Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1902-11-06


messenger on a Burlington train near
Lincoln, Neb., by three desperadoes
who secured $5O,OO0 has aroused pub
lie interest in the success, failure and
exploits of these latter-day Robin
Hoods.
Experts contend that ninety-nine
out of hundred attempts of this sort
prove to be a disastrous failure from
a strictly financial standpoint, says
the st. Louis Republic.
Slowly bat surely criminals are re-
alizing mis-. and as result outbreaks
OF this sort are becoming more and
more rare.
The romance has been stripped from
s1ach exploits, and the police now
aid Justice in laying bare the details
of a criminal proceeding of this sort
in such way that the most devoted
reader of yellow back fiction is
74onght to realize that Dick Turpins
Jack Shepards and Robin Hoods of the
old days, who correspond to the train
robbers of the present, have deSen
Grated until they are now nothing
move than low -browed, drink-sOdden
creatures who rely upon the chance
of attacking victims when the lat
ter cannot defend themselves.
Brains and skill have ceased to
play any part in affairs OF this sort.
Brute force and ammunition. with
certain amount of bravado. are all
that is required to make a train rob
Der.
However. the financial standpoint
of train robbing is what the would-be
erimina. IS most interested in.
IN fact, the express companies gen
eraiiv eApend far more than the val
ue ct the booty to apprenend robbers.
1t is OF ly question Of time until the
stlons arm of the law reaches out and
gathers in the bandits and keeps them
in its grasp for considerable period.
nthar II. Fuller, superintendent or
the facific Express company IN 81.
Louis has had considerable expert
e .ve Y ith train hold ups in the course
OF lis duties.
"I.ooting trains does not pay, said
Mr.. Fuller Il have been called upon to
investigate six train robberies in my
experience, and we always caught
ehe bandits and generally recJ,e: ii
much of the stolen money.
One of the quickest SAp ,1feS ohr
company ever made was II lSSo.
Three boys got on the Iron Nonaialn
train near TeXarkana. On OF ttls'n
crawled over the tender ana held tp
the engineer and fireman. another
held up the passengers, while the third
made the conductor walk ahead into
the express car The messenger. sus-
pectlng that something was wrong,
attempted to get weapon when the
conductor called to him not to shoot.
The robber was using the conductor as
a shield
These boys got away with about
$4,000. My company organized posse
and they were captured within forty
eight hours after the crime was com
mitted. Within a week they were tried
and sentenced to serve seventy years
each in the penitentiary The money
was recovered.
Another Iron Mountain train was
held up at Oliphant, Texas. in 1894.
A gang of robbers boarded the tram
a fight ensued in which the conductor
was killed -Four Of the gand were
captured, but one made his escape.
The other three were hanged.
From 1890 to 1393.' continued
MIR. Fuller. "the Dalton gang gained
an unenviable notoriety as train rob
hers. This gang was led by jim. Hen
ry and Bill Dalton and man named
Bradbury. Human life was matter
of small moment to the desperadoes.
"A Missouri, Kansas and Texas
train was held up by this gang IN 1897
near Adair, |. T: The train was rob
bed and the passengers valuaDles
taken from them. The robbers then
got ON their horses and rode away 1t
was a bright moonlight night, and
two men stood in front of an Adall
drug store. They saw the gang pass
ENNIS
LETS kill those men, said one OF
the desperadoes.
Two pistols cracked and two cltl
zens fell dead.