The Savannah morning news., 1901-08-14
A SCIENTIFIC HOLOUP
FIVE MEN DO NEAT AND ARTISTIC
WORK.
WERE EVIDENTLY OLD HANDS.
THEY TAKE FULL CHARGE OF THE
NJ, X. AND T. TRAIN.

Postal Clerk Compelled to Carry
Passengers Were Disqualification
bers Enjoyed the Situation and
Held the Train Two Hours-Coun-
try Gridironed with Telephones
and bandits Likely to BE Captured
or Killed.
Fort Worth. Tex. Aug. 13.-The
southbound Missouri. Kansas and
Texas train No. 3, due here at $50 a.
M, was robbed at Caney Switch, l. T.,
early to-day by five masked men. The
express car was blown open, the safe
wrecked and the mail sacks rified. All
the passengers were robbed of their
money.
FL Caney. where the robbery occur
red, is a sidetrack, 80 miles north of
Denison. 1t is in the Choctaw nation
of the Indian Territory. and the popu-
lation surrounding the station is only
l25. The train does not stop at Caney
except on signal. AS the proper sig
nal was given the engineer whistled
his reply, and the train slowed down
for the stop.
Instead of the hurried signal to go
ahead the engineer and firemen were
confronted by two men with masked
faces. About the same time the ex-
press messenger and the mail clerk
were communicated with through the
closed dors of their cars. Three of the
robbers shot wildly and then the call
went to the messenger and clerk
open up, here! Open up and don't
be slow about it,"
From within came no response and
the robbers again called out:
open the door or we will blow it
open and blow you to helll"
There was no response to the second
call and the firing again began, fully 20
shot being discharged. Still there was
no response and the three men pre-
pared small blast of dynamite against
the car door. In the meantime, the
shooting had awakened the passengers.
The conductor. brakemen and porter
ran through the train and as they call
ed out, It's a hold up!" the passengers
tried to hide their money and valua-
| bies. The dynamite was at last ex-
| ploded. 1t was a small charge and
| was exploded more for fright than for
anything else, A larger blast OF dy-
Mantle was prepared and exploded
This tore the side off the express and
mail car and the robbers leaped
through the opening and overpowered
the messenger. He was ordered to open
the safe, but he could not, as the COM
bination was at the end of the run.
The robbers then put a charge Of dy-
Mantle to the safe and blew it open.
They demolished the safe, but secured
only $1.50. as the money had all been
left at Muskogee to be picked up by the
Katy Flyer" which runs through yhe
territory by day The messenger and
clerk were forced to assist the ban
dts in their work. Every mail pouch
was emptied and the mail considered
valuable by the robbers was taken.
Then with Postal Clerk Tuiley holding
an empty sack. the robbers went
through the coaches and robbed every
passenger. They secured $3.50 in one
coach. A negro who refused to give
up his money was severely beaten. The
passengers were compelled to throw
their valuabes into the pouch.
After the work was done the robbers,
who seemed to enjoy the situation, sat
around and laughed over the matter.
After holding the train two hours the
robbers left, going east into the dense
bottom timber for which the tortuous
Caney creek is noted. The trainmen
cut the wrecked express car. ran down
to Caney station and advised officers
up and down the road. Within two
hours posses of United States marshals
with bloodhounds were on the trail.
The express company says that II lost
nothing and the conductor estimates
the passengers loss at about $500, not
counting the jewelry.