Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-10-15
robbery and the possibility Of pursuit being
commenced was known. beforehand to the

commenced was known. beforehand to the
robbers without any question, because the
entire plan followed In the preparation Of
the crime showed that the parties engaged
In 1t had fully covered every detail Some
one familiar with the locality was undoubt-
edly a participant. and such a person would
have hardly allowed his companions to 90
across the Potomac where there are scarcely
any roads, and where the presence Of q
stranger Is sure to be commented upon by
the steady going inhabitants. who lead a
dull and uneventful existence from one end
Of the year to the other
If the robbers had horses awaiting them
where they deserted the stolen engine they
could have easily made stations on the old
Virginia Midland below Alexandria and
started away by that means. The Satur-
trains on this line. and sufficient time had
not elapsed since the robbery for a sur
veillance of passengers to have been estab-
lished by a conductor, even if such an off,
cial had imagined the men who committed
a crime thirty or thirty-five miles away or
further could have by any possibility reach
ed the road. Another view that Is enter
tanned by members Of the Washington police
confederates in the country some miles back
CT the river. and that they were hidden
away safe from discovery long before the
detectives began to scour the neighbor-
hood, and will be kept In hiding until
opportunity offers for them to quietly leave.
Still another belief, which has many ad-
herents, is that the robbers had a sailboat,
such as a small oyster sloop or schooner, in
waiting, and boarded the vessel and set
sail down the river before the very strong
breeze that was blowing. In such a case
the fugitives would have innumerable OPP
portunities to get away. From Alexandra
to the mouth Of the river there is absolutely
no means Of communication, save by steam
ers, with the one exception Of the telephone
wire which runs to Indian Head. and is con-
trolled by the government. Oyster boats
the appearance of such a boat would not &C.
casion a moments interest On the part of
any river man or dweler along the shore
Such Individuals merely look at such a boat
to see If they recognize 1t, and II ii is not
Jim Smiths Rose or Bill Jones' Belle of
Alexandria" they display no curiosity in its
movements. 1t is also probable that the
news of the robbery has not reached many
Of the lower river landings yet, and a
schooner or sloop with a crew aboard might
have run In at any one of them and been
tied up, and the men separated without any
thing unusual being thought of 1t.
Source OF Danger.
These are the three views entertained
most largely by persons we'll qualified to
judge in such matters. who disagree with
the theory Entertained by the express and
railroad officials. There is a small army of
Pinkertons cut however, and every hint
that may possibly lead to a clue is being
followed to it's source with earnest persist
cree. River boats and railroad trains are
closely watched and suspicious characters
overhaCled along both shores of the Poto-
mac, while the police authorities of the en-
tire country are on the lookout for possible
Aqua creek robbers.
An old detective said this morning that he
believed the gang would be caught, and that
very soon, by reason OF the foolharrliness of
some one of It's members.
IF the amount gotten had been small"
he remarked, Il would be inclined to believe
tfat the crowd would get off entirely, be-
cause of the great start they secured and
the mysterious way they dropped out of
sight. But S1SU,om is an awful big sum to
Gvfde Up between seven or eight men es-
pecially when the chances are that none of
them ever as much as saw before the
amount they received as their part of the
BOOTY. Some one of those fellows is liable
to get drunk and begin spending money
hand over fist If he has never been known
to have much before his flush condition will
make him subject of remark. Then some
hCdy will get after him, and the whole
thing Will come out Yes, sir: l believe
the large sum taken Will be the means of
the eventual arrest of the crowd A crook
with a big wad loses his head quicker than
you imagine. Put a pin in what I've said
and see what you'll see"
Amount secured.
The booty secured by the train robbers
seems to be not SOL great by MANY thou-
sands of dollars as at first estimated. Pres
ident l.. c. Weir Of the. Adams Express
Company said today that he believed the
loss from the Aqua creek train robbery
would not exceed $500. and that the sum
would probably be less, as part of that
sum doubtless was in dlaft, and bonds not
negotiable.
Express officials at Richmond express the
opinion that the robbers did not secure over
5000
Mr.. Murray. who handled the pouches and
cut them open for the robbers saws he is
satisfied from the feeling of them that the
amount did not exceed this He says the
bonds were all saved. as he threw them in a
pile of stuff the robbers discarded