The herald., 1895-02-27
How the Latest Arizona Train
Robbery Came to Naught
THOUGHT TO BE GUARDED
But the Guards Hid Under Mail Bags
and Did Not Shoot
A Description Of the Hold-up by Man Who
Saw 1t AIi-The Robbers Say They
VIII XIII johnson

The Southern Pacific train No 20, which
was held up by train robbers at Stein S
Pass, Arizona, arrived in the city last
night three hours late. From Frank A.
Hall of Milwaukee, Wis, an old-time
newspaper man, the following account OF
the attempted robbery was obtained:
"We were coming along easy" SAID
Hall, "and made the usual stop, sup
pose but second later shot whistled
down beside the cars, and | said this is
hold up Sure enough it was, and ex-
pected fight, for the express company
had two armed officers in the mail car
waiting for the two fellows that held up
the train. heard no more shots for the
time, then two more, then one and sud
denly the engine and mail car left the
train and went spinning up the road.
81 climbed out of the Pullman and
went forward and found o. Johnson, the
fireman, who was laughing, and said:
I've got those fellows into hornets nest
this time. I only cut off the mail car,
and there re two Wells-Fargo guards in
there"
"Anxious to get the news, l asked John
son to tell me the story. Well, said john
son, when the fellows climbed the engine
/ knew them both-that is, by sight.
They were the same two that held us up
before.
"'what's this says /, another hold
up, Harry?' to one OF them.
"'You bet,' he answered, get out OF
that quick and cut off the car The fell
lows pard stayed in the cab and kept the
engineer covered with his gun. | walked
back with Harry, as | call him, to the end
of the mail car, and there l stepped in
and cut off the car. Harry, the robber,
jumped on the rear platform, shot once,
and they pulled out. l thought the Wells
Fargo ducks with their guns, who were
hidden in the mail car, would be sure and
get the robbers up the road. They didn't,
though, but don't want to run on this
division much longer. ..
johnson was right, said Hall. He
saved the train by his shrewdness in only
cutting off the mail car" The engineer
told the rest of the story when he came
back He said the robbers ran up about
three miles when he was ordered to stop.
The man on the rear of the mail car
jumped off and lodged into the bushes
and came out with sack of dynamite.
Then he said to the men that they only
had the mail car and the men looked
over the car and discovering their mis-
take began to curse Johnson, the fireman,
and swore that they would kill him the
next trip he made over the division.
Then they made the engineer back up
half mile and let them off where they
had their horses tied.
''AI this time," said Hall, with a
1f yVa1I arclS
armed to the teeth and sent out for the
express purpose of holding up the rob-
bers were present. but they failed to fire
shot, and it was told me that the men
hid under the mail bags. When the train
came back, mean the engine and mail
car, the two valiant Wells-Fargo guards
explained their failure to fire a shot by
saying the mail agents put the lights out
on them and they couldn't see.
Before the train was started again a
handcar was procured and sent over the
road to ascertain whether in their anger
they had left any dynamite on the track.
The course was found clear, and about
three hours late, we moved on.
johnson, the fireman, deserves all tn,
credit of saving a robbery; said Hall
on that division long he will be shot some
night on his engine.'
How did the passengers act?" the
reporter asked.
''It was picnic for fellows that had
nothing much to lose" said Hall and he
laughed heartily at the recollection.
They were under the seats, berths, locked
up anywhere and everywhere, there was
cubby hole where they could lock them
selves in, and acted in general like lot Of
maniacs. Five shots were fired by the
robbers. One ON each side of the train when
they stopped it, another on each side of
the cars when they were ready to go, and
the shot Harry fired when the car was cut
off. Johnson, the fireman, knows the
men, and others on the train know them. :"
An effort was made to see S. L. Prtch-
ard, the mail agent on the car that was
held up. He refused an interview on the
grounds that the newspapers had already
told all he knew about 1t. To a friend
however, he made statement which
bears out Mr.. Hall in regard to the shrewd-
ness OF Johnson, but the mail man said
nothing about the guards. Mr.. Hall is a
yearly visitor to the coast and his state
ments can undoubtedly be taken as
true and not exaggerated, He was, by the
by, in the famous Evans and Sontag
'.hold-up" and in the last train robbery
in Arizona and in consequence has got
used to being reused up by the petulant
op of the pistol.
An Associated Press dispatch from
Tucson last night says There are. no
new developments today in the matter of
he hold-up at STEMS Pass. The robbers
have taken to the mountains and posse
is in pursuit. 1t is wild country and
very doubtful whether a capture of the
bandits will be effected. 1t was at Stein $
Pass in 1888 that the overland train was
held up hy-four or five bandits who got
about $4,000 They were followed into
Mexico BY Bob Paul and posse and the
band killed t
MINOR CRIMINAL NEWS