Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1896-04-02
THE FRISCO FAST EXPRESS
Held Up and Robbed by Bold,
Bad Men.
THEY REAPED A HARVEST
Secured Any + ere From $4,000 to $780,
IL.
2 000
SAFE WAS - OWN OPEN WITH DYNAMITE
J7
A Posse : 100 Citizens Are in Pursuit.
Som the Money Found in the
W. s-A Reward offered for
in
Z Their Capture.
THEY REAPED A HARVEST
Secured Any : re From $4,000 to $780,
)WN OPEN WITH DYNAMITE
SAfEWAS

ST. Louis, Mo-, April 1.-The Frisco fast
express, from the west, which left
Lebanon, Mo-, 1872 miles west Of St Louis,
a little before / o'clock this morning, was
held up by three masked men near Rich
land, twenty-five miles east of Lebanon,
about O'Clock this morning. When the
train was nearing Richland the engineer
saw red light down the track. He re-
versed the lever applied the air brakes
and stopped the train. The engineer and
fireman poked their heads out of the cab
to see what the trouble was. That in
stant there was flash and a bullet
whizzed past the engineers head and
buried itself in the woodwork. A man
sprang into the cab with a Winchester
rifle and commanded the engineer and
fireman to hold up their hands. Then
he compelled the engineer to get down
and help the robbers get into the express
car. They made the engineer mount the
platform and with Winchesters prodding
from behind call loudly to the messenger
to open his car. Not until several vol
leys were poured into the car through
the door did the messenger unbolt his
door and admit the robbers. The
messenger declared everything in the car
worth taking was securely locked In a
through SAFE to which he did not possess
the combination. The robbers produced
from a bag package of dynamite and
went to work to blow the safe open. They
worked nearly an hour, firing their guns
all the time outside the train, to intimi-
date the passengers and train men. The
messenger was badly hurt by being
struck on the head with the butt end of a.
gun. At last the safe was opened, tho
booty secured and the robbers mounted
horses and galloped off in the darkness.
A posse left Lebanon early this morning
in pursuit The express officials claim
not to know how much the robbers got,
but one of the passengers says he heard
the messenger say there was over 100000
in the safe.
One of the three train robbers was a
youth of II, who stood guard over the
trainmen while the others did the work.
The loss may be any amount from $4,000
stroyed. In the haste the robbers drop
ped one package of $1700.
After some time consumed in drilling
the safe the first charge was exploded,
creating faint shock. In few minutes
a second and heavier shock did the work.
The bandits cut the engine loose and
started down the track. Engineer Price
offered to go with them TO take care of
the engine, but they said they did not
need him, as they knew something about
engines. An eighth of a mile east of the
train they left the engine and mounted
their horses which had been picketed
near by. Good descriptions are given OF
the three robbers, and as the country is
aroused and pursuit active 1t Is thought
they cannot escape. The ST. Louis
agency of the Wells Fargo Express COM
pany refuses to give information as to
the amount of money in the through safe.