Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-10-13
ARRIVAL At NEW YORK.


ARRIVAL At NEW YORK.
The Express Company Unable To Say
How Much Was stolen.
NEW YORK. October I3-The train which
was held up last night on the Richmond.
Fredericksburg and Potomac railroad
reached the Pennsylvania depot at Jersey
city at sos this morning. bringing with it
a badly SCARED express car. The Adams
Express Company's messengers left the
train and proceeded at once to the head
quarters in New York city. They reported
that all of their safes had been rified by
the robbers. 1t is supposed that the bandits
obtained between $4,000 and s20O.OO0.
The express company is not informed as
to the amount of money secured by the
robbers. L. c. Weir president of the
Adams Express Company. said to an Asso-
ciated Press representative today that as
the way bills were destroyed they could not
Judge Yet of the amount of money lost.
1t was probable that all packages received
south Of the point of robbery were gone,
and il will take some time to ascertain the
loss Detectives have been sent from New
York. Philadelphia and Washington to
gather clues. Express Messenger b. F.
Crutchfield. who came to the general offices
here this morning, left with the detectives
from New York. 1t is the belief of Mr..
Weir he mas gone south with the detec-
tives to help them In their work.
Appearance of the Wrecked Car.
When the express car. which Is one be-
bnging to the Atlantic Coast division, was
side-track,d, passengers. passers-by and
trainmen gathered around to examine a
spectacle unique In the history OF railroad
ing in this section. II was found that the
heavy oak doors had been splintered by the
sticks Of dynamite forced into the car by
the rOblers In addition to this the marks
revolver hllllptS DlainlY visible
Every pane Of glass in the windows of the
car had been shattered by the force Of the
explosion, and fragments of glass were still
scattered over the floor of the car. The
officials of the Adams Express Company
IN charge of the car at the depot claimed
that only the pouches and safes had been
ransacked. the other packages In the car
remaining intact.
Many OF the passengers wfo witnessed
the hOld-up left the train at Washington
and Philadelphia, and a few OF them COM
peted the journey to New York city. Train
men were. as usual, reticent about discuss
ing the affair.
Col. ShackIeford's Story.
But Col. ]. NJ. Shackleford. a newspaper
man. who happened to be board the
train at the time, discussed the incident
freely. and gave graphic account of the
manner in which the robbers secured their
plumber and made their escape. Mr.. Shack
lefOri was formerly an editor of the New
ark Journal. He is now connected with the
Times-E Enterprise OF ThomasvilIe, Ga. He
told the following story:
About seven eight miles the other siia
of ,luanticO station the train came to a
sudden standstilL Quantico station IL To-
Gated on the Potomac river. on the Eir-
GINA side. Wen the train stopped the
conductor. NJ y. Birdsong, was thus ad-
dressed by one of the masked robbers. evil
IDENTIFY the captain of the gang:
Throw up your hands or we'll blow
III -
they arranged the signals for stopping the
train. Wen the manner in which they
afterward made their escape, il was evident
that several of tie gang were experienced
railroad men. That they were desperate
men was even more evident, and the con-
ductOr and the fireman lost no time in obey
ing their instructions and wisely, too. /
guess.
There were at least six or seven masked
men. and l could plainly distinguish them
all In the clear moonlight of the early even
ing: in fact, so near did they come to me
that In spite Of their masks 1 am almost
sure tina; could recognize some OF them If
1 could see them again from certain little
peculiaritIes Of dress or speech. When the
alarmed PASSENGERS crowded out of the cars
TO see what was the matter the robbers
fired perfect fusillade of shots TO intimidate
them as well as to brighten the railroad
The robbers rifed the express car with
out loss of time. They put their sticks of
dynamite under the door Of the express car
and blew II open.
How the Train Was Stopped
The manner In which these men got on
the train was a mystery at first. but we
afterward discovered that they In all proba-
biity boarded the car at White Brook sta
ton
They evidently climbed upon the plat
forms. and while the train was In motion
worked their way along the top Of the cars
until they succeeded in boarding the tender
and cab Then without any ceremony they
held up the engineer and fireman. The en-
slneer was an old employee on the road and
as brave as could be- the railroad men tell
me. but two or three of the villains attend
ed TO the engineer. while two or three more
OF them attended TO the express messengers
sengers and train.
Some of the desperadoes even went so
Tar as 70 converse in a clever. daring fash
lon with passengers and train men This
made US all the more indignant, but we
could do nothing to help ourselves All of
the passengers were collected and cool after
the first flush Of the excitement was over
One Pistol Among the Passengers.
Il remember II struck me as being a
humorous thing when We found out after
an examination OF all OF our pockets that
We had only one pistol to the entire crowd
and that little bit of a one and the mis-
chief Of it was that it would not work at
1t at the robbers as they disappeared In the
darkness. But that was not half so laugh
able as was the incident of one woman
who had little diamond-studded watch
she tried 10 get her husband to swallow II
In the excitement but he declined to at
tempt the preservation Of the watch in
that fashion. "
The most novel thing in the entire pro-
oeeding was the way in which the robbers
inade thelr escape: They cut the engine
loose. piled their plumber into the cab and
then the whole crowd Piled in on top of
II Ihey turned on steam and started for
Ouantico station as fast as the engine couI5
carry them or course that left us stalled
IN the midst OF the road. The conductor
and engineer pursued that engine on foot
as fast as they could run for six or seven
miles When they reached Quantico sta
ton ;hey found that the desperadoes had
turned the engine loose that II was nm
ming wild. and that through the cIeyerness
or the operator II had been sidetracked
ana ditched lust In time to prevent a COL
usion with a south-bound train.
Escaped Into Maryland.
"EVarNfhfpC saayna1 80 oa,,o 49,