Train robbery

“ Robbery was as common as lying. To-day human life is as safe in Bosnia as in Illinois. Travel is safer there because there has never been a train robbery in that country. During the last ten years, out of a total population of nearly [276] 2,000,000, the homicides have averaged six a year, and in 1900 there were only two. There has been no case of highway robbery since 1895. Which of the states in the American Union can show a better record? ”

“ Why, one of our American gangs that hold up a train, and get an express safe full of greenbacks, and shoots up a mess of railroad hands and passengers with Winchesters and automatic pistols, and blows up cars with dynamite and gets away and has to have a bookkeeper and a cashier to keep their bank accounts straight, could give those old Claude Duvals and Sixteen-String Jacks cards and spades.
But civilization, dad says, has done much for the highway robbery business, and he says we in America have arrived at absolute perfection. ”

“ I smiled at the absolute innocence and wonder with which she spoke, and replied, “I know now, Miss Cullen, why you said I was braver than the Britishers.”
“How do you know?”
I couldn’t resist getting in a side-shot at Lord Ralles, who had mounted his mule and sat scowling. “The train-robbers were such thoroughgoing duffers at the trade,” I said, “that if they had left their names and addresses they wouldn’t have made it much easier. We Americans may not know enough to deal with real road agents, but we can do something with amateurs.” ”

“ Yet to suppose—which seemed the only other horn to the dilemma—that the son and guests of the vice-president of the Missouri Western, and one of our own directors, would be concerned in train-robbery was to believe something equally improbable. Indeed, I should have put the whole thing down as a practical joke of Mr. Cullen’s party, if it had not been for the loss of the registered letters. Even a practical joker would hardly care to go to the length of cutting open government mail-pouches ”

“ The reason therefor is that the robber usually engages in robbery with the determination to murder his victims if necessary to carry out his purpose.
“It is sad to behold a young man like yourself, who, by an upright and virtuous life, might have been an honorable and useful citizen, enjoying the blessings of the most refined and elevated society, banished, as it were, from all that renders life desirable. ”

“ My next anxiety was over the detectives at the depot in Pittsburg. They were in the employ of the railroad, and had been pointed out to me by Eddie Hughes when we were there before the start for the Cadiz robbery. I was obliged to change cars there, and would have to wait an hour for the train on the connecting road. The newspaper I had read at the hotel recited the offering of a reward for the capture of the two burglars yet at large, and I felt that the railroad sleuths might be on the watch for a man about my size. ”

“ Such trains should be avoided if first-class protection against robbery is desired. I will give a sufficient reason for thus advising my friends. In a certain bank robbery, the identity of which I purpose not to disclose at present, I was reasonably sure that I possessed the first number of the train used on the vault-door lock. ”

“ Not since the robbery of the Southern Express car on the Mobile and Ohio Railway at Union City, Tenn., in October, 1870, by the celebrated Farrington brothers, had highwaymen made a raid on a Southern Express train.21 The Pinkerton Detective Agency having been given charge of the Union City, Tenn., case, and all the participants in that crime having been punished to the full extent of the law, the management of the Southern Express Company called to their aid at once the Pinkerton force. ”

“ Excitement is bad for his—heart."
"This kind of excitement is good for my heart."
"Are you with me?"
"Right at your back, Sir."
"That bandit probably overheard our plan to ship those gold bonds on No. 10."
"Why not send fake bonds with armed guards on that train and—"
"—carry the real treasure with us on our train."
"She's a great girl! I sort of hate to have her think I'm a low-down train robber—"
"Stick around the private car and watch Holt. I'll be up the road."
"I fooled Cullen easily. ”

“ Considering well all these points of evidence, any shrewd analyzer of human nature can readily [Pg 151] determine whether or not either of the James boys was connected with any robbery reported.
On the night of July 15th, 1881, an outward going passenger train from Kansas City over the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad was robbed at Winston Station, Daviess county, Missouri, under the following circumstances: The train left Kansas City at 6:30 P. M., in charge of William Westfall, the conductor; Wolcott, the engineer, and Charlie Murray, express messenger. ”

