The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1904-08-05
ROBBERS HOLD UP
. A CENTRAL TRAIN
Daring Bandits Rob Passengers
OF Two Sleeping Cars
and Escape.
GOT MORE THAN $1,000
One Passenger Who Was Slew to Mov,
Was Struck on Head by q Ratchet
and Severely Cut-Crew
UnmoIssted.
GOT MORE THAN $1,000

Chicago. AUG. S.-l'our hishvaymen,
all heavily armed, II tive OF them
wearing masks. held up the passengers
on the Illinois Centrai's Chicago-St.
Louis train known as the "Dialnond
Special" as it neare1 Madison. III.
The robbers secured all the money
and valuables carried by the thirty
passengers in the two Pullman sleeping
cars. stopped the train. and escaped in
the darkness.
The forward sleeper was entered first,
the occupants We're aroused. and with
nothing on but their night clothes We're
marched back To the Pullman car be-
hind. Two of the passengers who We're
Slow in responding TO the commands of
the robbers We're hit on the head with
q Ratchet and one was seriously in
jured. lit is impossible to obtain the
names of the injured passengers.
When the passengers in the two cars
had been lined up in the rear Pullman.
two ct the robbers stood guard. n at
each end of the car. With drawn re-
volvers. The third. Who is supposed to
AVE been the leader. ordered the pas
sengers. who had been compelled to
bring along their clothes from the first
car. to throw the garments on the floor
or the car. The passengers in the rear
car We're made to return to their Eerths
and deposit their clothes in the same
heap. Then the leader. with the utmost
SooiIltSS, DeStIll 10 Sctlrtll llle tlOtnllS
for NaluableS. When he had finished
this search he made a close examine
ton of the passengers for amy money
that they might AVE secreted.
Escape Of the Robbers.
When the search had been completed
all the booty Was placed in n flour sack,
and the three robbers joined their COM
panions. who had stood guard in the
Nestibule of the train. Pulling the bell
Y.0tNn tho e ,r,, q
was given aud when the speed of the
train had slackened sufficiently the rob
bers. after having locked the doors of
the car. jumped off and fled in the
darkness.
So systematic was the work of the
robbers and there was so little con-
fusion that the crew was of
what WAS going on. 1t VAS not until
the engineer. in response to the signal.
brought his train to a stop. and seeing
nothing of the remainder of the crew
walked back to the rear of the train to
ascertain what was the matter. thai he
learned of the robbery. No attempt
was made to rob the mail or express
cars.
The robbers secured more than 81, OO0
in money and v~aluables.
II. ii. Groce. superintendent of tele-
graph of the Illinois Central railroad,
who was II of the men robbed, left
the train at kankalee and notified the
Illinois Central detectives IN Chicago.
The latter notified the central police,
and detectives We're sent out on a train
TO begin the search for the robbers.
Superintendent Groce's Story.
Superintendent Groce's story, as told
at kanlialkee, was as follows:
The men must nave boarded the
train at Harvey, for We We're but a few
miles out when they appeared at the
door of tho 1nct Db1J.,., mud ,,,,,c;,,r
the brakeman and porter. ordered them
into the smoking compartment. They
went through the car and ordered all
the men out. At first the men seemed
to think the affair a joke. and did not
hasten. One of the bandits then fired
into Il berth whose occupant was slow
CT han the rest. He scrambled out in
a hurry and the responses We're more
ready afterward.
"One of the passengers, n boy about
is Yeas old, was partly awake, and
the shot startled hin. He. too. was
SLOW, and when a bandit told him to
get INTO the aisle the robber struck him
with a hatchet. He was cut severely.
They drove all the men to the
smoking compartment, and there two
of them searched us while the others
stood guard at the doors. They took
500 from me and $500 from a man
neal me. guess those were the larg-
est individual amounts they obtained.
They searched the women who were
yet awake, but did not bother those
who were in the berths where the cur
tains We're drawn. In the second Pull
man there We're only five or six passen-
gers. and they had an experience like
the rest of u.s."
The train. which left Chicago at
9:21 o'clock. carried many passengers
for the st. Louis fair, and all remained
on the train despite their experiences.