The Portland daily press., 1893-10-23
HOLDING UP A STAGE.
A Lone HighWayman Can Do 1t But
He Must Be Clear Grit.

Generally Ends Their Career-How Wy
the Pluck of a Woman.
"a stage with six passengers in it held
up by one man, and the paper says they
were pack of cowards," said the man in
the seat ahead as he turned himself round
"Wcll, let me tell you there's another
side to it. I've been right on deck on sew
ersl occasions when holdup didn't work
worth a cent The papers never seem to
get hold of the other side though"
Let's go ard have cigar and talk about
road agents. If you have been held up,
give US the particulars"
Eyes, Eve been held up" he said as we
got seated in the smoker. my first ex-
perience was about 10 miles from Tuscaro-
IA, New. There were seven men in the
coach, and every one of US had shooting
irons and sand enough to use them. We
were stopped just where we didn't expect
lit, and that was the trouble.
! Before we knew what was up fellow
had us covered with two revolvers. 1t
wasn't his guns that made us take water
SO much as his general demeanor. You
had only to glance at him to realize that he
was devil and held human life as cheap
as dirt. He could Keep all of us covered,
but we had no show at him. If one of us
had fired and missed, he'd have downed
the whole crowd before he stopped shoot
ing. believe that any one of us il a-one
in the stage would have pulled down on
him, but es it was each one feared to
draw his vengeance on the rest He took
Watches rings and money to the value of
5000 from our crowd. He had US stuck
up for half an hour and there wasn't q
second in that time he didn't have his eye
on every man and hold himself ready for a
shot. That chap stopped over p dozen
stages before he got his dose"
''And you spoke of several failures"
eyes, have witnessed several. OF all
the road agents in the west for the last 20
years not more than five OF six had any
business to take to that line. The others
were chumps and failures. Why, I've
been from Cheyenne north when we'd pass
three or four dead bodies in a day-corpses
of chumps who'd tried to make a holdup
and got left One day, about 10 miles
south of the Platte when there were five Of
us in the stage, fellow jumped out and
yelled his yell. Every man in the stage
knew he was galoot by his antics and the
trembling of his voice, and we weren'ta bit
surprised when the driver out with his gun
and dropped him without checking the
gait of his horses"
ssThen man has got to be good one to
make successful holdup?' asked.
'sThere's where you hit hard pan, "he an
swered. "There may be towards travelling
around out west, but never met any. The
idea that five or six well heeled men are
going to submit to being cleaned out by
one if there's show to stop him is all bosh.
It's all in the man and his way of doing
business. If he's got voice with sort of
laugh to it: if he's got gun in either hand
and keeps 'em moving about like the heads
: of snakes travelling through the grass: if
his ewes seem to be looking right through
Won and watching everybody else at the
same time don't make fool of Yourself"
.sYou mean give up YOUR boodle?"
.sExactly and don't be too long about it,
either, for those chaps are always in
hurry. These newspaper men seem to i'm
agine that the passengers in a coach sit
with revolvers in their hands throughout
the trim. Their guns are right down in their
hind pockets. of course. Give lem five min
mes to get ready and they'd clear the road,
but they don't have five seconds. When
Won get the hail. YOU know you're covered.
ONLY one mAn-tle one next TO the QOOf-
couid do auy shooting ANYHOW. and he'd
he more ant to miss than to hit. What
tben9 whv the robber would turn loose
and kill or cripple everybody inside quick
er,n YOU could count.
..yo,, have nrota bly noticed linn in nv
oait9 That comes from a bullet l got in
NV left knee when the Deadwood stage was
held nm by wyoming Charlie. 1t was in
tbe afternoon. and there were six of us. A
tenderfoot had the seat by the window.
and he thought he'd show his sand by
oneninp fir With his non. The robber
wasn't IL f 4, away. and the idiot had three
shots at him without n touch. The shoot
inc made him mad. and he began firing
right and left into the stage He killed
two men aud wounded the other four, and
all of MS we've robbed besides. The tender
foot was one of the killed. and can't say /
was ever sorry about it,
81 think remember reading that Wyo-
ming Charlie was killed while holding up
a stage somewhere out west"
"Yes. down near Plum creek, in Ne
braska' and it was curious how it came
about. There were seven passengers, and
one of 'em was woman-the wife of a cat
tleman. She was with the driver, on top.