“ Matching mighty power and terrific speed against the distances and dangers of the rocky mountain county.
$10,000 REWARD
For the Capture of the Gang of
TRAIN ROBBERS
Terrorizing the K&A.Railroad
EUGENE CULLEN, Pres.
The president's private car roamed the rails on an inspection trip to end at his western home.
Eugene Cullen—
President of the road.
...William Walling.
Burton Holt—
Cullen's secretary. If he's a college man—it must have been Vassar.
...Carl Miller
"We can't afford to handle any more bank shipments with our trains continually held up by bandits!" ”

“ He's carrying the bonds on his own train."
"We'll hold you up after the second tunnel."
"Holt, you're a great help to me!"
"I believe you're thinking about that bandit."
"Money—is—on—Cullen's—train—"
"Holt—has—tipped—off—robbers—to—hold—up—engineer—after—second—tunnel—"
"He's in with the train robbers, Mr. Cullen—I heard everything—"
"Surely, you don't believe this tramp!"
"You oughta believe a man when he tells th' truth fer the first time in his life!"
"I'll go back and flag No. 10."
"Tom trusted me—an' I failed him—"
"Tom—you mean that highwayman?" ”

“ Rube Burrow never talked with me about any particular robbery he was engaged in, except at Genoa, Ark. He did tell me he was in that robbery, and indirectly mentioned the Gordon and Ben Brook, Texas, robberies, giving me to understand he was in those robberies also.
I have heard Rube Burrow say that if he was out of trouble, or if he was where he could quit robbing trains, that he would stop it. He thinks a great deal of his children, and is anxious to have them educated, and spoke of coming back to Lamar County in the spring to see if they were at school. ”

“ THE CAPTURE OF RUBE SMITH AND JAMES M’CLUNG AT AMORY, MISS.—M’CLUNG’S CONFESSION—A PLAN TO ROB THE TRAIN FALLS THROUGH—A SAFE ROBBERY NIPPED IN THE BUD. When the Buckatunna robbery of September 25, 1889, occurred, the fact that three men participated in that deed proved that a third man had joined Rube Burrow since his last robbery at Duck Hill, on December 15, 1888, and the identity of the third man puzzled the detectives of the Express Company for some weeks. ”

“ He recalled the detailed descriptions of the actions of the seven robbers, how some of them had prowled up and down outside the train, while others went through it rifling the passengers, and still others, forward, overawed the engineer and fireman, broke open and robbed the express car safe in the face of an armed messenger as well as mailman and trainmen, and how they had then decamped into the dark. How could one man have done it? ”

“ About a month prior to the Duck Hill robbery the United States Express Company had been robbed at Derby, Miss., a station sixty-five miles north of New Orleans, on the Queen and Crescent Railway, by Eugene Bunch, a man who is supposed by some persons, even at this day, to be identical with Rube Burrow. Eugene Bunch, a native of Louisiana, and long a resident of Texas, bore a remarkable resemblance to Rube Burrow. ”

“ Allan, twisting his head around, saw that there were two men in the office besides the one with the revolver, and he fancied he could detect another walking up and down before the station. He knew, of course, that they were after the miners’ money, and the robbery had evidently been planned with great care—as it had need to be, to stand any chance of success.
“Now, there’s just one fellow in there,” continued the man, who was evidently the leader of the expedition, “and we’ve got to rush him. ”

“ He seemed thoroughly penitent over his crimes, and, after reaching Texarkana, disclosed the fact that he had about four hundred dollars of the proceeds of the Genoa robbery, which he proposed to and did restore.
Brock was a rough, uncouth-looking fellow, about five feet eleven inches high; weighed about 180 pounds, and was a strong-chested, broad-shouldered fellow, whose forbidding features made him a typical train robber. He was about thirty-one years old, and although born in Georgia, his parents moved to Texas when he was quite a child. ”

