The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1899-01-07
The GUILTY ONES CAUGHT

cure the agent at Leeds and it is proba-
BILE that he is the "short man" spoken
of by d. NJ. Hisey, the operator VINO
was forced to walk to the train and
witness the work of the robbers.
The explosives were put where they
would do the most good after the eX-
press messenger had been secured and
the explosions were so terrific that they
were heard in Kansas City, seven miles
away. 1t was reported at the time that
the robbers had used too much dyna-
mite and the valuableS In the safe had
been destroyed but according to the
torsy of the self confessed bandit the
money was not destroyed. He says that
the bills were nutilated by the explo-
sion and the ends torn off.
They Hid the Money.
The young road agents knew that it
would be a fatal mistake to attempt to
pass these Inutilated bills and they de-
cided to secrete them until the robbery
was forgotten when they would dig up
their treasure and use it. If the young
men had not come to Topeka to attend
the FAN Festival their plans might have
succeeded, but they got in the way of
the Topeka officers and after months
being spent in the Shawnee county jail
they were sent to Hutchinson for play
ing the road agent on some farmers
near Topeka. They then had two other
boys with them who were not concerned
in the robbery of the Missouri Pacific
train. One of them was Fred Rose
brook, the Is year old brother of Seth
Rosebrook and the other was Earl Caf-
ferty of Topeka.
If Chad StowelI has told the truth, as
the officers believe, the mutilated cur
rency buried in the Missouri woods
amounts to about $1,000. The officers
think that the money is buried in the
iron box in which it was carried in the
express car but this is a guess.
After the booty had been secured,
Stowen says that the bandits made q
fl-iTr 70
in which relatives lived, and that as
soon as the treasure had been put in a
secure hiding place they started for
Topeka to prey upon the Festival vis-
itors.
Never has Kansas City been so much
excited over a train robbery as with
this one The boldness of the deed ter
rified the railroad officials and the peO-
pie of Kansas City rose almost en-
masse and demanded that the train
robbers should be caught. The best de-
tectives in the United States were en-
ployed and they went to work right in
Kansas City to find the right men. A
note left by the bandits threw the Of
ficers off the scent and while the young
outlaws were enjoying themselves in
their old haunts in Topeka the Kansas
City officials and detectives were NOV
ing every influence possible to find the
robbers in Kansas City.
Officers Nab Jesse James.
A grand jury was impane1ed and
indictments returned against Jesse
James, Jr., and two or three other per-
sons living in Kansas City. Seth Rose
brook and Chad Stowell, in the Shawnee
county Jail, put their heads together
and chuckled. They held the secret for
which the Kansas City officials would
pay thousands of dollars, but they
would not tell, oh no; they would plead
guilty, receive light sentences and after
| they had been released they would Sc
| cure the booty and enjoy life.
But Chad Stowell fell under the sus-
picion of Rosebrook, his associate. In
| a talk with Under Sheriff Hal Williams,
| StoweI had intimated that he knew
| something about the Kansas City train
| robbery. RosebrOok heard this and he
| told Stowell that he would kill him if he
| ever found out that he had told any
| part of their secret. That was enough
| to place the StOweu boy in what he
| considered a dangerous situation. He
| feared that he had already told enough
| to place his life in jeopardy and one
| day he secured some birthstone matches
| and soaked the heads in water and
| drank the decoction. He was very sick
| but his life was saved by physicians,
| and after that he was kept in a de-
| tached cell.
| Little by little he told his story to
| Under Sheriff Williams and piece by
! piece the officer patched up the chain
| which left no doubt in his mind con-
| cerning the connection of the two boys
| with the train robbery. When the story
| had been told it was too late to save
| Stowell from the sentence in the district
| court and it was feared that if he was
! treated differently from the other cul-
| Rosebrook would know that he had
| been betrayed and the booty would be
| secured before the officers could reach
| it.
! Stowel1 told all except the revelation
| of the exact hiding place of the money
| secured by the bandits. The wealth
| dazzled him and when he was taken to
the reformatory under sentence of the
hn ha V7n WI 10
| money was hidden. He gave one OF
| the officers a chart of the place locat-
ing the trees and logs exactly, but he
| afterward admitted that he had misled
! them. They, however, visited the place
| early this week and they found that
| the location of objects on the chart
made by Stowen was almost perfect.
| Here fallen log and there a broken
| tree, which indicated that Stowell was
| thoroughly familiar with the ground
| which he had described.
| On Thursday of this week Under
Sheriff Williams made a final trip to
| Hutchinson. He was in conference with
| Stowell almost all day and secured from
| him a four-page typewriter confession
| of the connection of the two boys with
! the train robbery. StoweH also made
a chart showing the exact location o1
! the booty, and armed with the confes-
| sion and this chart, the officers left
Topeka today for Missouri, where they
will make a search for the chest OF
money buried by the young bandits.
Officers Visit the Place.
| Under Sheriff Williams influence over
StoWell came from his friendIiness tC
the boy while he was in Jail. He secur-
ed the confidence of the youthful bandit
and the first inklings of his story leak
ed out almost before he knew what he
was saying.
Rosebrook is described as one of the
most desperate young criminals ever ir
the Shawnee county Jail So great is
Stowelfs fear of Rosebrook's vengeance
that once since he was taken to Hutch.