The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1903-12-24
GIRL TRAIN WRECkERS
Detective Harrison Tells of an At
tempt to Ditch a South Branch
Train Last Week.

Last Saturday Detective J. nj. Har-
rison, who is the SOS" special agent
on about 1000 miles of it's track in this
part Of the world, was caller at the
Herald Office, and in conversation re-
lated many interesting and really start
ling stories Of the crimes and attempted
crimes committed against the railway.
The attempt to wreck train on the
south branch from Charlton, near AL
bany, Mo-, last week, was the tale
around which Mr.. Harrison wove col
lection Of some of the widest eNper-
fences that any man ever had The
attempt to dynamite the main bridge
near Mt. Pleasant few days ago was
one of the stories,-but the train wreck
ing at Albany should be finished first.
The queer part of the Albany affair is
that two young school girls did the
work. Engineer Monroe, of this city,
was running along near Albany, on
December 18th, when he saw some ties
piled on the track in a deep cut ahead.
He put on the air but the engine struck
| the ties fair and square, and no damage
was done. MIR. Monroe looked around
as he passed on, and saw two girls peep
ing over the top of the bank. He re-
ported the matter, and Detective Har-
rison was sent to the scene at once. He
soon traced the trouble to two country
school girls,-Eva Barnes, aged eleven,
and Mary Hunter, aged fifteen. Mr..
Harrison went to the school house
where they were attending, and with
out letting the girls know he was there,
called out little brother of one of
them. From the boy he confirmed his
suspicious, and then he called the girls
out, one at time, and they both broke
down and confessed the deed. Why
they piled the ties on the track they
hardly knew. They were walking to
schco' along the trick, AMI noticed the
ties on the right of the way. 1t occur
red to them that it would be fun to pile
them on the track and see the engine
hit them. The little girl suggested that
it might wreck the train, but the larger
one didn't seem to care if it did, and so
they piled them on. Fortunately the
engine struck the ties just right, or it
might have been derailed and serious
wreck have followed. Mr.. Harrison was
of the opinion that the girls did not
realize the awful nature of their work
SO he merely called them to the front OF
the school room and had them openly
confess their crime and tell the whole
story. He then told their parents o.
what they had done and the probability
is that no more thoughtless children
will pile ties on the track just for fu1
in that neighborhood for long time tt
come.
A curious coincidence is that in that
same cut, four miles east of Albany
three other attempts have been made
in the last few years to derail trains
with ties piled on the track. In 1891
a sixteen year old boy named Viii
Coles tried on two different occasions
to wreck trains with ties on the track
and in 1900a fourteen year old boy
named Charles Hyde tried it. Engineer
| Art Andrews, Of this city, was then a
the throttle. No serious harm was done
on either occasion, and the boys wer'
: taken care Of in the proper manner
1t is queer that four attempts at wreck
ing should be made by children in ex
actly the same locality. 1t must b
that young criminals are bred NOR
) thickly in that neighborhood than i
, others.
t Scores of other attempts at trai
: wrecking were related by Mr.. Harrison
some of them by children, and he sal
: that if anybody imagines that chill
, cannot pile ties on track, he is badl
. mistaken for he knows of one case i
n which a nine year old boy piled ties o
t the track, unaided and alone Charito
= Herald.
Fight Will be Bitter.
: Those who will persist in closin