The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1894-11-11
THE HOLD-UP EPIDEMIC.
TRAIN RoBBERIES ARE MORE NJ
MEROUS THAN EVER.
Csnrre. viii he Appealed to-Ih'
Guards Have Been Put Into IL
press Cars

cap the climax OF lo',s tons psrts OF
outrages committed In various pony and
,hc country during the past surttitnh the
has made the subject oho r.i1er The
national Legislature inu ,'cn should hold
M an exnrcss train on the htt".'Iroad
fredericksburg and Iotothsh -. national
only forty-one miles Ito,ni Aesnread at
carJtaI mas attracted WlutaP'eS becn
,5r,ton' a. Ec1ropc. whore ~ hdu ,yatn
Imagined that these senS1 ibe West.
roboeries occ, ,.l, fo,,nd That the existing
,naens ~ The disposal OF RAJ" .bo lives
protecting IN -ir proper - - Emergencies
OF their p1sscngeIS III sLttie the express
Is entirely Inadequate "nle ,cnousIy lax
20 na,,t'g have been cousplcuo',dia,y tense
in nrpvidlne means for the,r ,, o%. OF the
A meeting OF me Iniee was held in
w "a few days since 10 80 aiso
ms subject Tho idll Va,,I niblic opin-
had II forced uloh the''' , &C. fact that II
tn, b,s awakened TO inc robber be
ION ha' ,i,,S that the tram ioDD -, or
Is nov ,.,z,i ms a permanent addIuo" ~ Jul
ciyIlizauoae Iet Of train robberles WhlGa
Ihe ''',,rred This year ana Int . .ielo
~ the country in when III ~ fcrrn Of en-
prove conclusivey Una, W." as long as the
tcipIlt' 10 eVstem for defense Is IIaln-
,ained Train robbng II ~ n m0G IN"
ia4H'"', - feature OF fronter NJ;
Is no IonEei "a as successfully In VIZ
~ - IN, 90 wears Of ciNlnZatloh 49, ha
h.rk as i'm new and raw Ohldn ,,,.,Tt niles
I'm the Empire state 'htiC he leading
81 rountry through Whch ~ trains
% eaIs RIM Ina which express rams o
might be held up ana ihe ,,,n is ac-
rotbrd I'util some radlCsi g,rnrisod
o,r-siehed nobody need DC 60 iapp ond
~ ~. ,ietol the dynamite Cdrulusc ""'
,be mask become a feature OF u it,ng on
Wv Eirnpcan observers, C'HH,'.'i'''t,9 ,,ia
49, holdurss ana aIdacity OF the A.for1
IN" b9I'itv ,,oI,ara have expires ed aston
,snmcrt at the fact that lnt "a ne whole
did not show nght' AntvSily American H.
affair as CharacterisuCaHE 90 ,'. a., nt,,-
Us disregard of law ana mastery ~ P''
fical force. ..,,, bas hailed the
train robber a. the iosl ~, No rolber
ure i'm modern NE suggesting tiie IGDUU
h1rous of the Rhine, the kulkhtt9 III
road who terrorzed Europe pelC, ,,sbirq,
roads were invented ana 'ii INC ci19ke
tTark -rnuetacha ruthans in IohE tl'aNd
and featherod caps wh2 sMi-sS In
through country towns had hhoCh' tt.i
10 Feads of innocent farmers on W.
80 nome fl ON market. But the plume.
which thcgo Claude DuV1ls ana ilo o
'Turpins rakod into their s"lult.n, a..
was I'm no way commensurate WIN LIN LIZ
risk that they ran compared W inv .hnee
hluls Of up-to-date train ropp'lSj N.nn''o
Gvag oftentimes constitutes q IoIl1nv,
acquired apparently with litue ilsh anu III
less than half an hour WON, ,o,,o
Y0u rfrely read of q tram IopeT ptnlS
shot. but the hod-up IS Wen Ir,oSii ,,est
,.Ub me ,rc,euIaritv Of meteorological
predictions 3ut you VIII al"o hp'tt
that an Of these outid|es o'CuI "
America.
