The herald., 1896-10-24
No DOODLE FOR BANDITS
The Messenger Kept His Wits
About Him
DESPERADOES IN MISSOURI
Held Up q Train Close to Kansas
City
Nobody Was Hurt-The Express Agent
Saved His Money by Hiding 1t
in Convenient Hencoop.
Associated Press Special Wira

Associated FreSS Special Wire
KANSAS CITY, Oct. ga passenger
and express train on the Chicago and
Alton railroad, due here from Chicago
and st. Louis at o'clock, was held up
and robbed by four masked men this
evening in Blue cut between Independ-
ence and Glendale, Mo. The scene of the
robbery is less than twenty miles from
Kansas City. The train was tagged at
the entrance to the cut. While two of
the robbers stood guard over the passen-
ger coaches the other two covered the
| conductor and engineer and fireman
with their pistols and compelled them
to go to the express car. There the rob-
bers commanded the messenger to open
the door of the car, threatening to break
in the door should he refuse,
After some delay the robbers were ad-
| mitted to the express car. They COM
PEELED the messenger to open the safe
and extracted from it several packages.
| The express messenger, however, had
surmised what the trouble was. While
the bandits had been demanding ad-
| mission he had quickly opened the safe,
taken out the money packages and toss
ed them into chicken coop. When he
| finally admitted the robbers to the car
| and opened the safe for them the strong
box contained but two or three packets
| OF Jewelry. Even at the points Of the
robbers pistols and Winchesters, the
messenger insisted that he carried no
currency. Taking up the very little
booty at hand the outlaws uncoupled the
express car from the coach following it
| and then marched their prisoners for
| ward to the locomotive where they COM
| PEELED them to sit down on the bank
| alongside the track. The leader climbed
into the cab, tried the air and steam and
then called to the men who were guard
ing the passenger coaches to come for
| ward. AT this juncture the engineer eau
toned the bandit to be careful with the
| locomotive, warning him that they were
on hill and that if he left the engine i'm
properly guarded al the top of the hill it
would crash back into the train or if he
left it on the opposite side of the grade 1t
would crask down into the train sup
posed to waiting at Independence. The
bandit said he would take care of the
| locomotive.
With this the outlaws pulled out, hav-
ing held up the train without having
fired shot. They ran the locomotive
several miles to within a mile of Inde-
pendence, where they abandoned it.
1t was two hours before the robbery
became known. The passengers on the
train did not know what had caused the
delay until nearly two hours afterward
and amused themselves during the long
stop by straw presidential ballot.
So far as can be learned the robbers Sc
| cured only the packages of jewelry and
$25 In currency, which the fireman had
left in his vest hanging in the cab. How
much money the messenger saved by
throwing it into the chicken coop the ex-
press officials will not say.
There have been three hold-ups in
Blue cut. The James gang held up a
train here in 1881.
| A. ]. Fell of Roodhouse., I'LL, was the
conductor on the train. James Wetton
and A. e. Post Of Slater, Mo-, were on
| the locomotive as engineer and fireman,
respectively. The United States Ex-
press company's messenger was Andrew
Shields of St. Louis.
| From interviews had with several of
| the passengers after their arrival here,
it appears that only few of the passen-
gers in the train knew anything about
| the robbery until some time after it was
all over and the outlaws had departed.
Three or four men stepped out upon the
platforms after the train came to stop
and started to walk forward. The ban
dts on guard told them to get back into
the coaches and they climbed aboard the
smoking car. The whole affair was so
though they were suspicious enough to
get under cover without being told
! second time were not sure that the train
was in the hands of road agents.
TWAS EVER THUS.
CHICAGO, Oct. pa. Wygant, gen.
eral agent of the United States Express
company, said tonight that the train
that was held up never carried much
money. None was shipped from Chicago
by it and what there was in the express
car must have been small sums from
way stations. The amount in the express
| car would not exceed $4,000. in his opin-
! ion.
| A STAGE MISSING.
DENVER, Colo, Oct. 23.-A special
| to the News from San Antonio. N. M,
says: The stage from White Oaks has
| failed to arrive for two nights, and 1t is
feared that another hold-up has occur
red in the Oscura mountains. Harry
Rice, station keeper ut Mountain sta
ton, arrived here this evening and re-
ports that both the Wednesday and
Thursday stages failed to arrive at the
halfway station. and that his suspi-
cions were aroused, and he held back
the Thursday stage from San Antonio
| and sent Albert Hallenbeck over the
| line on horseback. Four miles from
Mountain station Hallenbeck discover
ed three men armed with Winchesters
| In ambush by the roadside, and return
| ed. 1t Is believed that these men held
UP the White Oaks stage and were wait
| ing for the one from San Antonio. Post