The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, January 30, 1897, Page 1

e : i \"BLL')IE LXXXI.— SAN FRANCISCO, SATURDAY MORNING, JANUARY 30, 1897. PRICE FIVE CENTS. MES CHECK A BANDIT RAID Oregon Outlaws Board the Shasta Express Near Roseburg, BAGGAGE-CAR WRECKED WITH DYNAMITE. Fire Started by the Explosion Protects the Wells-Fargo Company’s Safe. BULLETS SPED TOWARD CREW AND PASSENGERS. Engineer Morris Slightly Wounded by Flying Lead—But Little Loot Sccured URG, Og., Jan northbound ,20.—The South- hasta express, of which trusty Sam Veatch was conductor and Richard Morris en was flagged two miles north of this city last night by three masked highwaymen, who boarded covered Eng Mor Fireman Hendricks with revoly assumed possession of the train. As Morris showed & trace of hesitation hastened to he hold-up. ad been fright- he was relieved by displayed consid- manipulating the locomo- age and express cars were the coaches and the latter with considerable he baggage and ex- r rward some distance the robbers stopped, uncoupled the enzine and in- the express messenger to open his This he refused to do and dyna- applied t was being done Mes- re door on the op- e from which the robbers were g and jumped from the esr justas osion took place. He Leld a re- nd and discharged it at ect as he fled down ion wrecked one a rturned the oil ting fife to the woodw The robbers. succeeded in open two small safes in ‘the bur ubable to reach h” safe. which, wi ontents, soon dropped t burn- ing floor and settled between the rails, in re it could not be touched e flames were extinguished. The es were broken open with mite cartridges and looted, but it is not e trac aly Meanwhiie the mailcar caugnt fire and one end of it was badly charred. The rob- bers, finding that they conld obtain noth- ing more worth fighting for, slipped away | in thed o lown the banks of supposed t qua River, Te it is 1 concealed a boat, on ape. 2 5 o’'clock that time, reached a point th of Roseburg known as ¢ train was in charge of Conductor Ve h, with Rear Brake- man Lohe. ineer Morris and Fire- man Hendricks had charge of the engine and Frank K. B| ress-car. On reaching Sh teld, or Shady Point, as the stretch of track is sometimes called, Morris noticed on thetrack ahead a man withalantern,which was being waved violently. sincer at once shut off his steam, bringing the locomotive to a stop almost opposite the man with the flag. No sooner had the train come to a stand- still than a masked man chimbed over the tender, and, leveling two revolvers at the engineer, ordered him to do as told in handling the train. Hendricks, the quick- on two miles so BSheridans f; ber making his way into the cab, dropped | down in tne shadow ot the tender and thence crawied to the track. Working bis | way to the head of the engine, the fireman started on a run to Roseburg, the two miles being covered in less than fifteen | minutes. There he informed the people | at the station of what was going on at the | scene of the hold-up. Superintendent Field fortunateiy hap- pened to be in Roseburg. Hurriedly gath- ering a posse of armed men he took an engine trom the roundhouse and hastened back to tae point where the over'and was | beld. Astherelief engine pulled out from | Roseburg several heavy detonations were heard and as it approached the scene & | bright glare was seen in thes! This proved to have come from the express- | car, the stove of which had been shat- | tered by successive shuts of dynamite, the coals setting fire to the car. Trainhands | were vigorously fighting the flames when | Field’s engine arrived, but their efforts | witted fireman, on seeing the maskad rob- | | avaiied naught, the car being completely | destroyed. Following Fireman Hendricks’ escape | the desperadoes ordered Engineer Morris | to *kick’ the train back. Tbis done the | mail and express cars were cut off and | hauled abead some fifty yards, chased by | Conductor Veatch and Brakeman Lohe, | who shouted to the engineer inquiring | what the trouble was. Their answer was a fusillade of shots and tha command to get back to the train. Neither seeming to obey quickly enough another volley was fired at them from the engine. The whistling of the bullets left no mistake as to the intentof t e people handling the weapons and Veatch and his brakeman beat a retreat to the train. The express-car was tne first object of ult by the robbers, after they had ed that and the mailcar ahead of the ain. Receiving no reply to their second dimand to Messenger Butler to come out- side (he having slipped through the oppo- site door) a charge of dynamite was placed under the car and fired. The effect was ruinous. Doors were blown apartand the heavy floor timbers shivered into splinters. The car was at once entered and the two small safes of the express company attacked with giant powder. Both of these were blown open—in fact de- molished, so heavy were the charges used. The last load of dynamite, however, went bevond its intended usefulness, the force in some munner being exerted toward the car stove and sending the burning coals flying in every