The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-07-06
POSSES IN PURSUIT
OFFICERS ARE PRESSING BANDITS
WHO HELD UP GREAT NORTH
ERN FLYER
ROBBERS NOT SURROUNDED
Highwaymen Believed to BE Head
ing for Little Rocky Mountains
Officers From Belmont Try
Ing to Intercept Gang.

HELENA Mont, July 5.-Two posses
are in pursuit of the Great Northern
train robbers, one posse following the
route taken by the robbers and the other
taking a cross cut toward the Little
Rocky mountains, to which section it is
believed the highwaymen are heading.
A ranchman named Walsh met the rob-
bers. They told him to inform the
sheriff they were well and happy. 1t is
believed in Glasgow that if they reach
the Little Rocky mountains they will
not be captured Nothing is known in
Glasgow of the report that the robbers
were surrounded and a battle imminent.
d. S. Elliott, acting superintendent of
the Great Northern Express company,
said yesterday afternoon that Sal 600 of
the loss sustained in the hold-up near
Malta was in incomplete currency, being
unsigned notes of the National Bank of
Montana. The notes were issued from
the treasury department at Washington,
and at the bank they were to have been
signed by the president and cashier.
The fact that the notes were unsigned
was not definitely established until yes
terday, wnen the express company re-
ceived a telegram from Washington to
that effect. The notes were in sheets Of
five, each containing three tens, and
twenty-dollar note The remaining $500
of the loss was in small packages of
gold and currency.
The persistent reports to the effect
that the loss is between $40 900 and $50 900
have no foundation in truth, the exact
figures as given out by the company be-
ing as above, $4l, 800. There We're papers
in the safe which were either destroyed
by the explosion or taken off by the
robbers, but these mad no money value.
oh no or &c In n
incomplete state, the company is never
theless responsible for the full face value
of it, as there is no doubt that much of
1t could be negotiated by the simple
process of forging the name of the of
ficers of the bank. People never stop
to scrutinize the signatures on bank
bills, and in the event of the robbers be-
ing able to reach a place of safety,
they will realize on at least fair por-
ton of the money.
The st. Paul Pinkerton agency is hand
ling the chase for the thieves, and yes
terday a telegram was received from
the man in charge of the detective force
stating that he was almost certain of
the identity of the bandits, all of whom
he believes to have been implicated in
former raids on other roads. If they
prove to be the men they are thought
to be, their capture will be no easy mat
TEL dS an are ueSl)eTduOtS OF long eX-
perience and of indomtable coura ge.
The theory that they are cowpunchers
is considered untenable.
1t was enormously reported in a morn
ing paper yesterday that the robbers
were known to be surrounded by Sheriff
Griffith, with a posse OF twenty men, at
Buck Aliens ranch, some forty miles
south of Wagner. 1t is true that their
horses We're found near this ranch, but
the men themselves had undoubtedly Sc
cured relays of mounts and continued
their journey to the south. 1t is the the
CRY of the detectives i'll charge of the
hunt that the three men are heading
for the Little Rockies, and once they en-
ter the almost inaccessible recesses of
this range it will be nearly impossible
to find them until they choose to come
out, which may be some time 1t is the
intention to keep 4 strong force Of de-
tectives at all points where it is thought
likely that they may show themselves,
and either arrest or shoot them down
when they appear. This is of course,
on the theory that they reach the noun
tains, which, according to the latest ad-
vices received by the company yoster-
day, appears to be likely.