The Butler weekly times., 1896-10-29
4 TRAIN HELD Up.
Bandits Stop a G. & a. Passenger
Train Near Kansas City.
not 4 SIyGLE SHOT WAS FIRED.
The HoSbers secure Only Two or Three
Packages of JewelrE and About $500
in Money-ihe Passengers
Were Not 1oiested.

KANSAS CitY, Mo, Oct. 2L-Chicaro
& Alton west uouni train No. Is, lue
here IT C:jo y. m. was held up one-hatf
II, le east Of Geuda,e. which is az miles
east Of IndcUen4ence. just after dark
las. night by foEr masked men. The
nan cScarel by mounting tie engine
and riding two niles 10 the top OF the
Grade jrs: before reaching Iaaeprnd-
ence. Here they a5ar doned 1t ami it
wa ~ o,t queuty Iount ny tie pursu-
in train crew. taken back and the
trim brought into Kansas City At s:f5
last Iirht Not Il snot was cred, no
one vas hurt and the only other booty
got outsi,.e OF what was secured in the
,, W IS car was 80 from Freeman y. E.
ro>t.
The train. which was in charge OF
| Conductor \. !. Fell and En- gineer
| James Wetton. was running On time,
at full speed, when, just as 1t en- cred
| B,ue cut. one-lalf mile east Of G,eE-
dale, it was ia .ged by white light
swung slowly across the track. Wet
| ton reversed his en rine. threw on the
brakes and brou rht his train to 4 stop
| in the midst of the cut. wh re it was
! pitch dark, the high rock walls shut
| ting out the fain1 e~t ray Of the fading
d4yIieh. He looked ont from mis-
| en- me TO ascertain what was wrong,
Wien d q uif voice commanded: Git
down ont q tAat, and e - quick
atoat it,
| Wet;oa locked into the muZ2le Of
| double arrcied shotgun ana oueyed.
| Post, his fireman. did likewise. Two
more men, armed to the teeth, came
ont of the darkness and mounted the
engine One of them picked up the
fremans coal p.cll. while the other
s'artcd to cut the engine OFF from the
trai..
| Necrvhi.e Fireman Pos: was
marched to the door Of the express
car and commanded to tell Express
Ne ,senEer Andy Shields to open up.
| Sh;c:ds refused ani the robbers began
to batter in til, dhor with the coal
pcE. This proving futile, lie shouted
t. >hields onca more to ''oTen or he'd
shoot the fireman. Pos, al>o advised
| Shields to give Wav. say .nC that ned
be shot If lie didn't hields finally
threw oren the door. rCt, however, un-
til he had thrown near V ali the loose
money into chicken: c. op. where it
was not found. Two men entered the
express car ami Shields was command
cd 10 give un what he had He pro-
tested that tie big through safe mad
been locked when placed a5oard, and
that he did not have the com binatioa.
In this he was supported b. Wetton
and Post. The robbers rummaged
Il out the car. picked mp two or three
packages of OLD jcwelry and ajout $500
in money and left.
II Going back to the engine all four
men mounted it and started away.
Wetton shouted TO them to be sure and
put on the air brakes when they
stopped or there might be a smashup.
/ They replied that they would and
started on west. toward Independence.
The engineer and fireman ran after
them up'the track, but We're soon dis.
tanced. However. they continued
! their chase. and finally came upon the
.. engine, standing with all steam up but
| with brakes unrest Just on the top OF
the long grade which leads into Inde-
pendence. nearly two miles from the
J train. II it had / cen half a length
. one way or the other it would have
l rushed On into the town or back onto
the train. in either case with frightful
results. The robbers were comnletely
lost 10 view. The hold-up occupied al
l together only about five minutes. The
passengers knew nothing OF it until
/ long after the engine had disa pneared
:; in the distance
: Inspector Flahive and eight picked
0 men left Kansas City on a special i'm
. meciiately after the first report OF the
/ hold-up reached here, and proceeded a
once to the scene. Not II trace OF the
robbers could te found anywhere. anC
f they had disappeared as complAtely n.
if the earth had swallowed them up
r They are known to be either railroad
. men or else men familiar with ma
e chinery. as their handling of the en
a -ine testified. They are thought to u,
! familiar with the Alton road. as III,
e engine. with unset brakes. was stopped
u at the only point between InGepend
b enee and the cnt where it would stans
II without bratzcs being jus: On the ape,
!. Of the two grades.