People's Pilot, Volume 3, Number 15, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 September 1893 — BAFFLED BANDITS. [ARTICLE]

BAFFLED BANDITS.

They Undertake to Rob a Train Near at. Joseph. Mo.—Their Plana Known in Advance—A Decoy Train Swarming with Armed Men Sent Out—lt la Stopped by the Gang and a Battle Enanea—Two of the Robbers Killed and the Beat Captured. St. Joseph, Mo., Sept. 26. — The men ; who tried to rob the Kansas City, St. J Joseph &. Council Bluffs express train Sunday night were residents of this city, and the two killed were Fred Kohler. aged 19. who lived with his young wife at 1815 South Tenth street, and Hugo Engel, stepson of Henry Gleitze, ! proprietor of tne Occidental hotel. | Four other men, John Gleitze, N. A. ! Hearst, Charles Fredericks and Will I Garrer, were captured. The officers of the Kansas City, St. Joseph * Council Bluffs Ry, have known | for some time that an attempt would ; be made to rob one of their trains, and | preparations were made* to capture the ! robbers. Detective P. T. Locke first re- | ceived information about the proposed j robbery August 11, and he has since ! been in constant communication with . the railway officials concerning it Friday night was fixed for the deed, but owing to the fact that the robbers got the trains mixed up the train escaped. Sunday the officials of the railj road company were notified by Hearst, I i who turned traitor, that another attempt would be madeoat 1 o’clock this \ i morning at the same place. The offi- i cials quietly sidetracked the regular ! train, and with a dummy train made j up like the regular one, with the two j rear coaches darkened to add to the de- ! ception, started for the place In the baggage-car were fifteen armed police, | commanded by Chief Broden, with ! Sheriff Carson and four deputies, all heavily armed. General Manager j Brown and Superintendent Hohl were , also ii* the party. Engineer Callicotte ! | was pressed into service as an express J man. He wore overalls and an empty j safe and some empty boxes were put in i his car to give it the appearance of do- | j ing an express business. In the first ; coaches were W. C. Brown, Mr. Hohl j and Mr. Sanford, superintendent of the ' i Adams Express company. When the train reached Schutzen j j park, a short distance this side of the i j water works, a man Stepped out on j I the track and swung a red lantern, j | Engineer Wright stopped his engine ! and he and the fireman were at once I j covered by a masked man with a shot- I j gun. They were ordered to go ] ; back to the express car. When they I reached the car two of the robbers j j pounded with their guns on the door > j and ordered the messenger to open it. I After a short parley Callicotte threw I open the door. Chief Broler and his ; men were concealed behind the safe and j the empty boxes. When the robbers orj dered the express messenger to open i the door they threatened to blow up the car with dynamite, of which they ! | had two large sticks. It was known ! to the officers that dymanite might be i used. The express messenger pro tem. | was, therefore, instructed to open the j door of his car before the robbers had a chance to explode the stuff. | When the men entered the car the : officers on duty were ready for them, and ordered them to throw up their hands. The robbers began the firing, and at the first fire Hearst, Fredericks j and Carver, the decoys, dropped to j the ground and laid down to prevent j being shot. Engle leaped from the car and ran for the brush on the east side of the train, from where he continued to shoot till discovered. Kohler, whose

job was to stand outside and keep passengers from coming outof the cars,was on the east side of the train also, and he poured a fire into the express car and coach. Henry Gleitze, who was on the west side of the train, fired several shots at the officers in the express and mail cars, and then ran. Kohler proved himself to he a most desperate man. His body was pierced by forty-three bullets, yet, while he lay on the ground, he managed to fire four shots before he died. Engel was shot by fourteen bullets and lived a short time. Henry Gelitze escaped, hut was captured later. The coaches were riddled with bullets and all the windows Bhot out. The officers escaped unharmed. Kohler married a most estimable young lady three weeks ago. The three captured men and the bodies of the two dead bandits were placed on the train which they had attacked. The train then returned to the Francis street depot at 12:85 and the regular train went on its way. The passengers did not know what had happened. It was quick work and the train bearing the officers was hack at the Francis street depot in just fortyfive minutes from the time it left. Henry Gleitze, the sixth and last member of the hand, was caught at b:3O a. m. Officers tracked him from the scene of the hold-up to the house of Mary Elsmer in South St. Joseph. His pockets were full of ammunition and three fingers of his left hand were shot off. He denied strenuously that he had taken any part in the attempted robbery, but refused to talk further. The bodies of the dead bandits as they lay in the undertaker’s rooms Monday afternoon were viewed by hundreds. At the inquest a strong attempt was made by friends of the dead robbers to show that the railroad company had evidence enough before the attempted robbery to convict the men and endeavored to prove that the railway officials were guilty of murder. The attempt failed as the verdict was simply that the men were killed while attempting to rob the tram. Public sentiment here strongly indorses the prompt and efficacious methods used by the company to protect their property.