El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1897-12-11
The S P. HOld-Up.

Conductor Gillespie of the Limited
which arrived at noon today, says that
Cd his arrival at STEMS Pass. he found
the train ahead of him had been held
up, and Conductor Russell of the train
was on the platform where he had
been left when the robbers ran off with
his train. On the Limited were
Messrs. n. L. Newman. Jr., of this
city, Messrs. Hubbell and Scull of
Boston, and q Mr.. King of Bistee en-
route on q hunt in Sonora. Thes
gentlemen with a number of mining
men were we'll armed, and offered
their services as a pOss e. The Limit
eds engine was cut loose from the
train, and Conductor Gillespie with
Conductor Russell of 20, and the posse
hurried on to San mon station. Two
men, however, were left at Stein Pass
to guard against possible attempts at
robbery.
At San Simon, no 20 was found with
a dead robber and a lot of badly scared
passengers, just eighteen minutes after
the robbers had disappeared in the
brush. The imprompIu pose were
prepared fer q fight, but were not call
ed upon, and regular sheriff's posses
came along later. The trains were
delayed two hours and half.
A number of people on today's 10
from the west were fully posted as to
the hold up at STEMS Pass and to
HERALD reporter they said that five
bandits took possession OF the station
just before No. 20 was due, and ran The
station agent off into the brush and
kept him a prisoner there Moreover,
they locked the Office and shut up the
few people there in the wsiting room
which they also locked, after running
out the red semaphore signal for the
passenger to stop.
AS the train slowed up at the sta
ton, the conductor dropped off to go to
place locked. At that moment q
fusilade b gan up at the forward end
of the train, and presently the train
moved on down the hill without the
conductor. The latter sized up the
situation, an as he was unable to re-
gain his train, the station agent
showed up from the brush explaining
that he had taken a brief vacation
from his official duties under special
cut; but examination showed that only
the east bound wires had been severed.
SO ground connection was made and
Bowie and Tucson calle1.
AS it .chauced, the express company
had a party of guards at Bowie, and
with their horses we're hustled at once
into special which put for STEMS
Pass. Presently the Sunset Limited
showed up twenty minu es after 20 bad
left the pass, and Conductor Gillespie
on learning of the racket, enlisted the
party of hunters On his train into
ser ice, and with eighteen or twenty
q, med men, including both conductors,
hurried to San Simon station on the
light engine. It was there learned
that the messengers on the baggaga
and express car had :. extinguished
their lights, slid open the doors of the
express section, barricaded the door
ways with trunks, and with loade
Winchesters and shot guns awaited
developments. Vic Collins was shoot
ing up aud down the train to keep
everything closed up; and as the ex-
press men refused to bulge, the rob-
bers we're placing dynamite under the
express car to blow he whole shooting
match up, when Jennings, who
was watching Collins, saw the lat
ter drop his hand for an
instant to reach for something
in his belt, and instantly put charge
of buckshot through his head, blowing
his entire brains out: and then put
second charge through the outlaws legs.
This, 80 frightened the rest of the gang
so that they cleared out without doing a
thing more. The body was taken to
San Simon and left for the special
seuRers in both trains were badly up
set. and most of them hid in the aisles,
under seats and wherever else they
could get.
We haven't 0knocked the bottom"