Evening star., 1902-08-06
MASKED MEMS WORK
Held Up a C.,B. and Q. Pas
senger Train.
BLEW UP EXPRESS CAR
ONE ROBBER KILLED BY A COM
RADE BY MISTAKE.
His Body Dumped to the Ground by
His Companions, Who Made
No Resistance.

SNSSN'-AAA
CURED at Marcus, on the Chicago, Burling-
ton and Quincy railway, five miles north OF
! Savanna, about midnight.
The fine vestibuled passenger train of
| eleven coaches, Conductor Emerson In
charge, was tagged at the little station and
| eight masked men boarded the engine
The engineer and fireman obeyed the i'm
perative orders and the robbers at once
| uncoupled the engine and express car from
the train and ran them a quarter of a mile
/ up the track
They then blew up the express car with
| dynamite, ran the engine north distance
of mile from Hanover, and the locomo-
tive becoming dead, the robbers abandoned
| it and escaped.
One Robber Shot.
| One of the highwaymen was killed, being
| shot above the eye and also in the leg He
met instant death and his body dumped
to the ground by his companions as they
| sped away.
The deed was done quickly, the trainmen
and passengers making no defense. Six
sacks of money were secured but the
amount is not known. The passengers were
not molested.
There was no way OF telegraphing news
of the hold-up and a fagman walked back
zens and several policemen at once pro-
ceeded to the scene, but as the track runs
along the Mississippi and the country is
| well adapted to a successful fight the rob-
! bers easily escaped. The work was evident
| ly that of experts, as they went at 1t coolIy
| and methodically.
Carried Much Money.
The train attacked is one Of the finest in
| the world and usually carried considerable
| money which must have been known by
! the highwaymen. The dead robber was a
| stranger in this vicinity. lie middle
aged man and wei dressed.
| In his pocket was found an Iowa Central
mileage credential from Grinneu TO Gilman,
Iowa, issued in the name of A. L. Jacobs.
Four explosions were required to COM
| pete the destruction Of the safe, and the
! car was badly wrecked. The robbers were
! eiE-c in number, all masked. They evident
! ly were railroad men, one being a good en-
| gfneer Messenger William By fired five
shots at the robbers, but without avail. and
| an attempt was made to blow him up in his
car.
Intended to Ditch Train.
The bandits had arranged to ditch the en-
tire train Of nine heavily laden coaches had
not the signal to stop been needed. Several
| passengers in the buffet ear, including the
porter were held prisoners during the
struggle to crack the safe. 1t is thought
the dead robber was killed by comrade by
mistake. The body was put on the tender
and run by the others a short distance and
then thrown into the weeds.
The Official Version.
CHICAGO. August G-Following is the
official account of the robbery, issued by
the general manager Of the Chicago, Bur-
lington and Quincy railway:
Train "a was held up last night about
II 30 at south switch, Marcus, about ten
miles north of Savanna, III. The switch
was turned for passing track and the train
tagged. The two head cars. consisting OF
a mail and express car and a composite
car, were cut off and taken to the north
switch where the safe in the express car
was blown open with dynamite and con-
tents taken. after which the engine was
cut off by the robbers and started north.
AS the robbers left the express messenger
fired al them. One robber was found dead
about one mile north of Marcus, ana ms
body was given over to the coroner. AT
least six men were concerned in the rob-
berry. So far is known only $1,000 in
silver was secured. None of the crew was
hurt and none of the passengers molested.
The express end of the riied car was badly
damaged"
both the Burlington road and the
Adams Express Company today that
a purse of $1,000 would be made up by the
two companies and given to Express Mes
| senger Byl for his bravery.
Engineers Vivid Story.
LA CROSSE. Wis, August 6.-The Burl-
ington train No. "a, which was held up
near Lucas, arrived here at 10 o'clock,
and during a twenty minute stop for break
fast Engineer John E. Mooney Of Mime
apolis, told a vivid story of the hold-up.
He said:
The robbers stopped the train by swing
ing a white light. As soon as II stopped
two men jumped into the cab and covered
us with reYolYers. One of Them told the
fireman to cut off the engine. After this
was done the man who was pointing a
gun at my head told me to pull the engine
up ways, and / ran her up half mile
Then they ordered me to jump off and we
walked back toward the train, where We
were Joined by the express messenger and
another robber. They took to the rear
of the buffet car and told us to st there.
One of the robbers left us. They worked
for an hour blowing open the safe, and
finally brought the engine down again and
all of them got aboard it. A few feet from
the train they told me to jump of and
run, which / most assuredly did. They
ran the engine up seven miles and LETT
her dead"
Shots Were Fired.
Mr. Mooney believes that the robbers
killed one of their own number, either
purposely or accidentally. Several shots
were fired, some by the robbers and the
rest by the express messenger. The dead
man dumped off a short distance
from where the affair occurred, the rob-
bers having taken his body on the engine
when the start away was made:
MIR. Mooney says that all OF the men
wore masks, but that while one was hold
ing a gun in his face, the handkerchief
which concealed his entire face, except
the eyes, fell off, and that he managed to
get a good look at him. He could Identify
him, he says, as the young man had
sandy complexion about five feet
eight inches in height and wore good
clothes.
The express car had two holes blown
into its bottom and was left at East Du-
buque 1t is believed that the five bags OF
/ s,r.lsr l..nd zoo