Audubon Republican., 1904-10-27
LETTS ROBBERS
RUN To EARTH
Are Suspects Recently Ar
rested in ST.
Louis.
LEADER MAKES CONFESSION
Lies On Deathbed in a ST. Louis
Hospital-The Gang Was Not Sus-
pected of Iowa Hold-Up - Was
Wanted for Robbery in Illinois.

st. Louis, Oct. 24.-Punishment
has overtaken the train robbers who
held up the Rocck Island fast passen-
ger near Let's early last month, ac-
cording to the confession made yes
terday by William Morris, alias Blair,
as he lay upon what will probably be
his deathbed in a st. Louis hospital.
Morris is the leader of the three sus-
poets who on Friday engaged in
desperate battle with ST. Louis de-
tectives.
Believing that he was about to die,
Morris made clean breast f his
misdeeds, among them being the Let's
holdup. He claims that the robbers
got nothing for their pains.
The catching of the train robbers,
who for days were hunted THROUGH
Iowa with bloodhounds, and were at
one time thought to be cornered by
posses of officers, form a sensational
close to a ensational chapter. The
officers were after the men on an
other charge, for a train robbery in
Illinois, and until Morris made his
confession, they were not in the least
connected with the Iowa holdup.
Morris confessed to having been i'm
plicated in two train rObberles, after
his Identification by railroad men as
one of the four men who robbed the
Pullman passengers on the Illinois
Central Diamond SpeciaD between
Harvey and Madison Illinois, August
/. The identificatio was made by
Lawrence B. Combs, conductor of the
train which was robbed; w. e. Shep-
perd the baggageman, and William
Ii. Burch, flagman at Madison.
The train robbed by the men was
known as the Diamond Special on
the Illinois Central. The robbers en-
tered the Pullman cars and went
through them with drawn revolvers,
taking all the money and valuables
that the passengers had, then storped
the train and disappeared in the dark
ness.
One or two of the passengers who
did not respond quickly enough to
their demands, were struck over the
head with their weapons.
Physicians at the city hospital stat.
ed today that the condition Of Detec-
tive James McClusky ard William
Morris, alias Blair, one of the suus-
pected train robbers, is very critical.
McClusky was shot in the abdomen
and Morris was wounded four times,
two being in vital organs, during the
fight between five detectives and three
men suspected of being train robbers,
in which Detectives Shea and Dwyer
were killed and Alfred Rose, one OF
the suspects. received wound from
which he died instantly.
1t developed today that the battle
was the elimination of chase that
has lasted four months, the detectives
having information that led them %
believe that the suspects were impll-
Gated in the robbery of an Illinois Gen.
trail train at Centralia. ILL.,, in addition
to other crimes committed previous to
and since the holdup.
Harry Vaughn, the onlv suspect who
ESCAPED the hail of bullets and who
was severely injured by the detectives,
Wutu nc dIIcuplCu " dlu SohiPoh-
ions after being placed under arrest,
is held at the Four courts. Five pa
trolmen have been detailed to guard
Morris at the hospital.
st. Louis, Oct. 24.-Detective James
A. McClusky, shot in the battle with
alleged bandits, who has been lying
In semi-comatose condition at
the city hospital, is dead. William
Morris, alias Blair, the wounded al
legged train robber. who is also in
the hospital still lives. The physi-
clans admit that Morris has a chance
for recovery. AS the result Of Fridays
battle, Detectives Shea, Dwyer, Nc
Clusky and Alfred Rose. and alleged
train, robber, are dead, and Morris lies
apparently mortally wounded.
Rumor skirmish In Panama.