River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1897-07-15
FEW TRAINS HELD UP.
Not 80 Many Halfway Robberfe-
n Earuterfx

n Formerly.
In the year 1898 there were 80 rail
road grains held up in this country bs
initatOrs o. the James and Younger
gangs. he next year the number :, as
81. Ii was 80 in 1898 and last year
+ dropped TO %. In the last seven years
there have been lS5 trains held up or
wrecked for the purpose of robbery.
{ The number of persons killed in the
preparation Of this train -wrecking or
hol4lng-up crime was -, the number
wounded ). The smailness of the rec
ord for 1886 may be partially accounted
for bt the fact that passengers and
crews have recently fallen into the way
of fighting train wreckers and train
robbers. There were several instances
in ls9G of deliberate plans havin been
made by railroad officials 10 trap trair
robbers and Kill them. and the plans
were successfully carried out, a fact
which proved decidedly discouraging
to the train-robbing profession. The
mortality in 1896 was four among pas
senge-s and - among trainmen.
Sofrequeut and so desperate have been
+ man VI AAAtNN fAAUl - at - ulit-AfinulAtE
that the idea has become more or less
popular in Europe that railway tr Eel
in the United States is about as danger
Gus as is travelled by private conveyance
in the brigand districts of Italy and
sicily, and il cannot be denied that
II ere is considerable justification for
the prevalence Of TINS idea. II is not
many months since three or 70 IT beard
less boys were sent TO the pen,tentiary
from Rome. y. y, for thc crime of
train wrecking. hut terms in the pen
itentiary are not regarded as an ade-
quate punishment for this monstrous
crime. and 50 the penal code of the En-
pire state has recently been revised.
placing train wreclling among the cap
ital crimes. Hereafter any man in New
York state found guilty OF train wreck
ing will suffer the same punishment as
does any man found guilty of murder
in the first degree.
An idea of the magnitude of the dan
ger TO railroad travel i'm the United
States is prevalent on this side of the
Atlantic. and il finds voice in the elab-
crate arrangements for defense made
by the several express companies Of the
country in their ears devoted TO the
transportation of yaluables
The interiors of some of the express
cars have the appearance of yeritable
arseuals. In fact, some of the ears are
called arsenal cars. They have bull
let-proof room located i'm their center.
They are built of steel ~ inch in
thickness. The doors leading into
either end of these compartments are
punctured with peepholes, through
which gun can be ranged and fired.
On either side is n steel projection a
foot wide extending from the level of
the window sill 10 the roof At each
end at the side of this arrangement a
portfolio is provided so that rifle may
be used to sweep the side of the train.
front or rear, or to shoot from side
hole in any direction from this bomb
proof. These are only some of the
many features of the ideal arsenal car
that has come into use on account Of
the frequency of train-wrecking and
train-robbing. These precautions have
been thought necessary by the astute
managers of the express companies.
Meantime the United States govern
meut that is engaged in transporting
valuables in mai! cars has taken no
such precautions to protect the prop
erty intrusted to IT'S care. To he sure,
the recently constructed mail ears have
no door at each end accessible to the
train-robber. but they have doors on
the sides, 10 which an expert rObber
can find acc, IS and where the railway
mail clcrh could answer ard does an
swer frequently a summons to open.
Millions and millions of dollars are
every week sent through the United
States mail i'm these unprotected mail
cars. If the train is held up. if the rob
Der succeeds i'm finding his entrance to
the railway car and the valuables from
the United States mail bags are rifed,
the owners have no recourse. The gov
eminent refuses to be responsible 1t
is probable that TO this lack of respon-
sibility the governments laNity i'm
taking necessary precautions against
train-robbing may be attributed. The
express companies recognize their re-
sponsibility and prepare themselves ac-
cordingly. The government seems sat
isfied TO trust to luck and. unfortunate
~. in many instances the patrons also
of the United States mail service trust
To luck. The fact thar the warm and
fatal reception given robbers last year
reduced the number % train-robberies
and train-wrccking il would seem.
ought to be accepted as reason why
precautions as have the express com
panies. \ knowledge thar mail cars.
like express ears. were little else than
moving arsenals, together with such
drastic measures as have been lust
adopted in New York state. would 90
long way toward making train-rob-
bling in America an almost unheard-of
crlne-C. fcinnati Times-Star.