Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-01-18
John Nolan, Held as a Suspect in
Daring w. and A. HoIdup, De-
fes Police to Prove He Was In
volved; Taken to Crime Scene.
Railroad Offers $3.50 for Robber
as CIews 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 full knowledge that in spite
or 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 duIfng 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
the passengers of nearly 5000, ended
the Gay by rushing their prisoner in
an automobile to Bolton and taking
MN over the ground that he Ia sun
posed to have traversed just before
and Just after the holdup.
Smiles Through II All,
through it all Nolan was smiling
and nonchalant, and when thew
Drought him back to Atlanta and put
MN In the Tower he complacentIv
defed them to get a thing on him.
Chief Mathieson. of the county no.
lice, would not say that he IL 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.
mat the railroad authorities are
not at all content with the arrest of
the mysterious Nolan, who calmly ad
mits that he has been under srrest
before in other cities about the conn
try, was indicated Saturday night bv
the OTTER OF reward of $3.50 bv the
Western and Atlantic for the arrest
and conviction OF the bandit who Ar
tually did the job.
Inc offer of the reward went ont
over the name Of ]. L. McCollum su-
perintendent OF the Western and A.
lantic and the ~, s. & St L. roads
and read as follows:
"A reward OF $3.50 will be paid for
the arrest and conviction of the han
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.
& A. train out OF Atlanta Friday
'iSht ct y 10 U CtDCh. L MS ola not
serve to clear up the mystery in the
least, as Nolan already had told of
taking this train to Bolton, and the
negroes Identification only went to
confirm the prisoner.
The police, holding the theory that
Nolan Is the roboer, 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 10 the point where he was
arrested after he had robbed the
passengers and leaped from the train.
Fail to Develop cIew.
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 a general way.
Yes. I've been arrested before" he
readily. Il was arrested