The herald., 1894-06-07
John Conastock.


the engine and a tramp riding on the
pilot were killed. the fireman being
caught between the engine and tender
and the tramp being struck by cylin-
der head. The express car was attacked
by two robbers, who blew open a door
with dynamite and secured some booty.
The robbery excited great sensation,
as 10 was the second robbery of train
at Roscoe. The attempts of officers of
the law to apprshend the robbers were
numerous and long continued. Alva
johnson and John Smith were at first
thought to be the men, but they were
acq uitted upon examination. After
wards John Comstock. Walter Thorne
and Pat Fitzsimmons were arrested for
the second robbery. They we're also
accused Of being in the fret robbery
with John Shoulters.- That charge has
been dismissed. The three men men,
toned were indicted by the grand jury
charged with the second robbery, and it
is under this indictment that their trial
beyan yesterday morning in department
onr 4 the superior court, Judge Smith
pre- lding.
The prosecution lie represented by
District Attorney Dillon and Deputy
M. w. Conkling, while the attorneys
for the defendants are r. A. Ling and
Horace Appel.
When court convened at 10 clock the
court room was crowded with jurors,
witnesses and spectators, and the num-
Dor OF spectators increased throughout
the day till it was difficult to find even
standing room.
The empanneling of jury was quite
q tedious proceeding. although it did
not occupy as much time as anticipated.
The general questions asked of jurors
by the defense were as to the reading of
newspaper accounts of the robbery and
arrest of the defendants, the bias of
jurors on account of the charge OF the
particular offense OF train robbery, the
confidential or business relations of any
kind with the Southern Pacific company.
and acquaintance with ex-United States
Marshal Gard, Detective Will Smith,
Detective ]. V. Brighton and other de-
tectives.
At 2:30 O'Clock the jury was COM
pleted, the following jurors having been
accepted to try the case:
John Weber. Fremont Cobb, George
Adelbert Chapel. Stephen r. Ibbotson.
VIM. M. Allison. Dillwin @. Andrews,
Charles John Fallon, Phillip Buck,
Winchester Gillett, Peter p Kiefer,
Frank Gerling and Henry @. Thomas.
The defense exercised 10 OF its 20 per-
emptory challenges, and the prosecution
five. Term trial jurors from other de-
psrtments, who had been in attendance,
anticipating a longer struggle. were not
needed to make up the jury.
w hen the rula axcludiuQ Witu9Egaa
from the court room was invoked, it was
seen that tho defense had about 100 in
attendance, a large proportion of whom
were from the San Fernando valley. the
nelghbors of the accused, while there
were 81 witnesses for the prosecution.
The testimony taken during the bal
ance OF the afternoon was confined prin-
cipally to the statement by trainmen Of
the facts of the robbery, and nothing
especially new was ELECTED.
The first witness called by the prosecu-
ton was g. Ii. Oiell, conductor of the
train which was held up at Roscoe. He
testified as to the facts OF the robbery
which came under his observation. He
was in the smoking car when the train
suddenly stopped. He got out and
10 ked first ahead. He saw two men,
cursing and swearing. They had guns,
and fired two shots in the ground. He
got back ON the train. The men were on
the left side-the southwest side-stand-
ing the way the train was headed. He
could not tell who the men were. They
had on long coats and had what looked
like grain sacks. lie judged the men to
be between feet inches and feet in
height. the ground being uneven at Ros-
coe station. They were medium built
men. The sacks were hung from their
shoulders. The conductor heard the re-
ports OF the dynamite bombs. About l5
minutes later one OF the passengers in
smoker poked his head out window,
when some one on tbs leit-hand fred a
shot aud said: "You ---, keep your
in" The witness conld not say whether
the men were masked or not. The rob-
bers went away on the left side OF the
train. He saw seven men going away
from the train. There were four
in a bunch. Two of the men
returned to the train, MeHeen-
ger Edgar and an extra fireman.
AT first it was clear. the moon being a
quarter full, then mist came up and by
the time they left it was beginning to
rain. He saw the extra fireman pinned
between the engine and the tender and
an unknown man lying dou blsd up un-
der the cylinder head. Just as they got
the fireman out he died. The name OF
tho fireman was Arthur Masters. Henry
Foster and Isaac Kilrain were the brake
men on the train that night. He could
not identify the defendants as the men
he saw that night.