The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1913-07-12

~ e standing offer which the
SSS postofiice dep r m
Isl makes for the capture OF
anybody who ventures to pillage a
train that is carrying the mails.
Train robbing is the most distinc,
lively American Of all professions; it
Is likewise the most perilous, bar
none. One Of the most recent exam
pies was the holding up Of the Over
land limited, bound from San Francis
co TO Chicago and points east. 1t was
halted at midnight by red lantern
! placed in the middle of the track three
miles west of Omaha, and the mail
car was plundered, seven pouches of
registered letters and packages being
| thrown out and rifed.
| The flying squadron" of postoffice
| detectives, with headquarters at Oma-
| ha, got after the robbers SO quick that
the latter were actually unable to
make their escape from the city. AS
sisted by the corps Of professional
bandit hunters, under Chief w. p.
Canada. they captured every one {
the holdup men, to the number Of
nve, within a notwithstanding the
fact that the days of train robbng as
safe and easy method of acquiring
wealth are past. The government will
spend unlimited money to catch such
outlaws. and the railroads offer addi-
tional rewards for their seizure, alive
or dead. Pursuit of them nearly al
ways winds up with desperate fight.
and the shooting is to kill
Chief Canada has under him eight
men, all Of them dead shots with rifle
or pistol. They travel in a special
car Of extra length. half of which is
occupied by stalls for nine horses.
Arrangements are such that they can
be on their way to the scene of a
train robbery within thirty minutes
after news of it has been received
Arriving there with fresh horses, they
can telegraph for relay mounts as
they are needed-two Of the men be-
Ing expert operators, who can easily
climb pole with a portable instru-
ment. They know how to follow a
trail that 10 ordinary person could
distinguish. and final escape for the
bandits Is almost out of the question.
Train robbers have grown much
bolder within recent years. Formerly
they piled their highly stimulating
vocation in remote and isolated parts
or the country; nowadays they do not
hesitate to operate in densely populat
cd districts and near the largest cities. !
not long ago train was held up near
Benlcia, Cal, and the mail rifled A
gang OF nine men conducted the affair. |
and all OF them were captured and |
sent to prison, five of them for life.
and the others for terms of fifteen
years to forty-five years.
Thus. the adoption of measures
sternly repressive, the postof1ice de-
partment Is enabled to prevent the
robbing Of mail trains from becoming
more popular as a form of industry
though on an average. half a dozen
instances of such outlawry occur
every year. But there is another kind
OF criminal enterprise which has
shown tendency to increase alarm
ingly, and with which the authorities
lind 1t difficult to deal This is the
pillaging of postof1ices by professional
lhleves-the extent of the business
being indicated by the fact that dur
Ing last year nearly 1000 postoffices
were "burgled."
This seems to be, under present con-
ditions. a fairly profitable species OF
crime. Postoffices are easily entered
1t night, and there is usually a safe
IN the premises which, containing as
t does the stock of stamps and a
'um OF money representing postal
unds may be expected to yield any
where from few hundred to several
thousand dollars. Not long ago the
'ostoffice at South Bend, Ind. was
'urglarized, and $1s.653 in stamps and
ASH was taken. During the same
welvemonth the postoffice at Daytona, (
Ia. yielded loot to the extent of
o,436; and 1920 was stolen from the
ostoftice at Santa Cruz, Cal.
The robbing of postoflices is today {
Well-organized industry. conducted {
y tramp-thieves of desperate charac-
er who call themselves "yeggmen." :
hese yeggmen have practically super I
eded the old-time safe blowers. For ,
lerly the blowing Of safes was done /
y few skillful. expert mechanics, G
DO carried high-class tools and knew I
st where to drill into the lock In J
rder 20 break it, or where to insert q
:.