The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1904-10-23
MORRIS TELLS CHIEF DESMOND
HOW ROBBERIES WERE COMMITTED
Bandit Gives but One Name of Any of His Companions, Keeping
His Oath of Secrecy Even in the Face of Death-Describes
the Robbery of Illinois Central and Rock Island Trains and
the Nation Station Agent.

BY his confession yesterday shortly be-
fore noon to Chief of Detectives Desmond
at the City Hospital. William Bruce Morris.
alias C.. C. Blair. shows himself to be a
desperate. dashing. clever and successful;
a bandit who stopped at nothing to effect
his purpose. and the brains Of the many
hold-ups and train robberies with which
he has been identified.
Even in death. the bandits oath is sa-
cred to him. He %recounts witt startling
accuracy and nonchaiance the tales Of the
train robberies planned and executed prin-
cipally by himself. but never during the
TEDIOUS fusillade OF questions from the
Chief did he betray any inclination to
divulge the names of the men who assist
ed him in the robberies to which he con-
fesses. other than those of the tramp
named Collins who figured in both the ILL
nois Central and Rock Island hold-ups.
and Vaughn. whom he terms a "slob.'
Morris. throughout his long confession,
with apparent Inconsistencies. caves the
impression that he Is a bandit of no mean
caliber. He confesses to being the ring
leader Of the Illinois Central hold-up. Au-
gust j. near Harvey. ILL.,. where he super
vised the job. securing s317. thirteen
watches. numerous chains and one dia-
mond: in the Rock Island hold-up. near
Lett. Ia. where he secured a lot of cheap
jeweIry. which he afterwards threw into
a cornfield. and where he blew up the
safe with soup (meanilg ~nitroglycer-
I'M, but obtained nothing; in the Mat
toon. ILL.,. robbery. where he alone held up
the station agent and ook s45s from in
front Of the agents eyes while counting
the money. last week.
Vaughn he declares. was in neither Of
these jobs. and he refused to tell the names
of the two others who helped him in the
Illinois Central job and the five others
who were implicated in the Rock Island
hold-up.
Collins" which is believed by the po-
lice to be an alias for one of the men
in custody. appears in the role of Nor
ris's chief lieutenant in both these crimes
Between gasps and frequent Interrupt
tons of Don't ask foolish questions
and Oh. let me rest" and other excla-
nations. the winged audit confessed
yesterday as follows:
BY WILLIAM B. MORRIS.
My right name is William B. Morris,
AIN L cpC AiaAii-u sEstci hshuS III ~.
Gregor, Tex, whose name is Mrs. C. F.
Lawson. I went by the name of Bruce.
I know the three trainmen who were
here this morning. It was the Illinois
Central train upon which they were en-
ployed which myself and three others held
up. We boarded the train at a place
just south of Chicago. called Harvey. ]
got Oh first and seized the brakeman. I
held him until they got by the depot.
Then I kept going to the head end of
each of the cars. The train carried three
Puilmans and one day coach. I had a gun
in my hands and held it in case OF
any emergency. l got $SI7. thirteen
watches, don't remember how
many chains. and ore diamond. In some
of the coaches the passengers were in
bed. The other fellows-Collins n the |
other-searched their pockets. / hever
searched anybody's pockets.
What other fellowsr' asked Chief Des-
mond.
I don't want to tell their names. They
were not implicated in the shooting of
yesterday. Rose was not In that robbery.
He was working and I suppose that his
wife can tell you where he was. The rob-
occurred on the LIST of August. at
night. It was 1915 O'Clock when we got
the train.
When we got OF the train We walked