The sun., 1894-10-14
THE BIG TRAIN ROBBERY.
EXPRESS MEssESGERs ooWED BY
THE USE OF DYNAMITE.

men bhhNtsFNu ~ hf"VE " hhhs hhFfSSN
Car and Made Him Hand Over His
Pouehe, or Mo.ey-Ths Engineer and
Firenan Forced to st o.. an E-s.nk-
ment and Hold Their Hsads Above Their
He.d.-Co.ductor nirdsors the Oniy
Tr.i. Ne. that showed Fieht-The
Anou-t OF Mc-.y Tsher Very Large,
but the Figures Not Yet Ascertai-ea.
There was q small crowd Of curious people at
the Pennsylvania station in Jersey city yester-
day morning TO see the Adams Express car No.
214 that was robbed early on Friday evening
near Quantico, Va There were railroad and
express employees, hangors-on about the sta
tion, and few boys whose hearts were fired TO
the Jesse James pitch by reading Of one Of the
most daring train robberies ever attempted
in the East. when train 7s from Washing
ton crawled under the big shed at 8 o'clock
there was a rush from all sides to see Mes
senger b. F. Crutchfeld and the car in which he
made q short and unsuccessful stand against
seven masked robbers. A few minutes later the
car was backed into tho shed Of the Adams Ex-
press Company. near the station. and there the
messenger related his experiences. The car in
the mean time was filled with people. who ex-
amined the broken windows and shattered
door and made various interesting remarks on
what they would have done under similar con-
ditions.
Messenger Crutchheld Is long. thin, solemn
faced yirginian. He is 50 years old, and has
been In the employ Of the Adams Express Com
pany for several years. II was his first expert
ence with train robbers, and he says II was sum-
cient To satisfy all of his desires in that direc-
tion. The employees Of the Adams Express
Company looked At the car and then fired o
series Of oross-questions at the messenger.
They syw q red car, sixty feet long. belonging
TO the Atlantic Coast Line of the Southern Ex-
press Company, company that furnishes
Southern connections for the Adams Company.
There are four heavy oaken doors, two on each
side OF the car. An irregular strip Of wood,
three feet long and two feet wide, had been torn
from lower corner Of one Of the doors. There
was q bullet hole through the door near the
floor, and on the opposite side Of the car was
mark showing where the bullet was buried.
Four windows In the door had been shattered.
The ventilating window above the door was
broken a. though by . bullet. So far a.
could be seen, these were the only bull
let marks. The casing around the shat
tered door was smashed and the entire
appearance of the place showed that an
explosive had been used to force an entrance
into the car. There were three small EXPRESS
safes and a pile Of express freight In the car
greetings the messenger received was from the
agent who has charge Of the station.
what have they been doing with you,
well, stood them off rs long as / could. but
Suit" %n the heg messengep % % answered.. @ "' h"u 10
He then told the story that was afterward re-
peated to the offisers Of the IA Adams Express
@ evening" sHss on S sss saS
clerks was next 70 the looomotlys. and behind
RssiSsn i Who vas N charge ssS +
Murray, IL was through car from Richmond
TSsn fsS nCosd telling
made by the train and thought that they were
passing over the drawbridge on ,Acquia Creek.
A moment later the train stopped in one of the
widest and most unsettled sections of Virginia.
Murray swung open the door that was afterward
ersl masked men carrying reyolvers.. He closed
the door with bang and called TO Crutchfeld.
h the s1d
rapid succession. The messengers looked
through the window OF the opposite door and
saw more masked robbers on the other side of
"open that door" called voice from with
mo, SIR" said Murray.
open that door or we will blow the whole
The next instant there was an explosion that
lifted Crutchtleld from his feet. The lower
rght;hand corner St the door vas as shsttsdTed t;d a.
Now open that door" the man called in a
door. which was already detached from the self
fastening catch. Four men were standing be-
open door. while a big fellow clambered inside.
He covered both messengers With rey9lver and
was obeyed promptly. The robbers at the open
door held their revolyers on the messengers
while the men on the other side OF the car kept
up q rattling fire. apparently TO frighten the
passengers and trainmen-
The robber inside was roughly dressed. The
hand kerchief. He was heavily built and talked
in hoArss voice. He ordered the messengers
MADE slight M % protest test al and Crute6iisid said:
Its no use We may as well give up They
The two messengers then got down on their
knees, opened two safes, and drew out number
OF leather pouches: They opened these pouches
leyelled at them. The contents OF the pouches
were placed within his reach. and he took what
thought Was not worth taking WAS thrown aside.
1t contained $4,000. There was another safe
.,"Get down on your knees and open that safe, !"
the robber called.
There + PSthinss s.P r. it. tbs only dsadhead
The he'll ii isl Show me tho way bill," said
Crutchfeld said that he would get the bill.
when the rubber shouted;
Keep your hands over yonr, head. Show
The bill was In : pigeonhois, The man looked
at lt and said nothing. IL seemed to satisfy him
that the messengers were telllnH tno trutn. IL
was evident that he wanted only money, for he
did not examine any packages except the leather
pouches. When these were emptied he backed
toward the open door. A watch hanging on the
wall attracted his attention.
Whose watch IL thatf'' he asked.
1T Is mine" !" said Crutchheld.
well. don't think want It,"
As the man was about 10 lower himself from
Sns M.rS s0Sr SAndns no who had lspt Ss
nerve, said pleasantly:
~ wish you would sign receipt for that stun
you have taken. had 10 sign for IT,"
The man laughed, and another man outside
called all hands together and ordered the train
men 70 uneOupls the locomotive nom the train.
was soon flying away toward the POto-
mas River with the robbers ON board.
MIR. Crutchfeld thinks that boat was
IN waiting. and thA. the men crossed the river
was thrown on a switch At QuantieO. where IL
crashed into a freight train. II the switch had
not been open Il would have cOllidsd with the
Atlanta special that stood waiting on the main
line.
After telling his story tO President Weir and
other Officers of the Adams Express Company,
Crutchheld went 70 bed in the cOmpany's build
ing at 80 Broadway. He was aroused few