THE MODERN DICK TURPIN.
WHEN
train robbery was in its infancy, it
was infinitely more easy than to-day. In those
times the cars were coupled together with
a pin, as is seen now on freight-cars. The
road-agents would wait until the train had
stopped at some little country station selected
for the scene of their operations, when
they would loose the coupling-pin between
the express and passenger cars, and springing
up on the tender, command the engineer to
"pull open the throttle." This command
was emphasized by a rifle, and the engineer
knew that failure to obey meant death. When
the express car had been carried a sufficient
distance, to where the "gang" was in waiting,
the order would be given to stop, and
then the robbers could do as they pleased
regarding the contents. Such a course was
adopted by the Reno brothers in Indiana, the
town of Seymour being their regular
operating-place. Engineers and messengers were
killed at their post of duty, immense hauls
of money made, until the railroad company
abandoned the station, and ceased to stop
there at all. Then the gang was driven over
into Canada, and effort was made to extradite
them, but the attorneys for the accused held
that their clients would never reach the courtroom
alive, as summary vengeance had been
meted out to other men of like character.
Allan Pinkerton was in Canada on the trail
of the outlaws, and while there was shot by
their friends and paralyzed. At length Mr.
Seward, then Secretary of State, promised
that all means would be used to protect the
men, and bring them to a fair trial; so the
Renos returned to this country, and were
lodged in a strong jail. But the citizens
were aroused, and one night a mob assailed
the jail, and the prisoners were hung in the
building wherein they had been placed.
The detectives Pinkerton have been the
means of running many of these fellows to
earth, and many of their men have been
killed by the bullets of the robbers. On one
occasion a robber by the name of Farrington,
a member of a strong gang, was run
down by William Pinkerton. He had
assisted in a train robbery, and the detective
was to take him to Memphis for trial. The
agent at St. Louis feared that he would be
lynched, and objected, but Pinkerton promised
to use all precaution, and took a Mississippi
steamboat. While going down the
stream, the detective and his prisoner were
standing by the guard rail. Both wore long
ulsters, and suddenly the robber, holding his
manacled hands together, dived into the
detective's pocket and hauled forth his pistol.
There was not a moment to lose. Quick as
thought, Pinkerton caught the other under
his chin with his fist, and the man rolled over
into the river. There was nothing else to be
done.
Everybody remembers the James and the
Younger brothers, who held their territories
paralyzed by fear, and not until they went
forth to pastures new were they captured.
But these men did not confine themselves to
trains. In a train robbery the safe of the
express messenger is the objective point,
although very often the robbers have incidentally
relieved the passengers of their
valuables. And, strange as it may seem, one man
has held many a car-load of passengers at
bay, while his accomplice has collected tribute.
Often have the men thus robbed been
armed, but as often have they refrained from
shooting. The reason given is that when the
train is attacked, the robbers begin by a fusillade
that throws everybody into a panic;
they also know that no mercy is to be looked
for. A laboring man, who happened to be
in a car that was boarded by robbers, obeyed
the injunction to hold up his hands, but he
also held up a mason's trowel that he was
carrying, and the robbers, supposing that it
was a pistol, shot him dead on the instant.
Whether they become panic-stricken, or are
afraid of the consequences, it is hard to say,
but it is a fact that one man may subdue a
dozen other men, and work his own sweet
will regarding them.
The papers of late have reported an
unusual lot of train robberies in all sections of
the country. The trains have been stopped
in some out-of-the-way place, and the
express car looted. Obstructions placed on
the track have caused the engineer to stop,
and then the robbers, who have been in waiting,
have come forward and accomplished
their desire. Dynamite has been used to
blow open the doors of the express car, after
which the messengers have been compelled
to open their safes. Again, the robbers have
boarded the trains at different points as
passengers, and when a secluded spot is reached,
the bell-cord has been pulled, and the seeming
passengers have come forth in their true
light. As a rule, however, the men are
disguised, as shown in the picture, where part
of the gang has come forward to watch the
engineer. A late example of the dangers of
train robbery has been illustrated in the
arrest of the leader of the men who robbed the
San Francisco train at Glendale, Missouri,
on November 30th, and got away with $70,000
from the Adams Express messenger.
Robert Pinkerton, the noted detective, at once
started to unravel the mystery that enveloped
the robbery, and the leader was arrested,
having been followed from St. Louis to the
Pacific coast, just one month after the deed
was committed. This is very quick work,
and shows the danger that the robbers run.
In this case it was Adams Express Company
that developed a great desire for the
apprehension of the bandits, for their messenger
was robbed, which is not always the way.
Robbers have been known time and again
to leave untouched the Adams Express package,
while the safe in which the other valuables
have been stored has been cleaned of
all else.
The truth is that the robbers are afraid to
take the money that is in charge of Adams
Express Company, for they know that they
will be hunted down for years. The
company has the reputation of being most
unceasing in their search for the criminal, and
a like sum to that stolen will be spent in
prosecuting the case. Whenever any money
is lost by them, the Pinkerton detectives are
set to work at once, and all trails are
followed unceasingly until the criminal is
captured. The robbers know this; they know
that there may be a hundred thousand
dollars within their grasp, but they will decline
to take it, for capture is almost assured.
There is no place in the world where they
can go with the assurance that they will not
be followed. This last capture proves the
certainty, and they do not care to take the
risk. The messengers are brave men, as a
rule, and many a one has lost his life in
discharge of his duty.
As the express company
is quick to punish, so is it to reward, and on
one occasion a messenger was presented with
a thousand dollars for his bravery in defending
the property in his care. Soon after this,
another express car was boarded by a masked
man, and the messenger made to open the
safe, from which everything was taken. As
the robber turned to go out, the messenger
shot him from behind, and when the mask
was lifted, the dead man proved to be the
messenger lately rewarded for his fidelity.
All safeguards that have been devised for
the prevention of train robbery have been
overcome by the natural cussedness of man.
There is really no prevention, unless the
passengers rise to the occasion, which they have
never done yet. The messenger may be willing
to fight, but he has no show, and the
engineer and conductor of the train are probably
looking into the muzzle of a gun; so
there is only the passenger to call upon, and
he shows a degree of backwardness that is
hard to be believed. When an obstruction
is placed upon the track, the engineer has to
stop to save his train; there are no two ways
about it. And there have been cases where
the track has been removed, so that the train
may be wrecked to satisfy the greed of the
robbers.
