Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1894-01-24

Five Masked Men Rob a Kansas City & st.
Joseph Passenger Train.


men held up the train on the Kansas
City, st. Joseph & Council Bluffs road
near this city at an early hour this
morning, and the entire contents of the
safe in the express car was secured
The robbers could not all be described
but are supposed to be the same gam
that held up and robbed the Chicago
fast train, the eli" on the Hannibal &
St. Joe road just week ago tonight
The scene of the robbery this morning
was on what is known as Roy's branch,
two miles north of this city, and is the
place where the attempt was made to
hold up a train on September % last,
when two men were killed and four
captured.
The train left the Francis Street depot
at 1890 o'clock in charge Of Conductor
! William Haywood and Engineer Ed
Davis. When the train reached Roy's
branch q torpedo exploded under the
wheels Of the engine and a red lantern
was swung across the track. The en-
the train slowed up, coming to q
standstill at almost exactly til e
spot on which the dummy
train stood on the night Of
September 25. A man ran out of the
brush alongside the track, and covering
the engineer and fireman with a re-
volver shouted, 'Throw up your hands!"
Then he ordered Engineer Davis and
Fireman Baxter to step down from the
cab, and as they were covered with q
revolver in each hand of the masked
men, they readily complied.
While this was occurring four other
men came running up from the rear Of
the train toward the engine, firing their
revolyers in the air and shouting at the
top of their voices to the passengers.
telling them to keep their heads inside
the cars or they would be hurt. The
five men then marched the engineer
and fireman back to the express car,
and one of the robbers pounded on
the door and told the messenger
to open it. This was done. AS soon as
the messenger showed his head he was
covered with revolyers and told to stand
back away from the door Then three
Of the robbers forced the engineer and
fireman in ahead of them and entered
the car. On the inside of the ear, be-
sides the express messenger, was the
! baggageman. Tie was ordered to hold
up his hands and with the two men
! from the engine, was stood against the
wall with his hands above his head.
A tall man with black mask over his
face, wearing a duck coat and dark
| pantalOOns, stood in the car with q re-
volyer in each hand. He pointed his
weapons first at one man and then at
another and kept close watch on their
movements. The engineer complained
that he was getting tired of holding up
his hands, and the robber said: "Well
take them down then, but don't make
any kind of a move or there will be
! trouble" and all the men lowered their
hands at the same time. He never
! took his eyes from them, and saw that
the men with their hands at their sides
made no attempt to draw weapon.
/ The other two robbers in the car were
busy with the packages in the safe. a
short man who was dr. sseG in black Or
| brown clothes took all the packages
from the safe and dropped them into a
sack which he carried. The third man,
| whose description could not be given by
the trainmen, was we'll armed He had
two revolvers strapped at his side and
carried shotgun in his hands.
When the safe had been emptied Of
! its contents the trainmen were COM
| PEELED to leave the car and the robbers
| followed them. They were marched
ahead of the bandits half the length of
| the train and stood in a row at the west
! side of the track. When the loOting Of
| the express car was going on the re-
naming two robbers were on the east
| side Of the track, occasionally firing
! their revolvers TO prevent the passen-
! gers from interfering with their
work. All Of the occupants Of the
coaches had been aroused by
| the shooting and began to hide their
valuables, expecting the coaches would
be entered, and some Of the people
| craWled down between the seats and
lay fiat on the floor. A stray shot from
| pistol of one of the robbers struck the
car, tearing a hole in the side. The
! clerks in the mail car had heard the fir
! ing and barricaded the door and then
cray led under the mail sacks so as to be
/ out Of the way of any stray bullets. No
! attempt was made to enter the mail car,
! however.
When the trainmen had been stood
up in line about midway of the train
on the we st side, the robbers called to
| the men on the east side of the train
and they climbed over the platform and
Joined them. Then they walked away
westward, going out Of sight in the
willows few feet from the right Of way.
/ The train backed down to the Francis
Street depot and did not go out again
for more than an hour.
The news of the robbery spread rap
idly over the city. The sheriff and po-
lice were on the spot in less than an
hour after the robbery occurred. No
estimate of the amount secured by the
robbers can be obtained yet Express
Messenger Baxter said early this morn
ing that he thought that the amount
was small. "The robbers did not get
enough to pay their livery bill this trip.
| hi1,lI
Il do not know the amount of money
and valuables in the safe, but the
amount was SMALL
The superintendent of the Adams
Express Company said this afternoon
that the amount secured by the outlaws
would not exceed $500. An official of
the railroad said the amount was near
er $4,000, as the train robbed always
| left here with full safe.
WILL BE SOLD FOR TAXES.