Omaha daily bee., 1899-06-03
Express Car is Blown Up with Dynamit,
and the Safe Rihed.
NGlNEER JONES WOUNDED IN THE HEAD
Mail Car is Damaged by Explosion and
Bridge Partly Wrecked,
OFFICERS ARE NOW HOT ON The TRAIL
Attack Upon the Train Takes Place
During storm and at
Lonely Place in the
Mountains.

Mountains.
Just before daylight Friday, ana In
Vne must OF a drenching rain six mask,d
bandits held up Union Pacific train m
beyond Wilcox, Wyo, blew up the exp,e
car with dynamite, severely wounded The on
gineer and escaped into the mountain. WIN
thelr booty. The robbery was one o, the
ooldest that has occurred on any wsst,rp
railroad in years, but according t. the
statements of the local officials OF the ca
press company the plunderers obt ined
only nominal reward for their eXer ions
! "A posse of well-armed and determined m,a.
| headed by the sheriff OF Carbon coun, l. is
close on their trail and it is not bel ay.d
that they can escape capture and pu.ish-
/ ment.
only meager details OF the affair are yet
available. The first Information that recchei
the Union Pacific officials came Frlday
morning in brief telegram from Engineer
Jones, who was at the throttle OF the train,
and which contained the following:
First section No. 1, held up one nile
west of Wilcox. Express car blown up.
mail car damaged, safe blown open, cen
| tents gone. We We're ordered to pull over
| bridge just west OF Wilcox and after we
passed the bridge the explosion occurred
Cant tell how bad bridge is damaged. Have
telegraphed for outfit to repair 1t. No one
hurt except Jones; scalp wound and cut
| on hand JONES, Engine sr.
During the forenoon the dispatch was sun
plemented by several other kilograms, each
| OF which added one or two details to what
was already at hand. These indicate that
the robbers boarded the train at Wncox.
where No. is due at 2:Os a. IN. AS the
train reached the bridge one or more of the
robbers crawled into the cab and, with
leveled weapons, ordered Engineer Jones
to pull across and stop the other side.
They Used Dynamite.
Other members of the gang were al work
In the express car, where a heavy charge
OF dynamite was placed to blow open the
| safe Just as the engine pulled off the
! bridge there was tremendous explosion
| that drove the remnants OF the express car
| 100 feet In every direction stove Id one end
of the mail car and knocked out number
| OF the stringers Of the bridge. The wounds
received by Engineer Jones were dealt nv
| the fiying missiles scattered by the explosion
1t did not take the robbers long to com
plete their work The express car was
knocked into kindling wood and the big
| safe was open and ready for their fingers
| They quickly snatched it's contents signaIed
to their confederates on the engine and be-
| fore the passengers and the remainder OF the
| train crew knew what had happened they
were scurrying away towards liberty.
AS the train is due at Medicine Bow at
2:35 and the dispatch from Engineer Jones
| did not arrive until nearly two hours later
| 1t Is presumed that 1t required nearly that
time to dispose of the wreckage and permit
| the train to proceed. The run to Medicine
Bow was made quickly as possible and
there the engineer wired the news to head
| quarters at Omaha, while the local officials
routed out the sheriff, who Immediately
organized posse and took the trail.
| Omcers Hot on the Trail
While the rain that fell In torrents while
| the robbery was going assisted to screen
the operations OF the robbers, it will also
assist materially in their capture The soft
ground makes the trail as plain as could lie
desired and the sheriff declares that he will
have his men before night.
later telegram from the scene of the
robbery conveyed the information that the
west bent of the bridge was shattered 1t
VIII require new strlngers and some slight
additional repairs, but the damage is not
! serious enough to interfere with the regular
running OF trains. The passengers were
! scared out of their wits by the startling ex-
plosion just as they were in the depth Of
their matutinal slumber but none of them
were disturbed by the robbers. who seemed
satisfied with the contents of the express
| safe.
The local officials of the express company
have received no information beyond a tele
gram which stated that the train had been
held up and the safe blown open. This
! arrived early this morning and General
Superintendent f. G. Gentsch left at once
j Tor Medicine Bow II is stated at the local
headquarters that the contents of the safe
could not have been of particular impor-
! tance. 1t contained practically nothing when
| 1t left Omaha and very few valuables are
J picked up along this route The express
officials assume to be more worried about
! the damage TO the safe and other furniture
! of the car than on account Of the probable
! loss OF money and valuables.
| Conductor storey. -e,sEram.
telegram from Conductor Storey re-
ceived al the Union Pacific Headquarters
! late yesterday throws some additional
! light on the occurrence and supplies details
| that were missing earlier In the day Con-
I ductor Storey says that the robbers tagged
the train with red and white lights and
stopped 1t about one and one-half miles
west OF Wilcox, There were six in the
gang and four OF them got on the engine.
The conductor came forward to ascertain
what stopped them and one OF the four men
on the engine covered him with his gun
/ and compelled him to remain quiet
The two remaining bandits went for the
mail car They cut off the tourist and
special cars and took the remainder OF the
train mile further west There they blew
! In the side door OF the mail car and during
the excitement Storey got away and ran
back to flag the second section and prevent
collision. Then the robbers tried to blow
up the bridge but without infIcting sum
/ cient damage 10 cut off pursuit.
The next move OF the gang was TO take
! the mail and express cars to the top OF the
hill between Aurora and Wilcox. where they
blew open the safe. The express matter
was badly damaged, but the baggage es-
capped with only slight injury. Conductor
Storey was unable to estimate the value Of
the "swag" that was secured,
Robbers Display Danger Signal.
| LARAMIE, Wyo., June 2.--(Bpecial Tele-
sram.)-The Union Pacific transcontiRentsI