The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1899-04-08

been warned away and never molested II
their business in the locality was clearly
peaceful A few nave engaged in d fight
with the outlaws, who were retreating to
their granite fortress, n have lived to
tell about it. From these sources a faint
idea has been gained of the character OF
the place. Now and then n of the band,
while visiting a town not many miles
away, has revealed a number of things in
his cups.
The exact locality of the retreat of Nc
earthly and his men is not known, though
there are persons who could guide o party
within three or four miles OF it. The path
runs through a narrow canyon and leaves
it at a particularly wild and ortuou
place for a serpentine trail running a mile
or more up and down the heights. Again,
at the end of this trail there is q PASSAGE
way blasted and cut through the solid
| rock. The termination of this shorter
pathway brings the robber to the entrance
of the gathering place, which is nothing
less than a great cave or amphitheater in
the center of the rock.
This is the throneroom of the Irishman,
and from this there run in all directions
tunnels, their openings artfully concealed,
/ SO great are the precautions of the band,
and their other ends terminating at one
side or the other of the mountain. This is
known from statements made by miners
and mechanics who were taken by the
gang to do the work and who were blind
folded while approaching and leaving the
place.
But the most remarkable feature of all
is the fact, boosted of by more than n of
the gang, that the cave possesses an ex-
cellent electric motor and dynamo, taken
there piecemeal on horseback. 1t is even
said that the system is used to light the
rocky r~ecesses, but the chief boast Is that
it is for another purpose. Robbers say
that wires run from the room of the chief
to all approaches of the fortress and com
municate with charges of dynamite. They
have stated that it would be possible for
them to annihilate a regiment of soldiers
and that the exploding of dynamite in the
approach from the west side would close
the passage instantly, after which they
could either lie in the ave with security
or escape from one of the many openings
and scatter over the country.
The fortress is about Is miles from a
settlement on the edge of the desert called
Courthouse. 1t is but about 80 miles east
and north of the county seat of Grand
county, Moab. and from this place the
band gets all its supplies. In fact, the
town is almost OWNED by the bandits, and
none of the inhabitants has sufficient
courage to inform against them. The
common talk among cattlemen and min
ers in this section of the country is to be
relied upon for the story of the manne of
living within this remarkable place. 1t is
said there are about 200 tnen in the band,
--7 - {, -xan- -L.r ,,,.,,, s,,.r I'VE ,,,1
derers aud escaped convicts, the latter
from all states, and especially from Colo
RADIO, Utah, Wyoming and Nevada, are in
the number.
AS the country gradually fills up the
robbers are abandoning their practice of
holding up trains and travellers and are con-
fining their depredatfons mostly to herds
of cattle and sheep. They are said to
operate extensive grazing pastures in the
heart of the Blue or Book mountains.
They are experts at rebransing cattle and
make a speciality of gathering up stray
mavericks. It has been known for years
that they have agents at different points.
The police believe that the band has rep
resentatiyes in Chicago, Cheyenne and
Denver, while there are firms in the east
in collision with the gang. Mccarthy
ships his cattle east, where they are sold,
and he receives the checks in return by
mail. These checks are cashed almost daily
in western banks, though always through
a third party.
A former United States deputy marshal
OF Utah is authority for the statementtha
there are 50 skeletons lying in a gulch not
a great way from the mouth of McCarthy's
canyon. The marshal says that he saw
thn nIaca al M se1f and thai the skeletons
represent persons put out of the way by
robbers, who feared they would reveal Sc
crets they had stumbled across. Mccarthy
is said TO encourage such crimes, but a
story is told of him to the effect that a
one day wandered too near the
hiding place of the gang, and Mccarthy
sent him 800, with instructions to leave
at once.