The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1897-01-27
ROBBERS ARE IN CLOVER.
United States Nail Affords Great
Opportunity for Them.
TRAIN ROBBERlES ARE INCREASING.
Dcsperadocs Becoming Aware That
Onc-fourth of the Money Trans
mtttcd Goes Through the Mail.
ST. Paul DISPATCH.

mails. What richer harvest could the train
robher want than this? 1t is so easy to
rob mail car when 1t seldom carries more
| than two or three men and these are abb
somtely wlthou, any mems of defense.
! Their WORK OF asserting and throwing the
mail is so arduous that they have no time
| to think OF robbers ana are never prepared
| for visit from them.
| The consequence Is that every effort to
rob mail car Is successful and in many
cases the railway postal clerk is the suf
| ierer for his vain and foolish endcavor to
protect himself and the property In his
| charge. The train robberies have become
more frequent of late years and the reason
| therefor is that the desperadoes, who, by
| the way. have increased in number, have
ascertained how much money is actually
sent through the mail and how little trouble
| i Is TO confiscate the contents of mail
| car. In only one or two cases have rob-
| bers been loiled in their efforts to rob the
mall car. for they seldom find a postal clerk
prepared for them and in nine cases out Of
| ten not clerk in the car has revolver on
! his person
1t is as easy to surprise postal clerk
! IN his car as the ordinary citizen in the
| dead Of night Il, his home. Clerks give no
| thought to the dangers of their occupations
ana never think of train robbers Few of
them ever Think of locking the doors OF
| their cars. and, even II they did, they would
| he powcress to ward OFF an attack from
! train robbers. for knock at the door VIII
secure admission. and 1t is easy for rob
! beers TO take them by surprise. The great
! wonder OF the age, in vie'V OF the recent
! great robbeiies Of this nature in various
| parts of the country Is that the govern
| lnon' has not made some systematic effort
to afford protection to its mail. whether it
cares For the life OF the postal clerk or
not.
iG cd hf,a !,
mail train leaves at night where the mail
viii wind up or what will become of the
men who have it in charge. When postal
clerk leaves his home for a run there is no
telling whether he will return whole or fall
victim TO the unerrlns aim of some des
porado along the limo.
Either the mail cars should be furnished
with a sufficient number of men, whose
duty 1t IS 10 guard the contents of the
pouches, or the cars themselves should be
so constructed rs to be able to resist the
fcrccst attack that might be made upon
| them by train robbers.
OF late years the amount of money scnt
by mail has increased to n remarkable cX-
tent. The desperate men around the Couu-
Try have kept track Of the trend Of events
and they are all aware how very easy il is
To stop a train and coniiscate the sucks OF
| mail All they have to do IL to stop the
! train take orr the bags and rip them open
d
Nutn mo u hu mas pasaeh on ana u any
resistance Is oherod II invariably follows
that the postal clerks are the ones to fall.
IL rs a great wonder that the government
| mas not long ago taken some steps to rem
cdy this great cyl and vet there appears
| to be no movement of any kind looking to
! protection TO the mail and the postal clerk
dnd the ruhbaries occur with charming reg
| ularty at different parts Of tho country.
There is not a railroad in the United state;
! which does not mass through secluded mr.
tions of the country where such robberins
became easv and NO worst of If ia no ~
/ f,raor. ,r, ,oI1o,,, NH, | - -
MAJ "''" '''"e"' w
NJ, .,,,,, .rat., ,,,.. ,. A..
,,, o,Ih'0 ''a," 'uN' tINNersus ire
,,'i '"o|s 10 NI,""ul Idise sums OF
@a, tu'eS W. .' M''uuu lnrouBn ,ue malta
"i"c li,'eS 'lese sums 20 away up INTO the
'h"uH7hoS ana yet mere Is not so much as
| u good stout lock 10 guard the treasure
| from the doprcdatons of the desperate
! who armed with gun and a mask finds
no difficulty in getting what he wants. Ia
tho mail cars there is not even a safe in
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