The Bessemer indicator., 1894-09-22
ROBBERS KILLED.
WE'RE LED INTO a TRAP.
Plaa te Rob = santa fe Train Discov-
srsd By Omcsrs who Guard the Hn-
pres Car aad Fire on the Robbers
One Fatally Injured.

Gorin. No. Sept ls-The Denver
and Utah express on the Santa Fe was
held up by robbers at $3.50 n. m. to-
day. Owing to the fact that the rail-
road and express officials had spy
on the trail of the bandits when they
stopped the train they met hall of
buckshot and bullets, and 1t Is said
that Mt least two are dead In the sur
rounding woods. while us many others
rode for their rendezvous. twenty-one
miles away, filled with lcaden pei
let's. They We're novices In the art of
train robbery and brutal ones nj that.
for they shot Dad Prescott. the ell
gincer, before they even gave him
chance 10 hold up his hands, His
wound 1t is believed will not prove
fatal
The raid was planned three weeks
ago, but not put into execution until
this morning. When the train left
Chicago at o'clock last evening, rail-
road and express detectives, all walk
ing arsenals, climbed on at every sta
ton. Chief Detective ]. ]. Kinney OF
the Santa Fe. with C. C. Montgomery.
his rlght-hand man. boarded 1t at Jol-
let. AT Strcator they We're Joined by
two more men who have been patrolipg
the line for twenty days. j. A.
Matthews, who has been acting the
spy for the last two weeks and get.
ting the news of their plans. put in
an appearance nt Galesburg.
He brought the news that the
would-be robbers met early in the day
and decided to leave their hiding
place near Memphis at $50 o'clock last
night and make their third attempt to
get rich at the expense of the express
company. They expected TO make n
haul of at least $4,000 Monday being
always much heavier than any other
day of the week
When the train reached Fort Mad
lson. Iowa, shortly after midnight.
Division Superintendent Stockton of
the Wells-Frgo express got into the
treasure car. He carried n sawed-off
Winchester with history. 1t be.
longed TO BIZ Dalton. and it was TO
be poetic justice TO turn 1t loose upon
the followers in the footsteps of the
Kansas desperate. With him were
Your men. Their arms were In the
car and had been for several days.
The plan adopted was this: Detect
Ives Kinney and Montgomery boarded
the engine. Superintendent Stockton
and two OF his good shots tarried in
the express car. But 1t was In the
forward end of the smoking car the
forces were massed.
partition and door encloses half
q dozen seats and shuts of the rest OF
the car from 1t. There the men, Il doz-
en- OF them, were planted. Each had
one of the ''sawed-ofrs," and every cart
ridge loaded especially for the event
with two dozen buckshot by Superin-
tendent Stockton. There was only one
passenger In that compartment. and
lie was requested by the brakeman
to take seat in the chair car, ms they
were going to sweep. AT o'clock,
when Sheriff Sailing Of Scotland conn
ty climbed on board. all details of the
surprise party were arranged There
was one man who had to be looked
out for and protected. He was the
spy. According to the report brought
in by Matthews, the spy would endea-
vor to be the one who tagged the
train. If go, one torpedo would pre-
cede the swinging Of the lantern. An
other would be couple Of tiny bombs.
Out from between two high en-
bankments Just one mile from Gor...
sped the train. One minute more nnd
the anxious watchers would know
whether they again had their labor In
vain. Then came the crack Of the
looked and lonsed-for signal. There
was but one. A moment. and n shrill,
sharp whistle gave token that The en-
gineer had heard, and almost before
his hand left the valve across the
tracks not 80 yards away swung n
red light. A grinding OF wheels nlong
the rails told that the air had teen
applied, and within 20 seconds from
the explosion of the torpedo the train
was at a standstill.
Out from the dense underground
north Of the track came four 4. rms
The face of each was hidden ly n
black mask. One, more agile than the
rest. rushed to the engine almost be-
fore his companions could reach TIE
express car. He carried rifle. and
when within 10 feet of the tender,
brought 1t to his shoulder. pointed it
at Dad Prescott, the white-bearded
engineer. and as he shouted Hold UP
your handse" pulled the trigger.
His aim was true, and Dad fell to
his right breast.
top of the tender. and bringing hts gun
to his shoulder sent a shower Of shot
almost into the face OF the masked in
dividual. How OH earth the fellow
ever managed TO move six inches is
mystery, but he did, and made for
the woods.
The shot which laid Engineer Pres
colt low was the signal for n fusilude,
and was echoed and re-echoed from
bank to bank through the woods. 1t
was also the signal for hasty retreat
to the shelter OF timber on the part of
the greatly surprised individuals
whose features were hidden by masks.
Not until they reached timber did
they answer, then they only fired
two shots. But their aim was not
good, and although men were leaning
from the car windows and pulling
triggers as fast as possible. while 9th
ers had Jumped to the ground and
were after them on foot, they failed
to hit man.
According to the programme, their
horses were hitched not over 100 yards
away. When the posse from the train
reached the spot they saw one animal,
a gray, galloping north. A well-direct-
ed shot brought II to, but there was no
rider on Its back.
The place where the horses were tied
was soon found, and cut hitching
straps showed that one man at least
had life enough to make his escape.
Sheriff Sailing took the saddle, blanket
and bride from the dead gray, and
says by their aid he will have nc
trouble In Identifying the owner. The
search for the dead and wounded was
postponed until daylight.
But the chase after the one or ones
who escaped, was started within ten
minutes after the shooting ended. The
sheriff secured horses here and witf
half dozen men started north. They