Rensselaer Republican, Volume 24, Number 12, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 November 1891 — TRAIN ROBBERY. [ARTICLE]

TRAIN ROBBERY.

Masked Men Hold Up a Train on tho St. Taul Railroad. ' • The midnight train from Chicago on the Milwaukee <fc St. Paul railroad, was robbed by masked men near Western Union Junction at 1 o’clock on the I2th. The train had been out of the junction, twenty-three miles south of Milwaukee* about half a mile, when the fireman, Edward Averill, who was putting some coal infertile furnace, was startled to hear a noise behind him. Ho turned around and discovered two heavily masked men clamoring over the engine tender....-Both leveled their double-barreled muskets at the fireman and the engineer, “Bill” McKay, with the injunction, '‘Don’t move an Inch till we teil you to, or we will blow the tops of your d—d heads off.” ; Engineer McKav was.directed to run his train to within a point about a mile from Western Union junction. Here the engineer was commanded to stop. Both men were ordered to step down out of the cab and get in lino ahead of the robbers. They were marched to the express car under cover, and thpn the work of blowing open the express car began. Several bombs, the fireman thinks, were thrown into tl»e car and the explosion was terrific and must have awakened every passenger on tho train, but nobody appeared on the scene. The robbers, undoubtedly, were not less than six or seven in number, judging from themanner in which they conducted operations! The train men believe they had a team'close at hand with which to cart away the safes, which were taken bodily o;it of the car. Fireman Averill’s story is the most cilfcnprchen«ive. “They made me walk ahead of them to the express car,” he said, “and they gave roe a jimmy to pry open the boxes. I had to move aP ‘dead matter’ off the boxes and do their dirty work generally, hut I was glad to get off witli a wliplo skin. They got tho| messenger's keys, though he was in no iuirry to give them lip, and they will have no trouble in getting away with alj the money.” • - W., • ’ The train was hold for over half an hour, and if the plans of tho robbers had not been perfect they would not havo been delayed much. Their entire efforts were centered on the express car and not a passenger was molested. The fireman thinks t here were a half dozen men-guard-ing the coaches, however. mine s Unless care is taken there is considable danger of getting- the shoulders sore, and if they once get galled it is difficult to cure them.- It will be q much better plan to take considerable pains to keep them well, than to risk curing and working at the same time. One of the first items i$ to see that the harness is properly fitted; each horse should have a collar fitted to him, and then adjust tho harness to fit the collar sis perfectly sis possible. The same harness should then be kept without changing. It is very important with the teams that are kept steadily at work to have the harness fit well. Keep the collar clean. They should be cleaned off in the morning and at noon. It will, pay to remove the harness and collars at noon. A salutation of the period—First clubman (aged 17) —“Hhilo. me boy!” Second Clubman (aged 60) —“Hello, old man.”