The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1894-09-19


CORN. No. Sept lS.-The Colorado
and Utah express on the Santa Fe was
held UP by robbers at $3.50 a. M, to-
dav
AS the railroad and express officials
had spv on the train, the bandits,
when they stopped the train, met a hail
of shots and bullets.
1t is said that at least two are dead
in the surrounding woods, while as
MANY others rode for the rendezvous,
twenty-one miles away, riddled with
esoSIlets.
They shot Dad" Prescott, the en-
gineer. before they even gave him a
chance to hold up his hands. His
wound. ii is believed. will not prove ia
tai
When the train left Chicago at 8
o'clock last evening, the railroad and
EXPRESS detectives, all walking arse
mails. climbed on at every station.
Among them were Chief Detective j. j.
Kinney, of the Santa Fe, and ]. A.
Matthews. who has been acting spy
for two weeks and getting news of the
robbers plans. The latter brought the
news that robbers early in the day had
decided TO leave their hiding place near
Memphis at $50 O'clock last night,
and make their third attempt to get
rich at the expense of the express conn
lpany. They expected to make haul
lof at least $4,000. At FNrt Madison,
Il Ia, Division Superintenr 1T Stockton.
vi the Wells. Fargo express, went into
tie treasure car. He carried the
sawed-off Winchester that once be-
longed TO Bill Dalton. With him were
four men. Detectives Kinney and
MONTGOMERY boarded the engine.
Superintendent Stockton and two
good shots tarried in the express car.
In the forward end of the smoking car.
shut off by a partition from the rest
of the car. a dozen men We're placed
Each had gun located especially for
the event. with two oozen buckshot
A Travelling Arsenal.
At 2 o'clock. when Sheriff Sailing, of
Scotland county, climbed on board all
the details for the surprise party were
arranged. According to the report
brought by Matthews the spy, he would
endeavor to be the one who tagged the
train If so. one torpedo would precede
the swinging of lantern. Orders We're
given that no matter if every one of
the robbers got away, there was to be
no shooting TO endanger the life of the
spy, who had. in fact, taken his life in
his hands in order to Illustrate the at
NShpltQ IODDeTy. HI q little cOmDart-
ment filled with armed men the lights
were out and the windows Dip. In each
section were two men sitting side ways
with the nluzzles of their guns pro
truding lust trif1e over the stills. Be-
side them stood others with Winches-
tiers at half cock resting across their
arms.
AS out from between two high en-
bankments lust one mile from CORN,
sDed the train. there came the looked
for signal. and not fifty yards away
was the swinging of the red light.
Within twenty seconds the train was
al standstill. Out from the dense
underground north of the track came
four forms. the face Of each hidden by
a black mask. One rushed to the en-
CINE almost before his COMPANIONS
could reach the express car. Within
ten feet of the tender he pointed to
dad" Prescott. the white bearded en-
gineer. and as he shouted Hold UP
your hands" he pulled the trigger and
Dad" fell to the floor with a bullet in
his right breast. With one bound Kin
new gained the top of the tender and,
. bringing his gun to his shoulder. sent
"A shower of shot almost into the face
= the masked man. How the fellow
damaged to move six inches is a mys-
IefS, but he did. and made for the
woods. The shot which laid out Engineer
Prescott was a signal for a fusilade:
also a signal for the hasty retreat of
the robbers to the shelter of the tim
Der. They fired two shots. But
although the men were leaning from
the car windows and pulling the trig-
gers as fast as possible, while others
were after the robbers on foot, they
failed to hit a man.
The place where the horses were tied
was soon found. A cut hitching strap
showed that one man, at least. had
life annr1ph IN
the dead and wounded was postponed
until daylight. but the chase after one
or more who escaped was started with
tn ten minutes. 1t is not likely that the
passengers in the rear end of the smok-
er. those who were doing in the chair
car and half a dozen wakeful ones in
the sleeper. will ever forget their ex-
perience. With the first shot every
man near window opened it and looked
out; within a second he had drawn
his head in and dropped on the floor
The cry Train robbers went through
l the train and women went down on
S1heir knees and screamed.
Eleven nights ago, the bandits short
1y after 10 o'clock, started to ride slow
ly across the country. 1t was cloudy
and they had not gone over a third OF
the distance when rain began to fall
Some were in favor of turning back at
once, declaring they were not going to
run the chances of being tracked by
a mud trail. Their objections were
overruled for the dime being. but by
the time the csvalcade was within
seven miles Of the railroad track it was
apparent to even the most foolhardy
that discretion was the better part Of
valor The command to retreat was
raven and the procession returned. The
Ftxt day two of Kinney's men followed
Vie trail for five miles. From the i'm
(cations they say eight men were in
ehe party that night.
Last Saturday morning was the sec
md time the affair was billed to come
off. If 1T had not been for the rain the
attack would have been made, for in
addition to the regular prize carried in
the express car on the train was a
big bundle of money to be used by the
Santa Fe in settling with some en-
ployees for August AT least. that is
the Information on which the robbers
were acting. But the rain came down
too early and with too much vigor,
even to permit start. Detective Kin
ney was a badly chagrined man when
the train passed the point at which,
according to programme, it should have
been tagged. He was on the engine
clad in suit of blue jumpers and
looked for all the world like an APP
prentice TO the art of firing an engine.