The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1911-07-14
the first two joined. They all disap
peared in the timber.
Suspected the Men.

the first two Joined. They all disap-
peared in the timber.
Suspected the Men.
Suspecting that the men were not
acting in good faith, the engineer
pulled the throttle open and the
train dashed on. No stop was made
at Judson, or until this city was
reached, at 1890 o'clock. The ar
fair was then reported to the local
officials of the road, and to l.. F.
Martin, an inspector of the road.
who happened to be in the city, hav-
ing arrived at seven o'clock last
evening on business. Mr.. Martin
wired the facts to c. F. Prescott.
chief night dispatcher at Winona,
and the latter notified Division SUI
perintendent E. E. Nash. Mr.. Nash
instructed Mr.. Martin to ask Sheriff
Osten to take the matter in hand
and to afford protection for the pas
senger trains and endeavor to pre-
vent holdup if one was planned.
Posse Boarded Train.
Sheriff Osten quickly got together
a posse consisting of Deputy Sheriff
Ed. Ario, Policeman Joseph Budde,
former Policeman Joe Robb, Frank
Franciscus, Robert Baker, and a rep
resentative of The Free Press. These
men, and also Inspector Martin,
boarded the next passenger train to
pass the supposed danger zone,
which was west bound passenger
train No. SIT, which left Mankato at
1918 a. m. for South Dakota points
1t was suspected that the four men
who had stopped the freight train
were planning holdup of passen-
ger train, and that in the darkness
they had mistaken the freight for a
passenger and on seeing their mis-
take had retreated into the woods to
await the arrival of passenger
train, when they would attempt to
hold it up and rob it. While these
suspicious did not take very deeu
root upon the officials, still it was
thought best to be on the safe side
and take no chances.
Three Men Heavily Armed.
Messrs. Ario, Robb and Fransis
Gus, all heavily armed, rode in the
cab of the engine with Engineer Bull,
lard, while the others remained back
in the coaches with Conductor Nose
Gage. All were prepared to dc
business with the robbers if the
train should be held up, and it was
planned to sweep the robbers out OF
existence before they could have
time to do any mischief.
The train, however, was not mo
Tested. The guards scanned the
timber and every hiding place as
the train rushed along, but nobody
was seen save one lone tramp who
was lying asleep beside the track
near Cambria.
Conductor Gage Notified.
Conductor Nose Gage of passen
ger train No. SIT was notified at Wa
SEGA of the mysterious actions OF
the four men. He received a tele
gram from the Winona headquarters
Of the company that "about three
miles west of Judson two men
stopped No. SIS tonight. When they
saw it was freight train they got
away from track and were met by
two other men. Conductor OF 57e
thinks it might be they were think.
ing of holding up train thinking il
! was a passenger train.
Mr.. Gage, who is one OF the old
timers on the line, was as cool as
a cucumber and when the train
reached Judson, he made a personal
inspection of the surroundings, and
assured himself that no wOuld-be
hold-up artists were lurking about
that station or were in the vicinity
Mr.. Gage has had several encoun
tiers with tough ''mutts" and he
would have braved band of train
robbers had they attempted any OF
their funny work.
Met New Ulm Officials.
On arriving at New Ulm it was
found that the officials there were
in ignorance of the precautions be
ing taken, but Officer A. Stiemanr
of the police force was at the depot
The party aroused Sheriff w. ]. Ju
Illus and officers John Kerzol and
Joseph Dauer were summoned, and
after searching the railway yards
and finding no suspicious characters
the New Ulm officers entertained
the Mankato posse until the early
morning passenger train from the
west arrived This train arrived il
Mankato at 5:25 a. m., and was
guarded in exactly the same manner
as No. SIT had been, but nobody
showed up to modest it.
The freight that was signalled to
stop left New Ulm at $40 p. m. last
evening. The spot where the men
were encountered was lonely one
and an ideal place for holdup
Heavy timber is on the south side
of the track, except where small
vacant house stands, and an old cat
| tie she'd This morning numerous
cattle were seen in the enclosure
grazing peacefully. The track pas
ses through a kind of cut at this
point. and the houses are far apart
and the country deserted.
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