Camas Prairie chronicle. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1901-1917, 1909-11-12
MAIL TRAIN ROBBER
BELIEVED TO BE UNDER AR
RESTED AT SEATTLE.
G. D. Howell, Believed to Be the Man
Who Turned Trick on G. NJ, Was
Held Under Charge of Robbing Ex-
press Office at Seattle Has Been
Identified as Being in Both Jobs.

After having bafhed scores of de-
tectives for nearly two years, the dar-
ing train robber who, on March Is,
1908, held up the mail car ON the Great
Northern Oriental Limited at Boomers
Ferry, Idaho, now is locked up safely
in the King county Jail in the person
of c. d. Howell, until recently night
yard Waterman of the c., M. & P. S.
railway at Seattle, provided the identi-
tication by two witnesses made in
Seattle is correct.
Howell has been held in the King
county Jail several days on charge
of holding up the Great Northern ex-
press Office in Seattle on the night of
October 10, 1909, when lone thug
carried away loot amounting to about
$4,000 The Identification of him as
the Boomers Ferry highwayman was
brought about through the work of
Detective John S. Delaney of the Great
Northern secret service department.
Leave to Identity of Prisoner.
Detective Delaney left Spokane for
Seattle in company with j. H. Hoag-
land, who in March, 1908, was properi-
etor of the West hotel at Boomers
Ferry, and one of the mail clerks who
was on the car at the time it was
held up.
Case Hinges on Identification.
"The whole case hinges on whether
Mr.. Hoagland and the mail clerk can
identify Howell" say Detective De-
laney just before leaving for Seattle.
Il have considerable collateral evil
dence which, if the Identification is
made, can be welded into links sufi-
GENTLY strong, in my opinion, to prove
beyond reasonable doubt that Howell
IS the man who pulled off the Boomers
Ferry mail car robbery.
- What my collateral evidence is l
do not think it wise to divulge at this
time. 1t will come out later.''
Howell formerly was for two years
postmaster at Havre, Mont. Prior to
going to Seattle about two months ago
he was for three years a bartender at
Occur d 'Alene, Idaho.
Howell has been identified by the
Great Northern agent and his assist
ant at Seattle as the lone holdup who
robbed the express office on the night
of October 10. The agent, Eugene
Smonson, and his assistant, E. Y. |
White, were alone in the Office when
the thug entered.
Smoked Pipe, Rifing Mail.
The following is the account of the
Boomers Ferry holdup, March 16, 1908:
In the guise of a postofice inspec- !
tor bandit obtained admittance to
the postal ear on the Great Northern
Oriental Limited at Boomers Ferry. !
Idaho, at an early hour in the morning. |
overpoWered the two clerks at the point
OF gun, locked one in closet, bound |
the other and put him under the table |
and then, coolly smoking a pipe all the
while, calmly rifed the through regis
tered mail pouches while the train was
proceeding to Spokane. During the /
run to Spokane of 100 miles, which re.
CURED over six hours, the robber re-
celved the mail at three stations where
the train stopped and threw off the
paper mail.
Just before the train entered the
yards of Spokane, the bandit leaned
from the car and with his booty in y
small satchel, which he carried when
ne entered the coach at Boomers Ferry,
made his escape.