Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1894-10-18
THE RoBBER CHIEF.

Train Observation-Disclosures OF the man
An Old Offender-The Plan OF the aoi0-
Una Switchman's PrOmpIness Saves
Train-Load of Passengers.
WASHINGTON, Oct. 15.-There Is every
reason to suppose that the leader OF
the gang which perpetrated the bold
train robbery at Acquia creek, in vlr-
oinia. ON Friday night, has been iden-
titled. He is George Carter. former
resident of the neighborhood ana an
ex-convict of Sing Sing. railroad en-
| pinear and a man who has been assoc
ciated with many scenes of robbery
| and bloodshed. Carter is about 81
| wears of age, five feet ten and half
inches high, weighs 160 pounds, ana IN
all respects resembles the man who
fred the shot through the door at the
| express messenger, and subsequently
threw the stick of dynamite which
| shattered the sides of the Adams ex-
press car and made the robbery an easy
| matter.
| Description of the Suspect.
| Carter is described as man of dark
complexion with high cheek bones,
brown hair, deep-set eyes, large ears,
and a sharp and angular face with two
moles on his left cheek and one on the
under lid of his right eye. These
| marks should be sufficient to identity
him anywhere, but in addition thereto
the thumb and index finger of his right
| hand have been shot off in one of his
many desperate adventures; and alto
gether these marks would seem to
make any Bertillon system of identi-
| fication in his case quite unnecessary.
An Old Offender and a Jail Breaker.
Carter was sentenced to a seven
| years term of Imprisonment at Sing
Sing, n. Y, in 1898, for robbing the
house of the superintendent at Black
wells island. This was purely a ma
| licious act on his part in revenge for
some injuries he considered he
had received from the superintend-
emit while confined upon the island.
| He escaped from Sing Sing, as he had
previously escaped from one of the Vir-
ginia jails, where he had been impris-
! oned awaiting a trial for burglary.
| Indictments are also pending against
| him in other parts of Virginia and in
Pennsylvania. In short he is known as
one of the most desperate of criminals,
| fully competent to organize and carry
| out robbery of the audacious char
| acter of that perpetrated on Friday
| night.
The Plan of the Hold Up.
The supposition is that he associ-
ated with himself some one familiar
| with the manipulation of matters in
the Adams express car. His own ex-
perience as railroad engineer
enabled him to do the rest, with
| the assistance of three or four men to
stand on the bank of the selected cut
and go through the usual process of
| firing Winchesters in the air and terri
flying the passengers.
Was Familiar with tho Surroundings.
Carter lived for a number of years
near the spot where the robbery was
committed, and was thoroughly famil-
lar with the surroundings. The rail-
road regulations require the train to
come to dead stop just before cross
ing the Acquia creek bridge. 1t was
undoubtedly here that two of the BAN
dts boarded the train just back
of the tender, and after the
train had crossed the bridge crawled
over into the cab and at the
pistols point compelled the engineer
and fireman to stop the train. Their
four associates were already in ambush
at the point selected. This was deep
cut, SO steep on the side next the river
as practically to inclose the train aud
on the other side sufficiently steep to
shut out the light, especially as it was
wooded by a dense growth of pine
trees. Consequently, although else
where the full light of the moon was
shining, in the spot thosen by the
robbers absolute darkness prevailed
at the time.
A Ready Means of Escape.
About mile from the point where
the robbery was committed was road
leading to the Potomac river, and af-
fording ready escape by boat to Mary
land. The robbers undoubtedly
stopped the engine at this spot, threw
open the throttle and turned it loose,
expecting that it would run into some
other train. and, by a general wreck,
prevent pursuit, and then at their leis-
ure proceeded by the light of the moon
to divide their plumber and separate.
Some of them. it is thought, may have
crossed by boat to Maryland, but it is
not at all certain that this was done.
They had ample time to make their es-
cape in any direction they chose before
the alarm was given.
Switchman's Nerve Prevents an Awful
Wreck.
The original report that a signal
man saw the flying engine coming
along the track and telegraphed to
Quantico to look out for it is incorrect.
The engine was rushing into Qauntico
station unannounced ut the rate Of
a mile a minute when a switchman
named OLeary, by a happy instinct,
came to the conclusion that something
was wrong and instantly seized the
switch bar. threw the target and sent.
the engine dashing up steep grade
into coal dump where it smashed
three or four coal cars and appended it.
self liz a miraculous wreck. But for
his promptitude the engine which the
robbers had turned loose would have
dashed into the Atlantic express which
was then standing at the station with
over 300 passengers on board, many Of
whom would undoubtedly have been
killed.
Rewards offered.
The governor of Virginia has offered
rewards for the arrest of the robbers;
other rewards have been offered by
the express company and by the rail
road, and it is understood that the
governor of Maryland will cooperate,
in every way. Application was made
by the governor of Virginia to the au-
fhnrifioS IF tho 1;c<r;o< ,f HID