The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-04-19

f1HE murder of Conductors Frazier
 by bandits occurred while wa s
 chief special agent for the Mis- tSAIS&I souri Pacific railway. and MT. Hoxie, the vice president and general manager, notified me to take action upon the case. I was to proceed to overton. Tex, where the attempted hold-up had occurred, and make my investigations Immediately.
 This episode happened in the year 1885. It was in the month of February and about midnigfd The weather was un- usually cold for that section. and the ground was covered with about two inches of snow. The train, which was bound south from Longview to Galveston and San Antonio, was in charge of Con ductor Frazier.
 Just as the train was about to pull out of the small station of Overton the col ortd porter, whose duty it was to see that no tramps or otfser inrduders board ed 1t when it was leaving stations, noticed two men climb aboard what is known as the blind" end of the baggage car, from the north side. On seeing them the porter boarded the baggage car at its rear end and. as the baggage cars of that period all had dooss at each end he entered the car by the rear door and opened the front door from the inside, thus coming upon the men suddenly from within. The train had not yet fully got underway and the porter peering out. or oered the tramps, as he supposed them to be-, to get off the train. Immediately they turned upon him, each man holding two large revolvers. The porter then perceived that they were wearing masks, and he was thoroughly frightened. Slam ming the door shut, he fastened it and rushed back into the car, where he met ('nnRyntnr -ouin x-ha Ha g..Hz that there were two tramps on the front end of the baggage car and that when he ordered them off. they had pointed revolvers at him. He did not tell the conductor that they were wearing masks however.
 Conductor Frazier, believing the men to be merely tramps who had got upon the car for the purpose of stealing a ride concluded that he would invite them into ihe smoking car out of the cold, where they would be more comfortable, and put them off at the next station. They would be more comfortable in the smoking car than out on the front platform. He went to the front end of the car aceompa- hied by brakeman named Powers He opened the front door and the men im- lnediately opened fire on him. Frazier fell forward dead, his body rolling off tne train into a ditch.
 The men now caught sight of Powers. me brakeman. who was behind the con ductor. As soon as the firing began Pow CTS turned to run back into the coaches. He was shot in the body and seriously wounded, The men then sprang from the train and disappeared
 tpon receiving my instructions from MT. HoXie, l departed for Overton. as have said. I left St. Louis early the morning following the attempted hold ui', reaching my destination some IS hours later Here I learned, in addition to the facts ] have given, that there was a rcTthbound passenger train from Calves ron that night. There was a water tank about three miles south of Overton and here the northbound train was to meet and pass Conductor Frazier's train oonJectured that the masked men had fn- tended to steal a ride on the south-bound train to the water tank, and there to