The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1894-10-15
THE VIRGINIA BANDITS.
The Train Robbery Evidently the
Work of Professionals.
ALL THE DETECTIVES PUZZLED.
No Ciew to the Whereabouts of the Bold
Gang, Whom II Is Now Believed Es-
capped with Fully q Hundred and Fifty
Tbousupd IOIIars.

Gang, Whom 1t Is Now Believed Es-
capped with Fully Hundred and Fifty
Thousand Dollars.
WASHINGTON, Oct. 15.-Not the shadow
Of u tangible clue to the identity of the
men who accomplished the remarkable
feat Of train brigandage in Virginia, Fri
day night, has yet come to light.
Tho little town of Quantico, which con-
slsts Of half d dozen houses almost isolated
from civilization isoverr,in with detectives
from New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore
and Washington. There are almost as
many theories afoat as there are detectives,
but tho onlypoints on which the theories
are practically harmonious are that the
robbery was p carefully planned work, ex-
ecnted by experienced professionals, and
that the meD arc probably far distant from
their field Of operations before this time.
Most parties agree that boat played a
part in tho escape, but no strange crafts
were seen on the Potomac that night so far
as can be learned.
The theory that the men crossed to Mary
land shoro is being weakened on second
thought by the fact that there were no
trains by which they could have escaped
within reasonable reach ut night. Every
rod Of ground between the river and the
scone of the robbery has been threshed
over, with the result that the remains Of
camp fire, with a bag bearing the label of
Washington bakery, was discovered in
the woods.
The Washington police boat dropped
down the Pbtomnc yesterday, with lnspec-
tor Hollingborger and two detectives on
board. At thc mouth of Aqua creek the
detectives were put ashore and made
thorough exploration Of both banks Of the
Potomac fer a long distance. They re-
turned last evening, but refused to make
any statement ms to whether their efforts
resulted in any clcw.
Major Moore, the chief Of police, says that
two Of his detectives left the city OH clew
which they hope will yield results, although
he is not particularly sanguinc Of success,
and believes that the guilty parties are far
away. A man arrested on suspicion Sat
urday night was merely arraigned In the
police court today on n charge Of vagrancy,
as no evidence lies against him, and ho evil
IDENTIFY has not the intellect of train rob-
Der.
While tho jurisdiction Of the Washing
ton officers Is bounded by the ten miles
square of the District Of Columbia, they
would not hesitate to make arrests II they
found the men outside of the city. Their
uutt Al 'ttstt noWtNtT, 10 w uuu
whether the robbery was planned here or
whether any one is In hiding in the dis
trict. Their professional pride is aroused,
however, sd they are looking into outside
territory.
The rewards offered for the apprchen-
sion Of the bandits $1,000 by Governor
O'Ferrnll and 81 600 by the railroad COM
pany) are considered small, in view of the
Importance Of the case and the amount Of
money said to have been taken. They arc
but q fraction Of the rewards held out for
the discovery of the robbers who held up
California train Thursday and made away
with much smaller sum than that seized
by the Virginia gnng.
The express officials are very reticent as
to the amount taken, but it is generally
believed that it will reach fully sl5O,0OO.
Late developments tend to show that
several Of the robbers were men of ex-
perience In the railroad business. Seven
men composed the gang. After the engine
was uncoNpled 1t was boarded by the
robbers, and run by them until near Wide
Water station, n short distance from the
scene Of thP hold up, where they abandoned
1t aud sent it ahead running wild.
Express Messenger Crutchneld gave this
account of the robbery: "But one robber en-
tered the chr. He was of heavy build and
dressed like farmer although he seemed
to thoroughly understand the express busi-
ness. He had red handkerchief over tho
lower part of his fnce. When the train was
stopped opened the door Of my car. The
robbor fired at me. 1 lodged back and
closed the door. He called, Open that
door, l did not do it, Open that door or
I'll blow the.whole car to pieces with dy-
namite.' Then he threw stick of dyna-
mite. 1t struck the door and shattered 1t
and the dasing. Tho force knocked me
down.
"1hen the man entered. There was ono
package which he must haze thought con-
tained only papers, for he threw IL into tho
box. II contained $1,000. Then he said:
open that other safe.'
THAT is simply a deadhead safe,' 1
said.
your way bill for It'll
81 started to get the bill and he said: :
Keep your hands up. Show me the paper.
| I'll get it, He looked at the bill and was
satisfied that the second safe contained
nothing, which was true. We had seven
or eight through express pouches, each con-
| tanning packages of money. The man cut
small slit ia each pouch and took every
| package"
The Adams Express company has taken
steps for d vigorous pursuit of tho gang.
| George w. Moss, the local agent, has gone
to Quantico, where he will direct the work
| Of detectives, who will endeavor to run
the robbers down. The police authorities
are Inclined to blame the express messen-
ger for falling to offer resistance, and the
| belief is expressed among them that the
| work was accomplished through the CO -op-
| Grafton of some one of the train crew
One theory here, as to the identify of
the robbers, is that they were formerly
| members Of some one or the other of the
| bands of 10 called ''industriais" who were
| attracted to the national capital by the
| Coxey movement