Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-05-14
DESPERATE, BUT FUTILE.
A We'll Laid Scheme For Liberating Two
 Convicts on Their Way to Prison.


 q never understood" remarked gen. eral passenger agent while discussing recent train robbery, "how it was that a whole trainful of people would allow themselves to be held up by one or two bandits till some years ago, when l vas making trip over tho Michigan Central road. Then the mystery was explained to me. I was on my way from Detroit to Chicago and had taken seat in tie smoking car to enjoy my cigar.
 "At the time the smoking cars CT the Michigan Central were equipped with comfortable revolving chairs. Shortly after taking my seat noticed that there were two convicts aboard. They were in charge of two deputies and were be- ing conveyed from Detroit to the state prison at Jackson. They sat there talk ing to their guards complacently as if they had been going to some moro agree able entertainment All went well un- til Ypsilanti was reached. Half way be- tween that place and Ann Arbor is a small road crossing named Geddes. As we approached it an ordinary looking passenger went through the car in care less manner, rolling his eyes from side to side. casually inspecting the occupants of the car When ho reached the pris- oners, he pulled q whisky flask from his pocket and in an offhand way remarked Here, you fellows, have a drink. It will be long time before you have an other
 1.-The conyicts accepted the invitation, took good long pull from the bottle and handed it back to their apparently chance acquaintance, who pocketed it and passed into the next car. Hardly had he disappeared when the convicts, with a motion quick as flash, pulled two revolverS from somewhere on the seats beside them and presented them at their guards. Before any one i'll the car had time. to realize what was taking place those reYOlvers were going bang! bang! just as fast as the triggers could be pulled. The only mon who appeared to have any presence of mind were the two deputies. They had seen the two re- volvers coming, and by some deXterpus move managed to strike up tho conv{ctS arms so that the balls, instead of Strik ing the victims for whom they were in tended, passed through the roof of the car. While the scuftie was at its height the bellrope was pulled i'll some mystCri- ous manner, and the train came to dead stop at the crossroads near Geddes station, where q fast team of horses hitched to a light wagon was standing. By the time the train stopped, though, the convicts had been overpowercd by their guards. but not until Is shots had been fired.
 'The whole thing was evidently con- certed scheme to iberate the convcts. The man with the whisky flask was an ally, and his tender of the whisky was signal that everything was ready and the time for action had come. The at tempt at escape fortunately failed, but if you had seen that car while the shots were being fired you could readily have understood how easily a ;,'I" armed rob bers overpower train. Every chair in the car was vacant, and tie furmer oc- cupants were crouching in corners or wherever they could hide themselves be- hind some object that might stop bull let. When everything was quiet again and the convicts were in irons, no less than 15 men were counted coming from the dressing room of that smoking car" -Chica@O Post.