Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1897-12-18
SEINE OF THE LAST BLUE CUT HOLD UP.

erncck. The Oldest citizen, who knows
everything else, does not remember what
gave u the name. IL IL supposed 10 have
grown out % the plcasantrics between tho
Missouri bushwhackcrs and the Kansas
jsyhawkers In the sixties. IL Is simply a
nickname. itself meaningless, hut infinite
ly suggestive by lie uncouthncss Of tho
wild stretch IL country.
The ground Is broken and covered with
. rrowth of scrub timber. Lodges Of rock
jut out wherever the soil washes. Habita-
tlons arr far apart. as q rule, hut there arc
two or three houses within short dis
tancc of the cut. Ono stands above IL on
the hill and another half way down the
slopc on the other side Tho robbers are
not bothered by this. though. They know
that u the people who live there arc not
their friends they nre at least too wise to
Interfere.
Two ~ the men suspected Of having en-
gazci In tho last Chicago and Alton hold
upwcrc attending n dance nj ahousc with
In half n mile oi the cut tho night IL &C.
eurrtl They stcppcd out, IL Is believed,
attended o. the little business on hand
and went hack ca the fcstal scene with o
consciousness Of work well done.
Although the spot Is 80 wild, roads lead
from near by In several dlrcctions to Kan
sas City. That IL why blue cut Is pre-
fcrrcd over other lonely spots. The bandits
nearly always make their escape to Kan
sas City. where they arc safer than in tho
widest country.
some Of the best people in jackson
county 1.-Two In the section, but tho major
ity are Crackcrncckers, term always
spoken with n significant infection. Usu-
ally when IL l. used by the people Of tho
county IL means sympathizers with train
robbers At the very least some Of them
have sccn the inside Of n pcnitcntiary and
scm 90 want 90 keep all other Cracker
nccks from doing 81. There arc many ut
large who arc believed TO be entitled TO n
state living, and many others are proud TO
bear the names II men who have left rec
orls II murder and plllagc. People capa-
bic Of feeling such pride, IL need scarcely
he said, are not the people to turn up train
robbcrs
Blue cut Il really succession OF small
cuts Tho track Is very curved. The hold
urs have not all occurred at the same spot.
but all % them have been along the stretch
Of track which the Crackcrnccks call blue
cut.
The James boys stopped their train on
the curve in the center Of tho series Of
cuts Several were conyictc,i Of completely
In that job and one Or two wcru sent up
for p.rJury.
The second hold up occurrcd In isSA In
both Of thc~c the bandits went through tho
train and rOblsd the Ias-cngcrs.
oct. -. iS..d, a west bound train was
held up just cast IL thu cut All that the
robters obtained was CSC from the engi.
nccr and si0 from a curious passcny
who went forward 90 sec what the matter
was Jus; two months later an cast bound
train was s;opisd mile and half east Of
Independence. near the crossing 81 the
Chicago ard Alton and the Missouri Pa
eifc tracks The engine. express car and
. theatrical CIR wcre cut locsa The lead
or % the handiss climbed In the cab and
ran IL down 20 the cut The safe was rob
bsl u q, al and . let o. vai..ble jcwclry.