The Roanoke times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1897-1977, 1897-03-07


say: My, what II must DC to DO q messcn.
ger and have all that stuff in charge
Guess III bc IL messenger And hero am
in jumpers myself.
But there WAS one tiHc when wished
I'd chosen another busincss Ono night
when had ~ big loud of both gold and sill
yer bullion there came II sharp, short blast
from the engineer, and l know there was
some sort of trouble. Soon there came II
hammcring ut the door, and l recognized
the voice of the conductor.
Look out for your valuablcs!' he yell
ed. We're going to he held up.'
And right then was filled with sen
sation that comes only to an cxpressman
away out on \ lonesome prairie, where u
messenger is supposed to stand between
bandit with II A calibcr revolver and the
precious freight of an express company.
Word ca,ac to us that the water tank
ut VAIL H., had been set on fire and that
u gang of outlaws had stolen the hand eur
ana were ,nri,ing their way tn meet us and
rob tho express cur. l began to think that
WAS about to realize some Of my boyish
dreams. l barricadcd the uours and threw
up brcastworks Of all the heavy freight in
sight and waited. But L didn't lose II
brick that night The Northwestern people
got out IL switch engine and gave the hand
whole outfit was captured, and the Scare
came to an end.
81 agree with my friend Jake here, ;"
said William ID. Heath, an Illinois Central
messenger, "that it is almost impossible
to loso II bar of bullion. While | was run
ming on the Fort Wayne between ittsburg
and Chicago / had prcscntinient one
night that something was going to happen
to me or tn my eur or to both. Tho oldest
thing about the incident was that Mci1hcr
son, the conductor, and Tony Kclkcr, the
engineer, both had the same feeling To
such an extent did il take hold of ne that
the baggage master told me to drag my
safe into his car and stay in there with
him. l had some bullion with ne, but
fastened up the doors and worked the run
from the baggage car.
That night u half awake brakeman
threw II switch ana ran our train, which
WAS making IS miles an hour intoa heavy
freight train. The fireman was killed out
right, and poor kclkcr died of his injuries
My car was Splintorcd into kindling wood
tho freight being compressed into shape.
less mass. The pigs were in the mix up,
that took two days To separate, but cecry
one was found, though scattered over u
space two car lengths long. / might emu
mcratc any number of wrecks in which the
pigs have been badly used, but they always
turn up"
Some of the smcltcr people do not agree
with the messengers in the idea that silver
'bullion is not lost or stolen in transit a
gentleman connected with Il Chicago con.
Germ says that every now and then he reads
in the papers IN advertisement in which y
bar of such and such Il number and weight
Is advertised as lost or stolen. All silver
bars are numbered conSccutiyclv and the
weight down to the grain is stamped there.
on. Tho same person says that recently !;
wagon loaded with silver bullion disap-
pcarcd in London. The wagon, horses,
driver bullion and all vanished as if they
had been swallowed by the earth, and ali
the slcuths of Scotland Yard failed to get
u tracc of The outfit