direction. These, alight- ing among the paper-wrapped psckages, at once set the interior of the car ablaze, The robbers, finding their work becoming 100 hot, made for the mailcar and entered it. Little damage was done there, they evidently being fearful of oecupying too much time, inasmuch as the dynamite ex- plosion and flames from the burning ex- press-car must bave been seen and heard in Roseburg. A few rified mauil pouches, an evidently ignorant attempt at reach- ing the registered packages and the rob- bers prepared to leave the scene. They Gid not propose being followed. A rash movement of Engineer Morris in thrasting his head through the cab win- dow earned for him a bullet-graze across | thecheek. A snarling growl from Express | Messenger Butler's big mastiff, at one of | the robbers, brought a bullet through the faithful animal’s brain. Nuimnerous other readth escapes resulted from the first ade of pistol s.0ts, which sent bul- ts whistiing down the sides of the train just as the startled passengers were pre- paring to alight to learn the cause of the sudden stop. Fortunately none received serious wounds or injuri On arriving at the scene of the hold-up, the first movement of Superintendent Fields was to tumble the burning express- car from the track. Ere this had been | accomplished the eud of the mailcar had been sumewhat charred, but not badly damaged. The cars siood near a small slough, and from this the trainmen had | carried water and done valiant service in protecting the mails. The express-car was beyond saving. Immediately a Sheriff's posse started in search of the robbers, taking its course from the report of a farmer named Lidd- say, who states that five men, carrying lanterns, passed his place shortly aiter the dynamite explosions were heard. The men were not masked, but were evidently anxious to avoid observation, they strik- | ing off into the fieids on Lindsay’s ap- proach. The robbers, if such they were, | were making in the direction of Rose- burg. The only lucid interviews from men who were on the train were given by John J. Wedtner and William T. Lewis, San Fran- | cisco drummers who lost their sample A THE FORTIFIED TRAIN BANDITS NEVER BOARD THESE TRAINS. The American Express Company, to guard against train-robbers, has equipped arsenal cars, which run between New York and St. Louis. They are provided with bullet-proof rooms, in which armed men, firing through loopholes, could repel a large force. The cars carry large supplies of implements of war, from rapid- firing Hotohkiss guns to explosives which could be projected into a party of raiders in the event of an attack. 7 ’ The Attack Upon the Overland Express Near Roseburg, Or. Engineer Morris of the northbound train from San Francisco on the Oregon_ and California Ratlroad was signaled by a man who stood upon the track and waved alantern. He stopped the train and 1t was at once boarded by outlaws. Morris was fired upon and slightly wounded, but Fireman Hendricks leaped from the cab and escaped unscatued by the bullets sent after him.—[Drawn from a description telegraphed to TrE CALL.] trunks in the express-car fire. These gen- tlemen stated that they retired at 10:30 o’clock last night, and about an hour later they were awakened by a loud report. At first they deemed it of no consequence, | but soon a second report struck their ears and at the same time they felt a peculiar movement of their car. Then it was, they said, that the outlaws were moving two cars around the curve. “I observed,” said Lewis, ‘““that there were two men only engaged in the work, one of whom flagged the train. After that one of the fellows covered the en- gineer and fireman, with orders not to move the engine. The fireman, though, leaped trom the engine, inteuding to get assistance from Roseburg. Heranintoa barbed-wire fence, which fearfully lacer- ated his hands and face. All this time the road agents were keeping upen in- cessant fusillade upon hia, but he escaped without one of the bullets striking him. “Then they turned their attestion to the engineer, demanding of him to assist them in gaining access to the express-car. The messenger refused to open the door on the side at which they were standing, and the robbers began pouring shot through it. The messenger eventually got out of the other door and succeeded in | getting in two shots at the outlaws, but They returned the com- piiment with equal result. Then a dyna- mite bomb was thrown into the open express-car for the purpose of blowing open the biz safe. This explosion soon started a fire that made a lurid glare visible for miles around. missed them. to get into the big safe. No, they did not ‘go through’ the passengers of any of the cars. One jewelry drummer claims to bave lost $10,000 in samples in the fire.”” S ENGINEER MOKKEIS' ACCOUNT, Was Forced to Do tue Bidding of the Train Robbers. GRANTS PASS, Or, Jan gineer Morris of the San Francisco over- Jund train, which was boarded by bandits near Roseburg last night, says the rob- bers were three in number. His story is probably the most reliable of any that have yet been told, for he was