Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 21, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 November 1899 — OHIO TRAIN ROBBERY [ARTICLE]

OHIO TRAIN ROBBERY

MASKED MEN ENTER A LAKE SHORE EXPRESS CAR. Bold Attempt of Five Thieves I* Unsuccessful - Discovered Before Their Booty Is Secured—Four St. Louis Corncob Pipe Swindlers Convicted. A daring attempt was made by a gang of masked men to rob Lake Shore train No. 2 between Erie, Pa., and Conneaut, Ohio. The robbers boarded the train at Ashtabula, where it stopped to take water. At a lonely place called Dock Junction, two miles east of Conneaut, the express messenger stepped from one car to another for the purpose of checking up some express bills, when one of the gang sprang into the car and broke into several packages. Before he could .get to where the money envelopes were the messenger returned, and seeing the robber at work gave the alarm. The other members of the gang, who were standing guard on the platform at the west end of the car, pulled the bell rope, and when the train stopped jumped off and made their escape in the darkness. No. 2 carries several thousand dollars’ worth of money packages every trip. So far as known the robbers did not secure any booty. The men all wore dark masks and were well armed. OHIO FARMERS TO ORGANIZE. t They Will Form a Combine for the Control of Price*. Farmers of Seneca County, Ohio, held a preliminary meeting looking to the organization of a combine for the purpose of controlling prices of farm products. The scheme is under the supervision of J. H. Harris, a prominent farmer, and will be incorporated. Three trustees will be selected, whose duty it will be to build warehouses and generally supervise the business. Bonds to the amount of SIOO,.000 will be issued. Seneca farmers do nos expect to be able to absolutely control prices by their organization at first, but will attempt to induce farmers of other counties to join the movement, thereby securing a large organization. There is scarcely a land owner in the county who has not signified his intention of becoming a member of the combine. FOUR CONVICTED OF FRAUD. Conclusion of the Celebrated Corncob Pipe Case in St. Louie. In St. Louis four of the defendants in the celebrated “corncob pipe case” were found guilty in the United States Circuit Court of using the mails to defraud. The four men are Henry Ringback, E. W. Northstein, M. McElhaney and Arthur Miller. It was the plan of the defendants, as shown by the testimony, to write to the Mayor or postmaster of a town telling him that a corncob pipe factory could be established for SI,OOO and operated at sip all expense, while the profits were represented to be large. The men would then offer to sell suitable machinery for S7OO to S9OO. The Government alleged that the price asked for the machinery was so excessive as to be fraudulent. Methodist Preacher Assassinated. The Rev. Jesse Moore, living six miles south of Dexter, Mo., was found in bed with the top of his head either blown off with a gun or beaten in with a club. An adult son who slept in the same room in another bed declared he had heard no noise. The minister was one of the bestknown Methodist preachers in southeast Missouri. Suffocated by Powder Fumes. At Victor, Colo., two miners on the Victor mine are dead, four are suffering from the effects of powder fumes inhaled at the 1,000-foot level of the mine. The affair was the result of a premature firing of a number of shots through mistake. Indians Slain by Officers. A hunting party of six Navajo Indians precipitated a fight near Flagstaff, Ariz. In the encounter W. H. Montgomery, a cowboy, and five Indians were killed, while the last of the six Indians was wounded, as were Officers Dan Hogan and Will Roden. Beats His Wife to Death. Mrs. A. C. Holland died at Lima, 0., from the effects of a beating administered by her husband. He knocked her down, stamped her with his feet, and her face was terribly disfigured. She refused to say it was he until she found she could not recover. Church Fair Visitors Burned. An explosion of gas at a church fair in the new St. George Society hall at Kenosha, Wis., resulted in four persons being injured, two of them seriously. The accident was caused by the turning on of the gas several minutes before lighting it. Pickled in a Jar of Brine. A lawless ]>and in Kowloon, China, recently kidnaped a lad of 7 years and demanded of the boy’s father a ransom beyond his m»pns. The money not being sent, the de id body of the lad was returned to the father in a jar of brine. Former Chicago Actress Dies. Cora Ernest, an actress who for years made Chicago her home and who made her |jrst appearance in that city, died at Birmingham, Ala. She was taken ill while touring Southern cities. Gotham Cloak Manufacturer Fails. Abraham Popkin, doing business as A. Popkin & Co., manufacturer of cloaks.in New York, announces his insolvency. Liabilities between $150,000 and $200,000. Flames Work Havoc. Fire which started in the inflammables of a wholesale millinery stock did sllO,000 damage to the buildings at 146 and 14# State street, Chicago. Several persons were injured by explosions. Boers Wreck a Train. Armored train sent out from Estcourt to reconnoiter, containing 180 British troops, was derailed by Boers, who captured nearly all after hard fight. Retires from the Sai|ta Fe. J. J. Frey has announced his resignation as general manager pf the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, effective Jan. 1. Collision Due to a Fog. A head-end collision between passenger trains occurred at Pleasure Ridge Park,

