Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-01-18
John Nolan, Held as a Suspect in
Daring W. and A. HoIdup, De-
fees Police to Prove He Was In
voIved; Taken to Crime Scene.
Railroad Offers $3.50 for Robber
as Clews Fail; Detectives Still
Believe Job Was Done by Gang
With Headquarters in Atlanta.

John Nolan, arrested as the lone
bandit who perpetrated one of the
most daring and spectacular train
robberies that Georgia has ever
known, went calmly to sleep Saturday
night in fun knowledge that in spite
of desperate work on the part of the
county police. the city detectives and
special agents for the railroads and
the added incentive of a $3.50 reward,
there was little more to fix suspicion
definitely upon him than there had
been when the officers started on the
trail IN the morning.
The county police, bending all their
efforts during the day toward turning
up one definite, conclusive clew that
would point to Nolan as the desper-
ado who held up the N, c. & st. L.
train the night before and relieved
I the passengers of nearly $780, ended
the Gay by rushing their prisoner in
an automobile to Bolton and taking
him over the ground that he is sup
posed TO have traversed just before
and Just after the holdup.
Smiles Through II All.
Through 1t all Nolan was smiling
and nonehalant. and when they
brought him back to Atlanta and put
him in the Tower he complacently
defied them to get thing on him"
Chief Mathieson, of the county po-
lice, would not say that he is con-
WINGED that Nolan is the robber. He
insisted, however, that Nolan has vet
to give satisfactory account of his
movements Friday night and that
suspicion naturally fastens on him.
That the railroad authorities are
not at all content with the arrest of
the mysterious Nolan. who calmly ad
| mits that he has been under arrest
| before in other cities about the coun-
try, was indicated Saturday night by
the offer of reward of $3.50 by the
Western and Atlantic for the arrest
and conviction of the bandit who ac-
tually did the job
| '~'' ''A'i VI lht itWdTu went out
over the name of ]. L. McColum. SUI
| perintendent OF the Western and At
lantic and the n, S. & st. L. roads.
| and read as follows:
"A reward of $3.50 will be paid for
the arrest and conviction of the ban
| dit who held up and robbed the pas
sengers on the Pullman car of the
| w. & A. train near Bolton on the
| night OF January 16"
Negro Identifies Nolan.
Nolan made the trip to Bolton in
| an automobile in company with Chief
Mathieson, County Policemen Whit
field and Pope and City Detective
Black. chief Mathieson said on his
| return that the only result of i'm
portance was the identification Of
Nolan by a negro employee at the
Bolton station.
The negro identified Nolan as the
man he had seen alight from the W.
e. A. train out of Atlanta Fridak
night at 5:45 o'clock This did not
serve to clear up the mystery in the
least, as Nolan already had told Of
taking this train to Bolton. and the
negro's identification only went to
confirm the prisoner.
The police. holding the theory that
Nolan is the robDer, say that he east
ly could have made his way to Vim
ings in time TO board the train for
Atlanta there, and also could have
walked to the point where he was
arrested after he had robbed the
passengers and leaped from the train
Fail to Develop clew.
Nolan was taken around to the diff
ferent places he said he had visited
after leaving the train at Bolton, but
according to the police, this developed
nothing OF Importance
Nolan kept his own counsel. He
would talk on almost any subject eX
cept the robbery, and he would con-
verse on that in general way,
Yes, I've been arrested before" he
admitted readily. Il was arrested