Democratic Sentinel, Volume 5, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 September 1881 — BOLD ARKANSAS BANDITS. [ARTICLE]

BOLD ARKANSAS BANDITS.

Robbery of a. Train on flie Iron iTloiintnin Rond by Three Despera-does-Iffore tlmn SIB,OOO Captured from the Express Car and I’asscnKern, - Newport, Ark., Sept. 23. At 11 o’clock last night the train on tho Iron Mountain railroad, whiieen route for St. Louis, was stopped near Hope by five masked men, one of whom took chargo of the engineer while the others entered the express car, presenting revolvers at the head of the express messenger and demanding that the safe be instantly opened. The demand was after brief expostulations complied with, and the robbers carefully examined the safe, abstracting the valuables and tossing them into a sack whioh one of them held. It was stated that they secured SIB,OOO. After going through tho express they entered the passenger cars, calling out in a threatening tone, “ Hold up your hands if vou value your lives.” Many of the passenger were not aware of what was going on in the rear cars, and the appearance of the robbers created an almost indescribable panic. Men attempted to spnng from the windows of the cars, women screamed aud tried to secrete themselves under the seats. Everybody was terrified, and nobody offered to lift a finger in resistance. Ono passenger gave up his pocket- bo6k, containing over SIOO in money and two checks for S4OO and S2OO respectively, almost mechanically. The passengers were literally stripped of everything in the shape of valuables. One man slipped a package of $2,000 under the seat and thus saved it, but the bulk of the travelers had not enough left to pay for their breakfast. The robbers occupied scarcely half an hour. They darted off into the woods as soon as they had completed their work, and the engineer at once ran the train into Little Bock. Intense excitement prevails. CoL H. M. Hoxie, General Manager of the St. Louis and Iron Mountain road, ffiiperintendent Buchanan and the Hon. C. B. Moore, Attorney General of the State, called on Gov. Churchill this afternoon and held a consultation, and the company offered $6,000 each and the State SSOO each for the capture of the robbers. Churchill left on a special at 4 o’clock this evening for the scene of the robbery, and will command a pursuit in person. The passengers lost about $2,000. The robbers wore do masks. The amount of the loss to passengers and the railroad company is placed at between $40,000 and $50,000. The robbers were all young, beardless boys, one of the passengers says. No trace of them has been found up to this hour.