The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-12-17

ing no contents. he had thrown Il out
on an ash pile. The only thing he had
found in the Valise was a piece of
paper that attracted his attention be-
cause it was marked with red lines.
Examining this piece of paper care
fully, Mr.. Piukerton saw that II had
been torn from a money draft. and at
once thought of the package in the
messenger $ express safe Now il is
a remarkable fact that no human
power can tear two pieces of paper in
exactly the same way; the ragged
hberS win only tit perfectly when the
two original parts are brought to-
gethcr, There remained no doubt
when this test was made in the pres
ent case, that the piece of paper found
ON Conductor DanfOrth's castbound
train had been torn from tre draft
in the express car robbed the night
before on the westbOund train. The
edges fitted, the red lines correspondent,
and unques uonabIy some one had car
ried that piece of paper from the one
train TO the other In other words
some one connected with the crime of
the previous night had ridden back 70
Chicago tWenty-fOur hours later with
Conductor DdnfOrth.
Mr.. Pinkerton at once ordered a
search made for the missing vaIise
and also an inquiry concerning the
passengers who had ridden on Con-
ductor DanfOrths train between Dav-
export and Chicago on the night fol-
lowing the murder The valise was
found on the dsh-heap where the con-
ductor had thrown it, and in the course
of the next few days the detectives
had located or accounted for all pas
sengers on Conductor DanfOrth's train
with the exception of one man who had
ridden on free pass. The conductor
could only recall this mans features
vaguely; and while some of the pas
sepgers remembered him well enough,
there was no clew TO his name or iden-
tity. As il appeared that no other of
the passengers could have been con-
nected with the crime. efforts were re-
doubled 10 discover the holder of this
pass.
So great was the public interest in
the crime and the mystery surround
ing II that three separate. well-organ-
lied lnveStiguICus of IL were under
taken. The Rock Island railroad Off
ciais, with their detectives. conducted
one; Chicago newspaper, with its de-
tectiVeS, another; and the Pinkertons,
IN the interest of the United States
Express company "a third
Mr.. Ptnkerton. as we have seen. con-
Guided that the crime had been com
mllted by railway men. The railway
officials were naturally disinclined to
believe III OF the employees, and an in
cident occurred about this time which
turned the investigation i'm an entirely
new direction and made them the more
H1EnnEan FlF D..
theory. This was the receipt of a letter
from convict i'm the Michigan CITY
penitentiary, named Plunkett. who
wrote the Rock Island railroad officials
saying that he could furnish them with
important information.
Mr.. 81. John. the general manager
or the road, went in person TO the
penitcntiary 10 take Plunkett's state
menT which was in effect that ne knew
the men who had committed the rob-
berry ana killed Nichols. and was
willing 10 sell this information in ex-
change for a full pardon, which the
railroad people could secure by using
their influence. This they promised 20
do II mis- story proved true, I. a
Plunkett then told them OF a plot tina.
had been worked out a year or so be-
lore, when he had been grating"
with a mob of pickpOckets al county
fairs. There was with him at that
time Butch" Mccoy, James Connors
OSnoWn as "Yellowhammer'0 and a
man named 'Jen," whose surname he
ana not know. These three men.
Plunkett said, had planned an express
robbery on the Rock Island road. 10 be
executed in precisely the same way.
and at precisely the same point on the
road as the case in question.
The story was plausible, and won
Mr.. St Johns belief Il won the be-
lief also of Mr. Melville Z. Stone.
publisher of the Chicago newspaper.
and forthwith the railway detectives
working with the newspaper detec-
tiVes We're instructed TO go ahead ON
new lines. regardless of trouble or ex-
pensc. Their first endeavor was T.
capture Butch Mccoy, the leader Of