO, Sepb. 1o.-4FdlH TODDerS
stopped the Atlantic express train on
the Lake Shore road at Kessler, Ind,
about midnight Monday night, shot
the engineer, James Knapp, wounding
him severely, broke into the express
car, blew open the United States Ex-
press Co.'S safe and took it's con-
tents, consisting of four packages.
The express officials are retic1nt
on the question as to the amount
of money secured by the robbers, but
it can positively be stated that the
total was 19,040.60. Two bars of gold
valued at $4,000 were overlooked.
The express messenger saved the COM
pany $4,000 in cash by secreting the
money before the entrance to the car
was effected. The number of the
highwaymen was estimated by some
trainmen at twenty, but there were
probably not half so many. The
passengers on the train were not mo-
lested
After the robbery the thieves ga
into the thick timber surroundi- -. -, !,
place where the robbing was I'm. and
the train proceeded on it's ,,,.r IT,
railroad and express officials at oncs
notified the police ir. ali c;t;es f,nn,
Chicago to Clevelar d and the citizans
in the vicinity ', Unity q the robbery formed
posses TO hunt. down the bandits
hessier aear where the robbery took
p,aoe' t, a small station on the Lake
'ilc &C road about 14O miles from Chi
cago. just this side of the stopping
place is sharp curve in the line that
passes through a timbered district. As
the train was approaching this point
the engineer, James Knapp, of Toledo,
o., saw the switch light showing red
and thought the switch was open. He
brought the train to a standstill, and
at that moment the bandits leaped
from the darkness, leveled rifles at the
heads of himself and his fireman, and
ordered them to throw up their hands
The fireman obeyed, but Knapp showed
fight, and shot was fired at him, the
bullet tearing through his shoulder.
The robbers having control of the
engine, proceeded to loot the express
car. 1t was found afterward that the
switch had not been turned, but the
light only had been changed If the
train had not been stopped it would
have passed on uninjured The train
was the Atlantic express, and left Chi.
cago at 7:45 p. m. 1t consisted OF
twelve coaches and sleepers, and was
in charge of Conductor NJ. A. Loup, Of
Chicago. 1t carried large number of
passengers, many of whom were
Worlds fair visitors returning home
The most vigorous measures were at
once instituted to capture the bandits
The sheriff of Noble county organized
d posse of 100 men and began a svs-
tematic search of the surrounding
country. Every town and hamlet ior
miles was notified to watch for the
thieves. 1t was thought that the rob-
bers would endeavor to escape to Chi
cago or Cleveland either of which
places they could reach by daylight by
trains on other roads.
The robbery is considered one of the
most daring ever perpetrated east of
the Mississippi. The stories told by
the messenger and fireman show that
two men held the engine crew while
three others attended to the express
car. Some of the Chicago police are
of the opinion that the job was done
by professional safe blowers, and a cer-
tain ex-convict, who is known to have
been for some time in that part of In
diana, is suspected of having had a
hand in the crime, if he was not the
instigator and leader of it. The fact
that only the express car was attacked,
and that train carrying an unusually
large sum was selected, argues supe-
rior knowledge of the express business
or rare good luck on the part OF the
robbers.
During the robbery, the passengers
on the train were in a sta te of wild ex-
citement Women tainted and men
hid their valuables under the car seats
and in their shoes or in any place that
suggested safety from the robbers
search. Only few of the passengers
were armed. and as the bandits outside
had the drop on any person who
might show himself at door or window
resistance was not much considered.
However, the robbers contented them
selves with plundering the express car
and did not modest the passengers
Engineer James Knapp. who was
badly wounded in the side and shoul
der by the robbers bullets was taken
to his home in Toledo.
At the Office of General Manager G.
FL. Crosby, some information was i'm
parted about the work done in the way
of pursuit. Within two hours of the
commission of the crime Capt Byrne
was on his way to the scene with de-
tachment of detec ives from his Buff
falo district. The first trains out of
Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Toledo, De-
troit. Indianapolis, Chicago and St.
Louis carried squads of detectives in
the employ of the United States Ex-
press Co. and the confederated
companies The Lake Shore
threw force of men on
the work from it's Cleveland Office, so
that in the opinion of Secretary Henry,
not less than 100 trained detectives are
already on the trail of the robbers
He did not believe any gang of crooks