“ When I started from Allen Burrow’s on the 15th of July I intended to go to Columbus, Miss., and from there to some point in Kentucky, and intended to quit train robbing. That is why I gave away my pistols.
We got in the Duck Hill robbery about $1,500 in greenbacks, and about $250 in silver. This we divided, each taking half. We did not rob the mail at Duck Hill. Burrow wanted to do it, but I would not agree to it. Burrow insisted on robbing the mail at Buckatunna, but Smith and I protested against it. Burrow said, “If we can get away with one, we can get away with the other ”

“ The failure of the robbers to make a rich haul was due to the fact that the express car which contained the train's treasure was in an unusual place. It was the third car in the train. After wrecking the mail car and obtaining no booty, the robbers disappeared in the darkness. The only loot that they carried away was the gold watch of the engineer. Most of the trainmen were shot at, but none was injured either by the dynamite or firearms. ”

“ The man described by Engineer Therrill as number one is easily recognized as Rube Burrow, number two as Joe Jackson, and number three as Rube Smith. The trestle at which the robbery was committed was undergoing repair by a force of bridge men, and the train was in the habit of stopping and then proceeding slowly across it. When the train stopped, therefore, Messenger Dunning supposed it was on account of the bad condition of the trestle, and gave little thought to the matter. ”

“ I escaped from him and was climbing a fence when the bullet caught me in the leg.”
Blair will be confined in the criminal ward at the County Hospital until he is physically able to be arraigned. He will be charged with highway robbery, the police say.
FREE-FOR-ALL FIGHT
New York World
With whistle screeching and hundreds of passengers yelling for help out of the windows, a northbound Third avenue elevated train was held in panic late last night by a crowd of roughs, who terrorized the passengers and assaulted a conductor.
More than a dozen women, returning from the theatre, fainted, and Mrs. ”

“ She's been on a dude ranch up the river and is probably going to meet her father."
"She's a richer haul than the K & A ever carried. The old man would pay plenty of ransom for her!"
Madge Cullen—
Would do anything in the world for her father——except marry Holt.
...Dorothy Dwan
"Get your men down in the cut."
"Better not struggle—you might get hurt!"
"Some girl being kidnapped—that's the sheriff's posse after them—"
"Come on, boys—get him!"
"Take care of Madge, Holt."
"Stop the train, Holt—I'm going to turn this bandit over to the posse!" ”

“ Possees were at once organized and sent in pursuit. It was evident that the work was that of Rube Burrow. “I will rob this train or kill every man on it” was the identical expression used at Genoa and at Duck Hill. His disposition to be humorous—in fact, every detail of the robbery gave evidence of his identity as the leader.
The robbers were traced from the scene of their crime in an easterly course. Blood-hounds were used in the pursuit, but the trail being cold they were abandoned. The detectives, however, quietly took up the trail and followed it towards Demopolis, Ala. ”

“ My advice to you, if you should ever be in a hold-up, is to line up with the cowards and save your bravery for an occasion when it may be of some benefit to you. Another reason why officers are backward about mixing things with a train robber is a financial one. Every time there is a scrimmage and somebody gets killed, the officers lose money. If the train robber gets away they swear out a warrant against John Doe et al. and travel hundreds of miles and sign vouchers for thousands on the trail of the fugitives, and the Government foots the bills. ”

“ Surprised and unnerved by the suddenness of the attack, the passengers obeyed. Then three of the band proceeded through the train and commanded the passengers to 150 surrender up their money and their jewelry. They made a searching examination of each person in the cars. It is understood that several thousand dollars were obtained in this way. The express and mail car were searched and rifled. The spoils of the examination were put into a sack, and the robbers sought their horses, and mounting, speedily galloped away. ”

“ All the previous cases in which he had sat had been for murder or arson, robbery or theft, burglary, blackmail or some other outrageous offense against common morals or decency. But here was a man who had never done anything but good in his life, and was at the bar of justice charged with crime merely because some cold-blooded mercenaries thought he was interfering with their business! Bently was in a recalcitrant and indignant frame of mind against the prosecution long before the defense began. ”