not permit- ted to leave the presence of the outlaws | while they were at work. Morris says the robbery occurred at about 11 o’clock. The rain was pouring down in torrents, and the train was mak- ing good time. Suddenly at a . point where the road runs close to the Umpqua River with high banks on the other side a. light swung out ahead of the train and signaled it to siop. Engineer Morris slowed down. . As he did so, crack! went the report of a pistol ana a ball grazed his cheek. A masked highwayman clambered up on to theengine and covered the en- gineer with his pistol. Al the same time another highwayman climbed over the wood in the tender into the cab and cov- ered the fireman. The latter sprang out of the cab as a bullev Whistled past his head, and made bis way on foot to Rose- burg. A third masked robber then put in an appesrance. One of the trio took charge of the engine and showed a thorough familiarity with its workings. The other two marched the engineer between them back to the pas- senger coaches and made him uncouple the coaches from the expressand baggage- car. They then returned to the engine. The new engineer gave the uncoupled coaches a vigorous kick, and then took the express car up the road about a half-mile. Engineer Morris was kept under cover of a pistol in the hands of oneof the robbers, and the otber two made a demand on the express agent to open the car. This the agent refused todo. A dynamite cartridge was then brought into use, and with the tremendous explosion the door and one side of the car gave way. At this point the unexpected happened. The force of the concussion wrecked the stove in the car, and in a'moment flames were seen shooting from the floor, Ex- pressman Butler was for a moment stunned by the impact, but rallied shortly and sprang out of the car on the opposite side from the outlaws. Ashe did so he exchanged shots with one of the bandits, The invaders got into thecar and tried to extinguish the flames, but found that they were beyond their contrul. They then turned their attention to the safes, The smaller one was found open and was rified of its contents. It is not supposed that they made a rich haul. This safe usually carries the way packages from points north of Ashland. “They got but little, as it was impossible | 20.—En- | } The robbers then turned their attention | to the bigz express safe. A stick of dyna- | | mite was placed under ir, and the robbers | retired from the car awaiting the explo- sion. Inamoment it came and with it another burst of lames in the cars. The | two men again climbed into the car and tried to force the safe open. They found their efforts uravailing, and numerous deep curses were uttered by them as they perspired over the job in the suffocating smoke. Engineer Morris says that the two ban- dits as they toiled in the hot and blinding smoke of the car formed a picture that he will never forget. The rain still pattered on the outside and the glare from the burning car cast somber shadows out in the dark woods and over the smooth wa- ters of the Umpaua below. The flames grew hottérand hotter/ and the two. men realized that they would have to abandon the enterprise. Another difficulty they encountered was the heated condition of the safe. This became 50 hot that they could not touch it, and at last one of them said : “We will have to give this up.” They both sprang outof the caron the | side nearest to the river, and,with the out- | |law who had remained in the cab, went | quickly down and along the bank of the | | Tiver. " This was the last seen of them. It is supposed that they had a boaton the river below, by means of which they could baffle all attempts to follow them and could in a haif hour be mingling with the people of Roseburg. | Inthe meantime there was great con- sternation among the passengers in the rear coach. Many of them were aroused | from their sleep by the blast from the first dynamite cartridge. It was soon reported all through the coaches that the train was in the hands of bandits. Terrified men and women hid their valuables under tue } seats, in their boots and shoes and in every place which they believed a sus- picious bandit might fail to search. Some ot them showed their heads at the windows, but a pattering of bullets warned them to kee inside. 5 This robbery is conspicuous in that it | occurred within two miles of the town of | Roseburg, so near that the dynamite | blasts were plainly heard by the people on | the streeis. This is the second train | robbery that occurred in the south end of | Douglas County. Within a year the northoound overland was held up at Cow Creek aud two. masked robbers went through the entire train, relieving the conductor and crew and all the passengers of their watches and small change. For this crime the Pool Brothers, two hard citizens of Douglas County, were arrested and lodged in Portland Jail. At length ther trial came up, but they were ulti- mately turned loose by Juage Bellinger of the United States District Court before whom they were tried. ———— RAIN BAFFLES PURSUIT Trail of the Train-Robbers Obliterated by the Downpour. ROSEBURG, Or., Jan. 20.