The Saint Paul globe., 1897-10-05
FIVE MEN HOLD UP FIFTEEN.
EVERY NIGHT MEN WAITING TO
CATCH A FREIGHT ARE
ROBBED.
SLUGGING WHEN NECESSARY.
Sunday Night Victim Was Found
in a Dazed Condition, Having
Lost $40


lington yards, he would learn more
about the working of one branch of
the government than he learned in q
week at Columbus. The proceedings
which have been occurring every night
along the railroad tracks Of the Bur-
lington road, in the vicinity of its
round house and the Dayton's Bluff
station, would surprise him, because
his police force take good care to keep
"the old man." as they call him, IL
the dark. The strong arm" worker is
getting in his work unmolested by the
police, although the railway employees
have made several complaints to the
powers that be.
Just at this time of the year hun
dreds of men are passing through St.
Paul on their way to their homes to
the eastward, from the harvest fields
Of Western Minnesota and the Da-
kotas. They all have some money, al
though but few of them are overbur-
dened by their wealth. and in order
to econon1ize they work the hog"
which to the initiated means to beat
their way on the freight and cattle
trains. Every night from twenty five
to 100 of these laboring men-they can
not be clasSed with the ordinary tramp
gather in the vicinity of the Burling-
ton round house and water tank, await
ing their chance to steal a ride on the
freight which leaves the yards at IL
o'clock; they are strung all along the
tracks and climb into the box cars as
the train is being made up.
Here is where the strong arm gentry
get in their work. They work in groups
Of three to five, and every eviden e
points to the fact that it is the same
crowd which operates evening after
evening. It is too easy a snap to give
up, as the returns are good and the
risk of capture by the police is a beau
tifully small contingency. These foot
pads appear on the scene every night,
so the employees of the round house
and station say, for they are informed
of the robberieS by the sufferers. The
latter being strangers and perhaps
amenable to arrest as vagrants, do not
take the trouble to air their grievances
to the police, but are content to take
the freight train out of town as soon as
possible, bearing their losses with
good grace. The highwaymen are arm
ed with revolvers and frequently hold
up group of three or four or even half
dozen Of the strangers at one time.
and while the victims are covered with
the dangerous weapons, one of the gang
will go through the crowd
They have even resorted to violence
where the victim shows any disposition
to fight. Sunday night one of the
train men on the late train found a
man near the water tank lying beside
the track in dazed condition. He had
been slugged and relieved of all hi:,
money, about $40
The boldest work of the gang, how
ever, was last Friday night, when five
of them held up crowd of fifteen and
went through them all. The train was
just being made up, and the fifteen
were IN box car, when the five an
peared on the scene, and the leader
commanded:
Throw up your hands you -
This order was enforced bv for
very wicked looking revolvers. and t5o
victims iost no time in complying with
this urgent request, whereupon the
-SAi +iie'ii oCetI CIeu lHelF pockets. He
secured $40 In money and a gold watch
from one of the unfoftunates, while all
the others suffered smaller losses. The
hlghWaynen very generously returned
5o cents to each, saying that cit was
to buy grub with" and then thev df-
rected the victims to stay in the car
until the train pulled out, if they knew
what was good for themselves.
On one occasion after the usual hold
up several men were seen crossing the.
river very hurriedly in a skiff, from
which it is surmised that they have
their headquarters on that side, COM
ing across every night to carry OF
their work-although, as one of the
station agents said, they might feel
perfectly safe in walking up the tracks
to the union depot, for the police would
not notice them.
The authorities certainly know about
these occurrences, but they pay no at
tention to them. The only step ever
taken by the police was one night
when, the agent said, IAN officer came
down the tracks from the bluff, holding
a revolver in one hand and a lighted
lantern in the other. Of course he
found neither footpads nor hoboeS."