Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1894-10-18

the booty secured was Sl50,00O or more.
lie gave this account Of the robbery:
But one robber entered the car. lie
was OF heavy build and dressed like a
farmer, although he seemed to thoroughly
Understand the express business. He had
. red handkerchief over the lower part of
MS lace. When the train was stopped
opened the door Of my car. The robber
ilfed one shot ut me. lodged back and
closed the door lie called Open that
door, did not do it. Open that door,
or III blow the whole car to pieces with
dynamite
THEN HE THREW STICK OF DYNAMITE.
ut struck the. door and shattered it
The force knockes me off my feet.
Il then opened the door. One robber
came in and made me open the safe. He
took everything. There was one package
which he must have thought contained
Ii contained $1,000. Then he said: Open
that other safe That is simply dead
head safe said. The h--l it is he
roared, show me your way bill for it,
II started to get the bill and he said .
Keep your hands up. Show me the
paper; I'll get it, He looked at the bill
and was satisfied that the second safe con-
tanned nothing, which was true.
The man was very cool at the time.
~ tiNN SSFSh Vi SiFl1b ApiOSo
pouches, each containing packages of
money, how much | cannot guess. The
man cut small slit in each pouch and
took every package"
AscERTAINING THE AMOUNT.
Accurate information as to the exact
amount the robbers secured probably will
be made known first to ]. Q. A. Herring,
the Adams Express agent ut Philadelphia,
VINO VIII first have to wire the company's
agents in Jacksonville, Savannah, Charles
ton, Wilmington, Richmond and Fred
ericksburg for information as to amount
consigned.
THE CONDUCTOR RESISTED.
Mr.. z. q. Lee, representing the Darby
Candy Manufacturing Co. of Baltimore,
speaking of the experience of the passen-
gers, said:
I'VE were all frightened and everybody
expected TO be called upon to deliver up
his valuables. | stuffed my money down
into my shoe aud hid my watch. Every
body else did the same thing, guess. Con-
ductor Birdsong was the nerviest man l
ever saw. He was cool and collected
throughout and as brave as Il lion.
"lte passed through the train asking each
passenger whether he had revolver and
finally succeeded in finding small revoi-
yer, Armed with this he stationed him
self at the head of the ladies' car, eau
toned the passengers to keep their seats
and remain quiet. lie coolly assured them
that he would kill the first person who set
foot on the platform. Later he avowed
his intention of going out of the car, but
was forcibly restrained by several passen-
gers. Had he SO much as poked his head
out of the door ] am satisfied he would
have been killed.
The postal car was ahead of the express
car and its windows were fired intofor the
purpose of intimidating the seven postal
CLERKS in it. They were badly frightened
but their car was not entered though it
contained many sacks of registered mail.
The Adams Express Co. is not informed
as to the amount of money secured by the
robbers.
WASHINGTON, Oct. l4.-Tbe audacious
train robbery at Acquia creek, Va, Friday
night seemed destined to have an early
solution, even if the participants are not
promptly arrested. The haul made by the
seven bold bandits is now suid to amount
to SlS2,0O0, one Of the largest on record
There is every reason to suppose that the
leader of the gang has been identified. He
is George Carter a former resident of the
neighborhood. an eX-convictof Sing Sing.
railroad engineer and a man who has
been associated with many scenes OF rob-
berry and bloodshed.
IERaONhls hfPEA RANGE uF GARTER.
Carter is about 81 years old, feet lO4
inches high, weighs little over l6U pounds
and in all respects resembles the man who
fired thesh through the door nj the ex-
press messenger and subsequently threw
the stick of dynamite which shattered the
sides of the Adams Express car and made
the robbery easy.
Carter is described as & man of dark
complexion, with high cheek bones,
brown hair, deep.set eyes large ears and a
snarps 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 deeds.
Carter was sentenced to Il seven years
term OF imprisonment in Sing Sing iii 1888
for roDbing the house of the superinten.
dent Of Blackwells Island. This was
purely malicious act on his part in re-
yenge for some injuries he thought he had
received from the superintendent while
confined upon the island. He escaped
from Sing Sing. as he had previously
ESCAPED from the Stafford county (Fa.)
Jail, where he had been imprisoned await
ing trial for burglary.
He is also wanted in Prince William
county on a similar charge and in Penn.
sylvania for daring daylight robbery.
When he escaped from the Stafford Jail he
was shot in the back by the sheriff and
badly wounded, but managed to elude the
officers.
Almost the only hope, the detectives
have of capturing the robbers is after they
begin to spend the money. Some one of
them may be caught and from him clue
to the gang may be obtained.
The man Turner, who was arrested here
while drunk Saturday night and claimed
to be one Of the robbers who had been
cheated out of his share, turned out to be
an irresponsible person. The express mes
senger saw him today and said that he
was not the man who entered the car.
The police authorities to-day received
word that small schooner, with sus.
picious characters aboard. was anchored
about 20 miles down the river. Thinking
they might be the robbers. u squad Of
officers, heavily armed sailed in the police
boat to tho schooner. Arriving there the
officers found the schooner deserted, but
the inhabitants Of that section said that
the schooners occupants had not deserted
the vessel, but had left her Temporarily,
probably over Sunday.
A HERO AT THE SWITCH.
The hold-up had its real hero, who is
none other than Leary, the young Irish
man who tends the switch at Qnantico.
But for his quickntss there is no doubt
thai many lives would have been lost and
thousands OF dollars worth of property
destroyed
When the bandits abandoned the engine
they threw the throttle wide open. The
heaye six-wheeler dashed along the track
to Quantico. II miles away, at terrific
speed. 1t passed the little station of Wide
Water at full % miles an hour. The opera
tor saw thaI the engine was wild, dashed
into his office and telegraphed to Quantico
to look ont for it. 1t took time to catch
the Quanlico operator, ana the engine was
tearing furiously along the seven miles of
track.