AN AMERICAN IVSTIrrTfok.
There are no train robbcres in England
III, -uOlQ-uu.' with ATS ACCOMPANYING l
Of dark figures starting from me "9ous
and the appearance Of Il man AT INC u ooi
of your COMPARTMENT with the command
Throw up your hands, IS unknown on
the continent of Europe. Trains laden
with gold and silver and contaimhS safes
bulcing with negotiable paper pass Ieeu-
larly from city to city ia france Germany
and Austria, aud there Is no thought
of their being arrested and rned OF Nalu-
Transfers of treasure from the Bank
of France TO the Bank of England, ne
cessitating two railroad journeys ana q
voyage across the Chanel, are almost OF
weekly occurrence and involve vast sums
of money. The locomotive eugirecr OF
Europe would not know train robber
# he saw one starting from the woods,
ana passengers on express trains go 10
sleep with the consciousness that nothing
short of collision viii disturb their
European observers commenting upon
the absence of train robheries from Eu-
ropcan life ana their frequent occur
renee I'm the United States, have held II
up as showing a crude and raw ciVillza-
ton here which Is unable To cope with
outlaws and to protect It's members IN
their lives and property.
This, however, is far from being the
fact The Aqnai Creek outrage mas ;
SHOWN that the development and age of "A
country do not make train robherics I'M
possible.
THEY ALL LIVE HERR.
And II must be remembered that one Of
t.a reasons why there are no hoid-ups
i. Europe is that there are no train rob
bcrs there. The modern hod-up IS an
American invention, and all of ITS No-
tarics live in this country
They come OF "a race of bold, auddciOuS
reckless men. accustomed To taking their
lives In their hands. familiar with the RI
hc and the revolver from childhood ana
ready for any desperate deed TO accom-
pnsh their aims. The first representatives
OF the profession We're drawn from the
lawlcss adventurers who thronged to TIC
Pacific coast upon the discovery of gold,
and 10 whom the sight of "a lonely mule
drawn stagc-coach on its way over the
divide with gold dust from the diggings
was an Indictment to plumber.
But the stage-driVcrs of those old Cali
foTnia days were equally ready with the
gun, and IL was the custom for the pas
senEers TO all turn in and help protect
the load. Sometimes the passengers were
robbed even of their clothes, and Bret
Harte has told of "a bunch Of them who
once drove into Calaveras wearing moth
ing but copies OF the san Francisco Argo,
nnut though the proprietors of rival
sheet doubted the stories OF their having
been held up and said II was all an al.
for the Argonaut.
II took more men i'm those old California
days to rob a stage-coaCh than are now
required TO hold up modern express
train. A2d IL is likely. In physical cour-
age and readiness for any desperate deed
a superior race OF men Of those who now
lie in wait FOR the whistle OF the express
and put "a dynamite cartridge on the
track 10 warn the engineer.
The modern train rObher u.s. therefore.
the professional successor OF the Cali
fornia inventors of the game which has
been steadily improved with time. Thus
the use OF the dynamite cartridge at
Acquia Creek To blow open the door Of
the express car and terrOiZe the COM
pany's agent was something Of now
city and as train robbers would express
H. the blum worked
For their work H. largely blum II Is
ridiculous that a handful Of bandits. no
matter how well armed. should teTrorze
and hold I'm subsection trainful of men.
Among the train hands, including the mail
carriers and the express agents, there
are always certain number of guns.
and i'm a trainful Of ordinary passengers
even east OF the Mississippi respectable
number Of revolvers can always be
scared up.
But train robbers rely upon terrorizing
men and passengers The moral effect
OF liberal display of revolvers is an
important part of their game The black
mask also plays leading part.
When detectives go upon the trail and
one Of the gang Is arrested who tells
the truth or part of the truth. thus
letting the public In behind the scenes.
the farce Of the modern train robbery is
apparent. IL is then seen how little