BANK SWINDLERS CAUGHT. Gang Captured in New York Include* Leader and Three Confederate*. In the arrest of four men in New York and one in Pittsburg a dangerous and successful gang of bank swindlers has been broken up. They were rounded up after being watched for several months. It is impossible to give an accurate esti-. mate of the total amount of their thefts, but enough is known to warrant the statement that within eighteen months they have divided at least SIOO,OOO. Under the firafty leadership of Alonzo Whiteman the men have traveled from San Francisco to Boston, and their operations have resulted in heavy losses to banks in n'early every large city in the West. The prisoners were arraigned in police court and were remanded at the request of Capt. McClusky, who wished to hear, from the police of other cities before deciding how the shall be proceeded against. BANK BUILDING WRECKED. Robber* at Cleveland Suburb Fail to Secure Cash. An unsuccessful attempt was made by cracksmen early the other morning to rob the Garfield Savings Bank at Euclid, an eastern suburb of Cleveland. The safe in the bank was completely wrecked and the front of the building blown out by a powerful explosion. So far as can be learned the robbers secured no money, althopgh a large sum was in the safe. There were two heavy explosions, which awakened people living near by. A citizen opened fire on the robbers, some four or five in number, and they fled, all escaping without injury, so far as known. LEAPS FROM A MOVING TRAIN. New York Girl Trie* a Novel Method of AWauptine Suicide. Alice M. Lapham of New York City jumped from an east-bound Boston and New York special on the Michigan Central near Kalamazoo, with the intention, so she skys, *f committing suicide. She lay unconscious where she jumped for several hours until discovered by a crew of a passing freight train. She is in the Kalamaz<M> hospital in bad condition, although no bones are broken. She was well dressed and has a refined appearance. D**tr*ctlve Fire at Troy, Kan. The town of Troy, Kan., was almost wiped eut by fire. The blaze originated in the general store conducted by Cyrus Leland, Jr. Seven business houses were consumed. Loss estimated from $200,000 to $1,000,000. Nearly all the buildings and stocks were partially insured. St*al Diamonds at Cleveland. One of the largest and boldest robberies ever perpetrated in Cleveland was committed the other afternoon. Thieves succeeded in getting away with a tray of diamonds valued at $30,000 from the store of Sigler Brothers, manufacturing jewelers, at 52-54 Euclid avenue. Bi* Company Incorporated, An association popularly supposed to be a plate glass trust was incorporated at Columbus, Ohio with a capital of $2,000,000. The company is to be known as the Edward Ford Plate Glass Company, with its principal office in Toledo. Noted Inventor Dead. The death is announced at Middletown, N. Y., of William Franklin Durfee, engineer and inventor, aged 66 years. He produced some ingots of steel, from which, on May 25, 1865, were rolled the first steel rails made in this country. Woman Burns to Death. At Arkansas City, Kan., Mrs. Jane Hancock was enveloped in flames from an exploded lamp and burned to death before a party of neighbors who had gathered to watch for the meteoric display could aid her. Big Cruiser a Wreck. The United States cruiser Charleston, which was patrolling the northern coast of Luzon, has been wrecked on a reef off the northwest coast. All on board were saved. John A. Logan Dead. A cable dispatch announces that Maj. John A. Logan, Thirty-third volunteer infantry, was killed in a fight in Luzon. He was leading his battalion in action. Kansas Volunteer Killed by Train. Harry S. Ettynger, an honorably discharged member of Company H, Kansas volunteers, was struck and-killed by a train' near Santa Paula. Cal. Pension for Bagley’s Mother. Commissioner Evans has granted a pension of sls per month to Adelaide W. Bagley, mother of Lieut. Worth Bagley, who was killed in the war with Spain.