-Up to a late hour to-night no definite clews have been discovered leading to the identification of the misc-eants who held up the north- | bound Sonthern Pecific express last night. Superintendent Fields is on the scene personally directing the movements of several posses, which are trying to pick up the trail of the robbers, but thus far their efforts have been fruitless owing to the heavy rainfall of the past twelve hours. Detectives in the employ of the rallway and express companies are coming from Sacramento and upon their arrival more systematic efforts will be made to run the fugitives down. An unsuccessful attempt was made here to open the Wells-Fargo “‘through” safe, affer which it was shipped to the com- pany’s headquarters at Portland. = The metal of the safe was badly warped by the heat and it is feared that at leasta part of the contents was damaged. The debris of the wreck has all been cleared away and trains are moving on | time. il st g et EXTENT OF THE LOSS. Rattway Officials Unable to Open the Warped Safe. PORTLAND, Or., Jun. 29.—Ever since the arrival this afternoon of the belated Southern Pacific express, which was held up by train-robbers near Roseburg last night, Agent Shelby of the Wells-Fargo Company has been endeavaring to open Continued. on Fourth Page. { GENERIL ALGER | GETS A PORTROLID Will Be Secretary of War| in Major McKinley's | Cabinet. | James Wilson of Iowa Selected foi" a Place, Frobably Secre- ‘ tary of Agriculture. Within a Few Days All the Chief Advisors of the Pres‘dent-Elect Will Be Named. CANTON, Ommo, Jan. 2. — This was Major McKinley’s birthday, and he cele- | brated it by tendering the portfolio of war | to General R. A. Alger of Michigan. General Alger authorized the corre- spondent of the United Associated Presses to state that he had accepted the portfolio of war. He was asked if all differences between himself and Senator Sherman had been arranged. “Yes,” he said, “we are on good terms and will work together in harmony.” General Alger arrived at 1 o’clock and lunched with Major McKinley. Ex-Con- gressman A. m. Thompson of Ohio and ex-Speaker Titus Sheard of New York were the others. After luncheon General Alger and Major McKinley retired for confer- ence, and, at the expiration of two hours, General Alger came out and made the an- nouncement that he was to be in the Cabi- net. He leftfor Datroit at 4 o’clock. General Alger was in a happy frame of mind, and was apparently- pleased with the result of his visit to Canton. He said he was not personally acquainted with all the. men who are likely to be in the Cabi- inet, and said that three of them he did not know by sight. He said the appoint- ment of Mr. Gage had made a remark- able impression on the business and com- mercial ‘world, and would hasten the re- turn of confidence. * ‘Ex-8peaker Sheard of New York talked for two hours to-day with the President- elect. He said: 3 X “My interview was a pleasant and very satisfactory one. We discussed the New York situationin regard to the Cabinet, and 1 urged the appointment of General Stewart L. Woodford, on the ground that he is a clean, ‘strong, capable man, about whom very much that is good can be said, and against him very little can be said. He was acceptable to the organizations in New York, and that fact ought not to make it unacceptable to any fair-minded citizen. Major McKinley bas a high opin- ion of General Woodford, and may ap- point him, but I do not think he has de- cided what to do in respect to New York. My conviction isthat New York will be represented in the Cabinet by a thoroughly satisfactory man.”” Colonel J. J. McCook of New York, who called on Major McKinley last night, is mentioned to-day as a Cabinet possibility. Major McKinley dinea witi his mother to-night. - Among - Major - McKinley's callers to-day was G. M. Reynoids, a’ Des Moines banker, whose friends were urging ‘his appointment as First Comptroller; Congressman F. H. Wilson of Brooklyn is no longer considered a Cabinet possibility. James Wilson of Iowa, who has been prominently mentioned in connection with the position of Secretary of Agricul- ture, arrived here at 10 o’clock to-night and drove immediately to Major MecKin- ley’s residence. Major McKinley, who | knew Mr. Wilson when he was in Con- gress, greeted .him heartily, ‘and they withdrew at once for a private con ference, which lasted more than an hour.. Wilson, in all probability, will be offered and will accept the portfolio of Secretary of Agri- culture. A The report circulated this afternoon that Charles G. Dawes is to be Comptroller of the Currency has some foundation, but could not be confirmed to-night. S e JUDGE GOFF DECLINES. Nevertheless the Cabinet Is Now Almost Complrted. WASHINGTON, D. C., Jan. 29.