Birmingham age-herald., 1894-11-02
VERY GREEN ROBBERS Hold Up a Kansas City Passenger
 Train
AND GET BUT LITTLE POODLE
Conductor Learnard and Others Tell How the Affair
 Occurred-Saucy Talk.

one-half mile this side of New Albany, Miss, eastbound passenger train No. on the Kansas City, Memphis and Birming- ham, in charge of Conductor w. B. Learn ard and Engineer Campbell, was held up and the express car robbed by three masked men.
 No. 3 is the night train on the Kansas City, Memphis and Birmingham, which arrives here at 5:50 o'clock in the nlorning from Memphis. It left Memphis on sched- u!e time and was made up of combination mail, baggage and express car, first class coach and sleeper.
 The train being a night one little money is ever carried on it., and, in fact, little express, the larger part of it being carried on the day trains.
 New Albany, Miss. is night office and No. 8 had made its usual stop. AS the train pulled out three masked men boarded it, one getting on the rear part of the com bination car and two on the front next to the engine. Just about the time the train was moving we'll the two men who had boarded the front of the combination car climbed over the tender of the engine and, with four big pistols, covered the engineer and fireman in a regulation train robbers' manner. At this juncture the engineer att tempted to stop the train, but the masked men having the deadwood on him made him run the train about a quarter of a mile further, when an order was given for it to be stopped. The order was obeyed and the train came to a standstill At the same time the robbers began to fire their pistols into the air for the purpose of frightening and terrifying passengers, and especially the trainmen. When the train stopped the robbers made Express Messenger Genette hand out all the packages he had, the value of which did not amount to over S5.
 The details of the hold-up are best told in the following interview with Mir. w. B. Learnard, conductor on the train, to an AGE HERALD reporter:
 'When we leit--New Albany, which is about twenty five miles west of TupeIo and 175 miles from here, I started through the through the smoker when the train slowed up. It started again and 1 went on collect ing tickets, and in about two or three min utes the train came to standstill. AS it did 80 stepped out on the front platform of the flrst-cass coach and asked the en- gineer what was the matter. Instead of re- ceiving an answer from Campbell, the en- gineer, my question was answered by pistol shot from some one near the engine. I then went through the smoker, opened matter was, thinking that it was possibly some tramps.
 "Campbell said nothing, and I asked him again, Whats the matter?'
 ...I can't do thing said Campbell.
 "One of the robbers, who seemed to be the leader of the gang, answered that they wanted all the stuff that was in the express car.
 "About this time they tried to make the engineer break the front door of the ex- press car open with a coal pick, and also to make the fireman cut off the express car. I kept them from doing this by telling them that If the train was cut in two it would be wrecked by running back down the hill.
 ''When put my head out of the door the second time they fired at me three times, and things began to look little warm.
 ''As soon as l saw what had happened wentinto the express car and told Messen- ger Genette tbat the train had been held up, and asked him if he had any money. He said that he didn't, and about that time they called on him to hand out all tho money he had. At this time verybody had their hands up.
 1T told the robbers that if they wanted hnything to come in and get it, and they they replied, Hand it out
 "I told them again that they were fools; to come in and get it if they wanted it worse than we wanted them to have it.
 ''We thought that as there was nothing valuable in the car we had just as well give 1t to them and let them go.
 "They kicked on the packages Genette gave them, and told them if they did not
 
 selves. They finally backed off in the woods, and as they did so we told them good night.
 'tThey were the greenest set in the business have ever heard of and if we had had million of dollars in the car they would not have gotten cent of it, for It it could have been hidden among the bag gage. We had plenty of time to have done such thing, but didn't have the money.
 ''I had about $40 in my pocketbook and $10 in my vest pocket. l put this in my pocketbook and throwed it over behind some baggage. There was also passenger in the smoker who had $3200 in his pocket, which, when he found out what was going on, he put down in his shoe top.
 .sThey tried to make the engineer give up his watch, but he bluffed them out of it by saying he had to have something to run with.
 1T wasn't scared but one time, and that was when one of them had big six shooter in my face and was trembling, and was afraid it would go of.
 "We came on to Tupelo, where report was made of the affair."
 MESSENGER aENETTE TALKS. In an interview with an AGE HERALD reporter last night Express Messenger Genette said:
 ssI am the messenger that was held up last night and made to give up all had, [. which was nothing but one sealed package, which was not valued, and bundle of way bills.
 of shooting on the engine.
 .sI opened the front door and asked the engineer what was up, and one of them told him he would be shot if he talked. l