Omaha daily bee., 1910-04-19
ROBBERS TURN ENGISELOOSE
Hold Up China-Japan Mail at sprig,
Cal, and Open Throttle.
LOCOMOTIVE DAsHEs ALONG WILD
Passes section Of Pacific
Passengers on sidetrack@Oper-
atOr saves Lives on Sec
ond Train.

49, aANA~A A $50 $3.50 ~ 49,
at . O'Clock Saturday night was held up
by two masked men az Sprig. two miles
east OF here at $3.50 o'clock yesterday and
robbed Of nine pouches Of registered mail.
The train carried no express matter.
-Four Of the pouches have been recovered.
but the robbers rifled the others and now
are hiding in the hills and canyons be-
tween Marines and Oakland. sheriffs'
posses from two counties. detectives and
postoffice inspectors on horses and in au-
tomobfes are engaged in the man hunt
Tae robbers are well armed and a battle
is anticipated.
The passengers on the train were not
disturbed and several OF them did not
learn Of the robbery until this morning.
After getting the mail sacks the robbers
cut the engine loose from the train and
sent it wild. throttle open. down the main
track 70 the east
In the direct path OF the engine was a
section Of passenger train No. S, west
bound. heavily loaded. But for the pres
ence Of mind Of a telegraph operator at
Susan a serious collision would have
taken place. The engine was thrown into
a ditch in the nick of time. The train
robbery is the first in California for sew
eral years. II was plotted and executed
~ - 100 A9
Men Climb In Engine.
Before the fast mail arrived at Benicia,
two men who had left Oakland on an
other train two hours earlier and had left
their train on the Port Costa ferry
climbed unObserved on the rear end Of
the fast malls locomotive The train had
gone less than five miles from Benicia
when the stow Always crswied over the
oil tank Of the tender and pointed re-
volvers at the heads Of the engineer and
fireman. ordering them to stop the en-
CINE and get off.
I'VE are not going to hurt you.' said
one OF the robbers. IAN we want is the
treasure box"
Take US 20 the express car"
When informed by the train crew that the
train carried no express matter. they said:
Then take as TO the mali car"
Arriving there they threatened to blow It
up with dynamite II the door was not
opened. Under this threat, Herbert B.
Black, in charge Of the car and his as
sistant. Thomas W. Clancy appeared at the
door. The robbers compelled the engineer
and fireman to enter the car with orders to
throw out the registered mail packages"
Newspapers Didn' Do.
Black started to toss out the newspaper
sacks, but the robbers detected the ruse at
once. They threatened to kill the clerk un-
less he gave them the registered mail.
Black complied. The engine crew then was
forced to carry the nine sacks to the en-
CINE.
The engine ard mail car were then un-
coupled from the coaches filled with sleep
ing passengers and run down the track two
miles. Here the mail pouches were thrown
Out, the engine u~ncoupled, and its throttle
pushed wide open. The engine dashed for
ward on its wild journey toward a pas
senger train coming westward to iToIenas.
sixteen miles east, passing the first Sec
ton on a siding at Cygnus.
As the engine passed the station at Sui
san. the operator noticed II was running
Wild. He Immediately reported to the dis
patcher's office at Oakland a l received in
structions to call Tolenas and instruct them
to deraIl the on-coming engine Second
section Of train No. s, westbound. had
Just arrived at Tolenas under orders to
wait there for the China-Japan Mail. The
switch was thrown and the runaway en-
CINE, by this time, pretty well relieved OF
steam. ran on a siding and smashed into a
string Of box cars.
Robbers Cross Bay.
In the meantime the robbers were max
ing their escape across San Pablo bay into
which the a river empties. The
news Of the robbery had gone up and down
the line and posses were quickly formed.
Just before fleeing with the mall sacks
the robbers fired four shots, to frighten
off Immediate pursuit. Even this did not
awaken the passengers. The porter heard
the shots and locked all the doors to the
sleeping cars. The train lay engineless for
some time while an engine was secured
from Sacramento. II then was hurried into
Sacramento. arriving at s o'clock this
morning.
A good description OF the bandits was
furnished by a man on the ferry boat who
had observed them as they hung about
Port Costa waiting for the train. They
appeared to be railway mechanics and from
their familiarity with the engine officials
ii is thought the robbers are former rail-
way employees
Their trail has been followed to the
rough hill country between Martinez and
Oakland and it is believed they are headed
toward san Francisco and have a good
chance to escape.
Escape Made to Water.
Near where the bandits left the engine,
a road leads to the east bank OF the bay.
The men ran down this road to a row boat
concealed in the bushes. The four sacks
they I'D not take with them were found
later along the edge Of the track. They
evidently had fallen from the engine after
IL had been ~uncoupled from the train.
From the point where their boat was
moored. the bandits rowed directly across
the bay to Bulls Head point one and q
half miles east OF Martinez. There they
abandoned the boat. In climbing the bank
one OF the men slipped and lost a SS-eali-
bre revolver and a pair OF field glasses
This made three clues for the officers to
work on
From the point where the boat was aban-
doned ali trace OF the men was lost, but
before daylight a horse and buggy were
stolen. supposedly by the robbers. from a
stable in Martinez.
Between 3 and 4 o'clock in the morning
George Frazier. a farmer living three
miles east OF Martinez, heard a horse and
buggy driven past his house az a wild
pace, This has lent definite directions &c
the chase. which early IN the afternoOr
~centered in the hills and open country
leading 70 Oakland.
Sheriff Veale Of Contra Costa county wa
the first official TO start after the ban.
dts. With a posse he left Marines a
1 O'Clock IN the morning. They crosses
from the wesf shore Of the bay IN I