— Judge Goff of West Virginia has written a letter to a friend in Washington, in which he says he will not be a member of Major McKinley’s Cabinet. He has con- sulted personally with Senator Eikins and by letter with Major McKinley, and has concluded to be a candidate for United States Senator to succeed Senator Faulk- ner. The Cabinet, as far as settled definitely, | will stand as follows: Jobn Sherman, Sec- retary of State; Lyman J. Gage of Ii-| Lingiy, Sscretssy of the Treazury; Jobu D. Long of Massachuscits, Secrstary of the Navy; Russell A. Alger, Secretary of War; James Wilson of Iowa, Secretary of | Aericulture. The general belief is that Judge M- Kenns of Caiiforma will be appointed Attorney-General or Secretary of the In- terior. It will be observed that all of the Cabinet officers thus far selected are from the Central and Western States, except the § cretary of the Navy. IKor this rea- son it is believed that the Postmaster- General will be an Eastern or 'a Southern man. As yet the South is unrepresented. The chances of H. Clay Evans of Tennes- see for Postmaster-General are considered to be good. 4 ———— Hoard Urged for the Cabinet. MADISON, Wis.,, Jan. 29.—A petition was circulated to-day among the Legisla- tors asking President-elect McKinley to give ex-Governor William D. Hoard a Cabinet position. Itissaidsome members who recently signed for Payne are now signing for Hoar: g Sowuth Dakota’s Battle. PIERRE, S. D., Jan.29.—In the joint session of the General Assembly to-day the vote on Senator was as follows; Pick- ler 57, Kyle 33, Goodykoontz 19, Plowman 11, Loucks 2, Kellar 1, Palmer 1, Maris Taylor 2. LG Congressman Hift Declines. WASHINGTON, D. C., Jan. 29.—Con- gressman Robert R. Hitt of Illinois, chair- man of the House Foreign Affairs Com- mittee, has declined the appointment of First Assistant Secretary of State ten- dered him by the President-elect. | { | | did not recommend the name of J. SOME ASSEMBLYMEN FREE FROM BLAME Guy of San Diego Did Not Place Any Names on the Roll. thers Admit That They Gave Place-Seekers Permission to Use Their Names. Legislators Candidly Confess That Excessive Mileage Was Paid Without Protest. SACRAMENTO, CAL., Jan. 20.—W. R. Guy, Republican Assemblyman from San Diezo, hes a clean record in the matter of the temporary roll scandal. He was cred- ited on the list with the appointment of Clark Alberti, but he went before the in- vestigating committee this afternoon and under oath declared that he did not ask Clerk Duckworth to make any appoint- ments on the temporary list. Guy did not turn and twist and squirm as did some of the witnesses who preceded him, but he was as explicit as it was pos- sible for a truthful man to be. He said: I made no request to any person, nor did 1 authorize any one to request the chief clerk or any one else to put any oneon the temporary roll. It was intimated to me | by several members that I had a right to be represented on that roll and I told them that I did not desire to have any one on the roll.”” He made the further explanation that | two years ago at his request Alberti was appointed assistant clerk of the Assembly, but he did not know how he came to be on that roll. Strain of the committee swore that he R. Nixon, which was credited to him; nor did he recommend to Duckworth the name of any other person for the tempo- rary roll, but he did solicit Duckworth’s support in aid of Nixon for a permanent position. He was one of the statutory employes of the previous session. Power of San Francisco, a Democrat, bad two appointments on the temporary roll. Two or three others bad gone to him for permission to use his name in or- der to get on the roll. He vcted for the mileage report because he heard that the report called for only $104 too much mile- age. He didn’t think it wasany use to waste time about $104, and voted to pay it witn Democratic liberality. Lacy of San Francisco raised a laugh by declaring that in his district were many colored people, ana they had made his life a burden waking him out of bed in the morning to bave him piace them in fat jobs. He told them to go to Duck- worth and use his name for all it was worth. Harris of Santa Barbara said that ne dia not recommeud Rodriguez and Miss Bertola, whose names were charged to him. Dolan (D.) of San Francisco said that he recommended T.J. Smith in a letter to Duckworth. The other men charged to bim asked him whether they could not use his name and influence with the chief clerk to be placed on the list and he told them to go ahead and use his in- fluence as much as they liked. Gately, a fusionist of San Francisco, swore tLat C. W. Kyle, Martin and Allen asked him for permission to use his name with Duckworth, and he told them to go ahead and epeak for themselves. He was on very ndiy terms with the chief clerk. He did not expect to get any ap- pointments. If he had he would have sent to San Francisco and got some good Democrats to come up here and pose for a day on a week’s salary on a temporary list. Bookkeeper Hocking for the sergeant-at- arms said he was allowed §114 for milesge from San Bernardino. He came up from there, taking a prisoner to San Quentin, | and the Sheriff of San Bernardino gave bim $50 to pay the expenses of both. Ex-Sergeant-at-arms Parkinson recom- mended to the Mileage Committee that he be paid $114. Assemblyman Breiling testified that ) i i Interior View of One of the American Express Company’s Arsenal Carse