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Show ON TRAIL OF 111AM ROBBERS Detectives Confident That Thoy Will Soon Land Oregon Express Bandits. REDDING, Cal., April 2. Detectives working on the case pay that the bandits who held up the Oregon Express Ex-press at Copley Thursday night and killed Messenger O'Nell were the same men who held up flfteon men In Dave, Endlcott's saloon at Kennet, twenty miles north of here on March 20th. The oflicers say that a dozen different informants had told them circumstances that seemed to point strongly to three mon living near Kennet being tho train robbers, but an Investigation today showed conclusively that tho suspects could not havo been tho robbers. Detective Ahorn of the express company com-pany said this evening that he Is confident con-fident that the crimes were committed by tho same gang. There are a number of reasons, he said, for arriving at that conclusion, chief among them Is the abundance of profanity that tho men used In both holdups. Nothing has yet been learned, according accord-ing to Mr, Ahern, as to where the ban-diets ban-diets secured the giant powder with which they blow up the express car. If that could be learned the identity of the fugitives might easily bo established. estab-lished. A point not heretofore made public Is that the oflicers have one of the weapons weap-ons used by tho bandits. It Is a rifle. The manner in which it was secured brings out a new Incident of the truln hold-up. It seems that when the gun of Frank Rockwell, the guard, failed to explode a cartridge and he was compelled com-pelled to surrender, the bandits stood Rockwoll against tho wall of the express ex-press car while they made preparations to dynamite tho safe. One of tho robbers leaned his rifle against the wall near Rockwell. The guard cautiously moved his foot along until It came in contact with the butt of tho weapon, causing It to fall to the lloor. After tho fuse was lighted and all were filing out of the car, the robber who had laid down his gun, picked up RockweM'B, which was still leaning against tho wall, by mistake. The bandit's gun survived the explosion explo-sion and la In the hands of the oflicers. It e said to be an ordinary rifle, but its possession may lead to the Identity of its owner. |