Evening star., 1899-12-02
HOW IT FEELS TO BE HELD UP,
1raphfc Tale of the Recent Train
Robbery Near Chicago.


Robbery Near Chicago.
From the Council Bluffs dowa) Nonpareil
How 1t Feels to Be in Train Robbery"
unlimited volumes. by E. M. Morton, who
was very much in it, and has a feeling of
gladness that he is out of it.
Scene. Between Elburn and Maple Park
near De Kalb, H., about fifty miles from
Chicago.
Time: 1890 o'clock pm. Friday, October
13. 1899.
Occasion The arrival of the Chicago
and Northwestern fast mail and express.
E. M. Mortons friends say he could write
IT, and If he were able to describe the af-
fair as graphically paper as he has
verbally since his return to Council Bluffs.
fame and fortune would be his lot instead
OF mail bags and time cards. He is a pos
tai clerk. and was in the car next to that
which was dynamited by the bandits. And
he didn't run bit at that exciting period.
The reason, a gun held by one of the rob-
bers anC pointed in the direction of Mr..
Morton's head. and which at that moment.
he says, looked to him like one of Dewey's
cannons.
Say, thought it was all joke at first"
he explains. "A brakeman jumped aboard
my car after the engineer had obeyed the
stop signal and brought the train to a
standsull. The brakey had his hands
above his head and looked real funny. He
turned about, facing outward. That's all
down now But he didn't put EN- down.
Well l says, in tone meant to reassure
him. put EN- down, why don't you" He
didn't look around al ALL but replied in a
voice that sounded as though he had
chill: This is no joke
Some one outside then says. Shut up"
in way that sounded if he knew what
he talking about, and then turned my
face around against an awful big gun.
Soon another clerk was put in the car, and
he had his hands heavenWard, too. and
kept em there, and / began to realize that
the thing was no comedy. Three of us
were holding our hands up then, and We
didn't look a bit funny. Next, in came the
express messenger, his hands up, and there
We're four of us, and none of us laughed.
Then the explosion came, and the force
of it rocked our car like a ship at sea in
gale A masked man with that cannon
| pointing toward US held his place just out
| side at the car door, and We didn't dare to
move.
After about twenty-five minutes two
men, | think only two, Joined the watch
| man at car, and they all went away
| together. One of EN- yelled back, Don't
| you marks move for a little while or you'll
| eat lead pill" and We didn't move for
| well, maybe minute or two I've been
| called a mark before. but l never felt so
much like one as l did in those lew min
| uteS.
| when we got outside we waited around
| for the engine to be brought back And,
| say, that engineer was a sight! It's not
| true that he was wounded in the breast.
| They didn't even shoot at him, though
| they did fire at a brakeman but the en-
| gineer looked as II he had been half shot,
| anyhow He was completely wilted and
| could hardly talk. He didn't even want to
| start back from where they had made him
| run his engine up the tracks a couple or
| miles, and when he was approaching the
| spot again they say he tried to hide in the
| tender. Anyhow, he was like an aspen
leaf when he was helped out of his cab.
| I'VE had to leave the poor fellow at De
| Kalb, though his home is in Clinton, Iowa,
| where he leaves the train on the regular
| run. The delay was five hours, and we got
| in here at 1870 today instead of $50 We
| made up some time by fast running.
| Yes, the rest Of us were cool enough, L
| guess l think ! didn't pay much attention
| to things except to that mans orders to
| keep my hands up