The western sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1887-1926, 1894-10-18
THE TRAIN ROBBERY.
Some Details of Friday Nights Daring
Adventure at Aquia Creek.

/ THE TRAIN ROBBERY.
Some Details of Friday Nights Darin
Adventure at Aquia Creek.
The train ''held up was the uortl
bound express train on the Richmond
Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad
leaving Richmond at o'clock Frida,
night. The robbery occurred nea
Aqua creek, between Brooks Station
and Wide Water, an exceedingly wild
part of the country, entirely suited fol
the purpose. 1t is not known at what
point the robbers boarded the train
and the first 1ntimation anybody had
that trouble was brewing was when
two men jumped from the tender down
into the cab, aud leveling revolvers at
the astOnished engineer and fireman,
ordered them to stop the train. The
engineer hesitated for an instant, but
! when he was informed that he must
stop the train or be killed he closed
the throttle, and the train, which had
| Deen running at about 40 miles an
hour, slowed up. and finally came to a
] complete standstill
/ The fireman and engineer were COM
| PEELED to leave the engine and sit
quietly on the bank alongside the
| track. Then the bandits, who were
seven in number and all disguised by
T masks or by handkerchiefs tied over
the lower part of their faces, made for
the Adams Express car, which was in
charge of Messenger j. s. Crutchf1eld.
One robber entered the car. AS de-
scribed by Crutchfield, he was of
heavy build and dressed like farmer,
although he seemed to thoroughly I'M
derstand the express business. He
had red handkerchief over the lower
part of his face.
Crutchfield, 81 opened the door Of my
car. The robber fired shot at me. l
lodged back and closed the door. He
called, open that door, / did not do
1t. open that door or I'll blow the
whole car to pieces with dynamite
Then he threw stick of dynamite.
1t struck the door and shattered it
and the casing. The force knocked
me off my feet. / then opened the
door. One robber came il and made
me open the safe. He took everything.
There was one package which he must
have thought contained only papers
for he threw it into the box. 1t con-
tanned $4,000. Then he said, Open
that other safe That is simply
dead head safe I explained. The
HI it is he roared. Show me your
HE looked at the bill and was sat
isfied that the second safe contained
nothing, which was true. The men
were very cool all the time. We had
seven or eight through express pouch
es, each containing packages of mon
ey; how much can't guess. The man
cut small slit in each pouch and
took every package"
Crutchtield thinks there may have
hnan ho
robbery occupied about twenty min
utes.
The train crew, the postal clerks
and all Of the passengers were thor
oughly cowed, the terrific dynamite
explosion having caused them to fear
that they would be blown to pieces at
any moment. Conductor BirdsOng,
who is one of the oldest conductors Oh
the road, alone Of those in the rear
coaches, showed fight. He passed
through the train, asking each pas
senger whether he had a revolver and
finally succeeded in finding small re-
vOlver.
Armed with this, he stationed him
self at the head of the ladies' car, eau
tioning the passengers to keep their
seats and remain quiet. He coolly as
serted that he would kill the first per-
son who set foot on the platform. All
and many of them dropped down in
the aisles and between the seats.
When the ROBBERY had been compile
ted the tall man, who had fired the
first shot into the express car, gave
the word ''go ahead with the engine"
The bandits compelled the engine
crew to uncouple the locomotive,
escape in the direction of the Potomac
river, where it is supposed they had a
boat in waiting to take them to Mary
land.
The robbers are supposed to have
left the engine before it passed Wide
Water, and the telegraph operator at
that station, cOmprehending that
something was wrong, telegraphed
ahead TO Quantico to look out for a
wild engine. A switch was thrown
just outside of Quantico, and when
the engine arrived it was thrown over
on switch, crashed into number of
empty freight cars, and in moment
more huge pile of debris marked the
spot where the collision occurred.
The engine was thrown on it's side
and is complete wreck. The
freight cars were reduced to kindling
wood.
The long Atlanta special was stand
ing on the main track at Quantico
and narrowly escaped being struck by
the runaway engine. The train with
the rified express car, still in charge of
Agent Crutchf1eld, was Immediately
switched on to the New York train,
and in 10 minutes after it's arrival was
on its way to New York.
The railroad company has placed
reward of 81 ZOO on each of the rob-
bers. A dispatch from Richmond
says Governor O'Ferral has added an
other ST. 900 to the reward.