Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1894-11-29

ter. Holding
up an express has actually become an
organized industry, and he who can
point a way out of the difficulty thus pre-
sented will be a public benefactor in
the Hottest Specification of the term.
1t Is IN error to imagine that dime
novel tactics are in vogue among these
century end knights of the road. How
ever exciting the actual process of
spoliation may seem, the enterprise
itself Is always planned and executed
in the coolest and most business like
manner. The recent half dozen rob-
berries in different parts of the country
were in course of preparation at least
six weeks before the contamination.
Nor do the robbers organize themselves
into brigand band after the fashion of
the interesting gentry into whose hands
Gil Bias was SO hapless as to fall On
the contrary train robbers scatter in
all directions after the accomplishment
of successful hold-up, and as the ter
ror-stricken inhabitants Of the regions
in which they operate dare not ac-
knowledge any acquaintance with them
detection has in every case proven very
difficult. Not infrequently the robbers
have put up good-sized sums on the
principle of throwing spear to catch
herring, and when it is remembered
that treasure laden trains are continu-
ally flying up and down and across the
wilds of our continent, the magnitude
of the field of operations becomes mani
fest.
Now, how is this new danger to be
dealt with? That is what puzzles
many of the officials. 1t has been sug-
gested that the government man the
well stored trains with troops, ready to
shoot down anyone who presents him
self suspiciously in the vicinity of the
tracks. But this expedient has it's
drawback. Ifthe train men are enough,
armed and equipped as they usually
are, who can be sure that troops will
be? Moreover even the United States
affords no guarantee against the adop-
ton of stratagem whereby the mere
brute force of guns and Drawn can be
outwitted. Another suggestion is to
equip the treasure cars with electrical
devices similar to those now in general
use among banks, whereby safes and
vaults are rendered practically i'm
pregnable. The records of the patent
Office are filed with evidences of eff
forts to solve the problem, but the in
ventions so protected are not as yet in
general use. Again it is suggested that
there is no adequate settling of re-
sponsibility for train robbcries There
is no practicable method now of hold
ing anyone responsible except in cases
of government funds. In the olden
times, when stages out west were the
marked prizes of picturesque highway
men, the companies exhausted all their
official ingenuity in efforts to outwit
road agents, but to no purpose. Final
ly, the plan of discharging the stage
driver was hit upon. No matter who
was to blame for the holding up of a
stage the driver of the vehicle was
invariably provided with a successor in
cases of robbery. From the adoption
of that method, very few highway
spoliations were recorded. In the same
way, it is pointed out that government
treasure is very rarely the spoil of the
train robber. Yet the government of
the United States is perpetually send
ing heavy shipments of gold across the
continent. A really historic shipment
was that of twenty million dollars in
gold which the treasury department
sent clear across the country from San
Francisco to New York. The bullion
traversed the widest regions and Of
course the usual precautions against
spoliation were adopted. The money
came unmolested to its destination. OF
course, armed men, with orders to
shoot, were continually on the cars.
The safes were of the strongest and
most dangerous kind-to train robbers.
And above all, the officials of the secret
service were held personally response
bic for the safe arrival of that train.
But the great objection to precau-
tions of this kind, with reference to the
railroads themselves, is the opposition
of certain members of congress. 1t is
asserted that since the government
must do so much for the railroads it
ought to assume control over them al
together. And there are certain mag
mates among the railroad men them
selves who do not particularly rel
ish the idea of government pro-
/ UecJlOn lOr tuelr treasure. Wherever
such protection is afforded, it is imme-
diately followed by legislation on the
part Of congress which, according to
railroad men, Is preiudicial to railroad
interests II follows, therefore, that
government protection has not met
with the favor one might have ex-
pected.
Train robbersi" exclaimed Chauncey
M. Depew, when the subject was
brought to the attention of that genial
and brilliantly resourceful railroader,
"oh, they trouble us very little. | am
speaking, you must understand, from
the point of view of the New York
Central railroad. That corporation, as
all the world knows, has the most SUI
perb railroad equipment ever devised
by the ingenuity of man. Its cars are
marvels of mechanical genius and it's
opcrationsare so well contrived with a
view to the safety Of tspassengcrs and
freight that risk and danger are prac-
tically eliminated from its vocabulary
Nevertheless eternal vigilance is the
price of this condition as of liberty,
and we are always ready to welcome
any good idea in this train robbing
natter think the capacity of the
men who run the trains has much to
do with it. The engineers, conductors
and bralsemen on the New York Gen.
trail railroad are among the most intel
ligent people in this country. No train