Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1903-11-13
TRIED TO HOLD
UP ROCK ISLAND.
Threatened to Use Dynamite
Unless Given One Thou
sand Dollars.

sand Dollars.
PROBABLY LACKED The NERVE,
Al Any Rate the Schems Failed and
Two Suspects Are IN Custody Of
the Autho rites. One Of Thorn
s Badly Wounded.
Dies Moines. Nov. 9.-In the hope
Of capturing Z gang OF hold.up men.
the Rock Island railroad sent
special train. bearing q number OF
armed officers, from Council Bluffs to
Des Moines last night. following No
s. which reaches here at 10 o'clock.
The general offices OF the road had
received an anonymous letter threat
ening the syatem with dynamite I'M
less $1,000 We're thrown from the To-
connection Of No. 6. somewhere be-
tween Council Bluffs and Des Moines.
the place to be designated by the
explosion OF torpedoes.
Either the criminals suspected that
the officers of the Rock Island had
the nerve to- attempt their capture
or the demand was hoax, In the first
place, for the torpedoes were not
exploded and the force Of officers and
bloodhounds had naught to do z
When No. 8, west bound. arrived in
Des Moines yesterday morning at
$3.50 o'clock white flag was noticed
tied to the draw bar Of the rear
coach. @
Naturally the peculiar signal was q
matter OF comment among railroad
men. and the idea soon gained con.
siderable prominence in Des Moines
that the flag had something to do
with the. hold-up. How the informa.
ton leaked out Is . mystery.
AS q matter of fact it did. The
criminals who had written the anony-
nous and threatening latter to the
roads general Offices had directed
that the $1,000 demanded should be
thrown from the engine Of No. 6, not
later than last night; and that II the
road expected to comply with the de-
mand it should display on No. s. all
the way from Davenport to Council
Bluffs. white flag attached to the
draw bar Of the rear coach.
The criminals stated that il this
signal were displayed they would as
sumo that the money would be ready
and that they would place three tor
pedoes under the engineers side Of
The locomotive Of No. 6 last night;
they directed that when the explo.
sions occurred the engineer should
throw the $1,000 out of his cab, it
being attached TO lighted fuse.
1t was also provided that he should
not even slack the speed Of his 10.
:omotive., The officials proceeded to
set a trap for the hold-up men, but
they failed to appear.
Des Moines, Nov. 9.-Engineer
rons. OF No. Is. on the Rock Island
railroad, it was said last evening,
lad reported to the officials OF the
system yesterday that his locomotive
'an over and exploded three torpe,
Toes near Earlham shortly before
o'clock Saturday night.
Internationally these were the three
;orpedoes which the officers Of the
system had been notified would be
placed on the track as an indication
If the place at which $1,000 should
oe thrown OF train No. 6, Saturday
,ight, the $1,000 having been demand.
I'd on threats Of a hold-up in an an
onymous letter received at Chicago
zen days ago.
AS soon as the Rock Island learned
4 of Engineer Irons experience the Off.
GERS Immediately arranged to make
up q second special, and gathered q
force Of armed men, and sent the
train west to Dexter, but this action
resulted In no discoveries.
Des Moines, Nov 10.Two men were
captured by the Rock Island cticers
who went to Earlham, Sunday night,
in search OF the men engaged In plot.
ting to hold up passenger trains One
was shot in the head and is at Mercy
hospital. The other, James Murphy,
Z Is in the city Jail. The officers do
not claim now to have, any evidence
against the men, connecting either
with the sensational effort, to secure
$1,000 from No. 6, Saturday night.
The wounded man will not talk.
Murphy says he Is a pedestrian from
Dakota, seeking a warmer climate
Further, he will not talk. He was
caught without trouble. The man who
was wounded was found by the blood.
hounds in the timber two hours after
he was shot. It Is supposed he was
hit by the bullets. of track walker,
who fred at man skulking along
the line three miles east of Dexter
about 8 o'clock. but who succeeded In
running into the timber as though he
was not hit. N AS
Murphy was brought in by the Off
GERS yes -erday soon cfter noon. The
wounded man was brought in at II
o'clock and was taken to Mercy hos
pital. The special bearing the armed
officers returned Ito the city at 4 D.
m. yesterday, but all officers and the
owner Of the hounds remained here un
der orders.
Des Moines, Nov. l1.-Orders have
been issue by Detective Mclaughlin
special officer for the Rock Island II
this city, providing for the release
Of James Murphy, who was arrest
ed In the woods in the vicinity oi
Earlham by the searching party who
"A coionysof Widows.
81 thirty residences on Norman
s.teet. q pretty thoroughfaro Of Har
,ington. Del, thirteen are occupied
~ widows. Formerly twenty-tw
Widows lived on Norman street, but
line Of them became brides again
When the number got down to thir