The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1894-05-11
THE CRIPPLE CREEKS MAD RIDE
Great Obstacles Encountered and
Overcome.

Great Obstacles Encountered and
Overcome.
kansas City, Mo, May 10 Sanders
reckless army of commonwe hers defied
pursuit and laughed at obstacles again
today. Three times their stolen train
was reported stalled before cars and
engines purposely run off the track
ahead of them and each time the rail
road officials believed they were mas
tiers of the situation.
But. in less time than it took the
railroad company to jump their en-
gines from the track at one place and
tear UP the rails at another, the go
ahead wealers had built a new track
around the feeble distractions and re-
laid the torn-up rails. With their
force Of something over 400 men, these
undertakings were but a few hours OF
ENJOYABLE recreation for the wealers
who. when riding, were packed IN
their coal ears like sardines in a can.
The army sympathizers were hoping
that the daredevil band might run the
gauntlet of United States Marshal
Neely's hundred Winchesters and
reach Topeka without further molesta-
ton. Once at the capital, they believed
the train-stealers would be free from
care ana penalty.
LewelIing II Sympathizer.
The attitude of Governor Lewelling
gave this idea encoura cement. The
executive said nothing sympathetic
when addressed on the subject by in
terested parties, but neither did he say
anything condemnatory. He was en-
tirely non-committal and abstained
from interesting himself in the mat
ter beyond replying to commu-
nications sent him by railroad
officials or petty peace officers. To one
who applied for troops the governor
sent the following:
James Hurt, sheriff, Horace, KAN
Telegram asking for troops to arrest
500 men who have stolen Missouri Pa
cific train received. Was train stolen
in Kansas? Have any depredations
been committed in your county? Have
warrants been issued and processes
been resisted? Are the men Still In
your county?
(Signed). "L. D. LEWELLING,
Governor"
PoDuIists with Them.
The railroad company found them
selves in a peculiar fix. The state au-
thorities having declined to help them,
and the county authorities not caring
to do so, preferring to let the wild train
move on to having 900 arrested men to
feed and place on trial, it took legal
ingenuity to get the railroad in a posi-
ton to apprehend the wild men and
runaway train at all. They depended
on their general attorney, Bailey Wag-
goner, to drag them out of the difficulty
and he succeeded in pressing the United
States into service by getting the clerk
Of the United States circuit court at
Topeka to issue writs of arrest for the
which Populist leaders condemn as I'M
lawful With United States Marshal
Nicely and a force of fifty men, each
armed with a rifle or shotgun, Wag-
gener started out on a special train
from Topeka. The force and firearms
were increased, and when the crew
reached Scott City, Kan, 100 deputy
marshals, each with a gun, were
aboard. The special made an exciting
race to that point, as here it was de-
termined to give battle to the foe, if
battle there had to be.
Meanwhile the wealers We're reported
as flying eastward, having broken camp
at Chivington, Col, where they peace
fully spent the night, rolled in their
blankets in the open air, while their
train stood still on the main track.
Formidable Instructions were reported
as being thrown UP before them at
Diston, in the shape of three engines
and several box cars. and the supply of
water for their engine was said ITO be
cut off. But the first dispatch of their
movements for the day showed them
as having passed Sheridan Lake, Colo,
at 1918 a. m. mountain time) and as
crossing the state line into Kansas at
IL O'clock They were by the ditch
and other barriers, and their engine
was steaEning all right. At different
points from there eastward the veal
ers' wild cat was reported as moving
carefully and roaring by other places
at forty niles an hour. The man at the
throttle, il was said, was an old Mis-
souri, Pacific engineer, and he knew
every sag and curve in the road.
Could Not Be Stopped.
The wild train reached Horace, Kan,
about two O'Clock. There they found an
eastward-bound passenger and mail
pany. The wealers commanded the
crew Of this train to move and after
an exchange of dispatches with the su-
perintendent, the train sped away. Re
garding that train as a safe pilot, the
wealers' special kept close in its wake
The wealers had now a first class To-
connective, having abandoned their
rusty old switch engine at Horace,
Kan, and appropriated the best pas
round house.
A Lively Retreat.
Without mishap, the runaways
reached Scott City, which they APP
preached warily. They saw fifty feet
of track torn up in front of the station
there, and one hundred deputies with
one hundred rifles lined up on the sta
ton platform. The engineer reversed
quickly, and threw her wide open
Before the waiting and trembling depu-
ties had time to think, their expected
antagonist had disappeared in the dis
lance from whence they came. Then
the deputies breathed easier, and were
once more courageous.
The Missouri Pacific promptly
started train east from Leota, Kas.,
twenty-five miles west of Scott City.
to intercept the returning army.
THE CHASE is OVER,