The Tomahawk. [volume] (White Earth, Becker County, Minn.) 1903-192?, 1916-06-22

nee.
On consulting the official time card
of the Missouri Pacific road l found
that, in order to protect the Lexington
branch train against the contemplated
robbery, it would be necessary to
leave St. Louis that morning, in order
to board the endangered train at lnde
pendence Junction the same evening,
as that train was due to leave Kansas
City on its eastward trip before the
train from st. Louis arrived there.
also found that if both trains were on
time I would have three minutes at
independence to make connections.
This was accomplished.
told the conductor in charge OF the
Lexington branch train at Independ-
ence of the instructions which l mad
received from Superintendent Clark,
and instructed him that, when the
train was tagged and stopped, he
should pay no attention to the parties
who had signaled her, but was to de-
vote his whole time to keeping his
passengers quiet in their seats and, In
particular, that he should see that
none of them raised window or put
his head out I then went over to the
engineer and told him what was liable
to happen.
when we arrive at the curve" l
said, you'll see the signal, which will
be red light shown across the track
You are to stop the train Immediately,
and under no circumstances are you
to run beyond the danger signal
T further instructed him that, after
stopping the train, he and his fireman
could squat down on what is known as
the hearth of the engine, in front of
the boiler, where they would both be
entirely safe, and could not be reached
by bullets fired from the ground, as
the sides of the cab, up as far as the
window stills, were steel, and by
STOPPING down below the level Of the
stills both Of them would be perfectly
safe from any shots that might be
fired. The engineer and firemen both
understood these instructions perfect
ly. but were naturally somewhat per-
turbed at the unexpected prospect in
store for them.
When the train reached the first
station north of the curve where the
holdup was to take place, and which
was about two miles distant, | placed
Mr.. Manning on the front platform Of
the express and baggage car, which
was immediat ely behind the engine.
He was armed with IA Colt Detec-
tive Frank Barnett Of the Missouri Pa
cific. who, as has been said, had
Joined our party at Independence,
where the transfer had been made to
the Lexington branch train, was placed
on the rear end of the express car,
and armed with a repeating W1nches-
ter shotgun. boarded the engine and
took a seat Oh the engine box, while
Mr.. Kay was placed on the fireman's
box on the opposite side. The fireman
gave Kay his cap to wear, and took
the engineers cap and put 1t on, so as
to deceive any person upon the ground
as to our identity. The real fireman
and engineer stood on the hearth in
front of the boiler head, as they had
been instructed They could attend to
their duties in. that place just as we'll
as though they were seated on their
respective boxes.
In this manner the train proceeded
southwark from the station toward
the curve When they reached it |,
being on the inside, was the first to
see the signal Adams report had
been verified to the letter and the
hold-up party was on the spot in read
mess.
The signal, which proved afterward
to be white lantern with red hand
kerchief tied over it, thus giving it the
appearance of real danger signal,
was swung backward and forward
across the track vigorously. While
the train was at least two hundred
yards distant called the engineers
attention to it. The train was then
running at a speed of about thirty
miles an hour.
"Slow up!" said to the engineer.
Get your train under control, and by
all means be sure to come to full
stop before passing the signal"
The engineer shut off steam, but he
did not apply the air brakes, and,
since there was slight doWn-grade to
the track, the train slackened speed
very little. Either the engineer was.
too startled by the verification of my
statement to remember the brakes, or
else he acted under the influence OF
the not unnatural desire to keep on
his journey without waiting for the
promised battle. At any rate, perceiv-
ing that the train was bound to pass
the signal, I threw on the reverse
lever, or plugged the engine" as the
engineer would say, which caused the
wheels to slip, and gradually brought
the train to a standstill, though not
before it had passed the curve.
Meanwhile the man with the lantern
was standing in the middle of the
track, swinging it vigorously. He did
not move until the engine was almost
on top Of him, and it looked as If he
was going to be run down. He leaped
aside just in time to save himself as
the train, with lessened speed but ter