Show t V J 0 P 0 H HOLDING 0 O. O D WG UP UP I A AR TRAIN R RA A lW BY 0 HENRi Page Co I J J with tho u Wheeler I and d th then h en w wh I Nota Tb The Nota-The The man who told m me these thinGs things was for several years an outlaw outlaw out out- law Jaw b tn i the te Southwest and a follower of Or the pursuit he lie so frankly describes His ils ls description of ot the modus operand should shoud prove interesting his counsel of ot value to to the tho potential passenger in some aoma future up hold while his estimate est est- esti esti- mate nao aie of the pleasures of train robbing will wili hardly a induce e any one t to adopt et toof of r It as s a profession e o I t give the e eto story to in almost almos exactly his own words O. O. O II if I. I IM OST OT people would say if their M 4 MOST opinion was asked for tor that holding up a a. train would be a ahad ahard ahard hard had Job Well Wel it I isn't its it's Is easy I have have- contributed some to the uneasiness es of ot railroads and the insorn- insorn Ula iIa of express companies and n t the most trouble u I ever had about t u a hold up was tn in being swindled by i while spending the money I 1 got The pe danger dager who wasn't want anything te to speak ot re z and ad wo didn't mind the trouble Oe One man ma has come pretty near roba rob- rob a a. train by himself himsel two have succeeded succeeded suc suc- tin a few tew times three can cn do it if I led they ey are hustlers but five is about the e rl right ht number nuber husters The time to do It tt and nd the te place depend upon several things hIng The Tho h first stick up I was ever in up happened frt l in 1890 Maybe the way I sot ot f into it t tl will explain Pla ah how most sr train I robbers start in the business Five ivo star out of ot six Western outlaws are Just cowboys b out o of a Job and gone wrong f ha t The Tho sixth is a a. tough from o the East T who dresses up like a bad man and ana plays somo some low-down low trick that gives the boys a bad name Wire fences and nesters mado made five of ot them a bad heart made the sixth Jim g S- S and I were working on the Ranch in Colorado Colorado Tho nester nesters nesters nest- nest ers had the cowman on tho the go They had er taken up the tho land and elected off officers off off- i cers Cers who were hard to get along with Jim and I rode rodo into La L Junta one day aay going south from a round We Ve were v having a fun without malice malce to toward toward toward to- to ward anybody when a farmer administratIon adminis adminis- cut in and tried to harvest us f Jim aim shot a deputy marshal and I kind kin Of t corroborated his side of the mont ment We Ve skirmished up and down the main aIn street street the boomers having a bad luck LucIe all aU the time After a w we i leaned forward and shoved for th the ranch down the We Ye were ridIng riding rid rid- ing InS a couple of horses that couldn't fly but they coUld catch birds after that of the tho theLa theLa A tt few da days s a gang A La Junta boomers came camo to the tho ranch rand and wanted us to go o back bacle with them Naturally we vo declined Wo We had tho the house on them and before wo we were done cone refusing that old dobe was plumb lull 11 oE or lead When dark came wo we fagged g out em r the te a i batch back l dO door of fg for bullets lil the tho sro rocks and sure smoked us ua as aR we went We Ve bad to o drift which we did and rounded round round- ed e T mi jp down in Oklahoma W Well WH there ther wasn't anything we could get there and being mighty hard up we ye decided to transact a little business business busi- busi ness with the h railroads Jim and I joined l forces with Vi ig Tom t and Ike e Moore ro r two two brothers who had plenty of sand sandl l' l they were willing wiling to convert Into dust J I can can Ical call their names for both o of oJ them are dead Tom was shot while robbing a bank banI in Arkansas Ike was killed during the more dangerous pastime pas pas- tim time of attending a dance In the Creek nation naton We selected a place on the Santa Fe where there was a bridge across a adeep adeep adeep deep creek surrounded by heavy tim tim- tm- tm ber her All Al passenger trains took water at the tank close to one end of the tho bridge It was a quiet le place the n nearest nearest near near- est house s being Sg five miles n ci away The Tho day before it happened we rested reste our horses hores and made medicine as to how we should get about it It Our plans were not at all an elaborate as none of us had hd ever engaged In a up hold-up before The Santa Sata Fe Pe flyer fyer was due at the tank at 1115 p. p m. m At eleven Tom and I lay down on ore one side 0 of the track and Jim and Ike k took oki the te other t lAs tAs s the train rolled up the headlight flashing far tar down the track and the steam sem hissing from the engine I turned weak all al over have worked a 3 whole year on the ranch for nothing to have been out of ot that affair right then ten Some Somo of the nerviest men Inthe in inthe the e business have told me rue that they felt eIt et the te same wa first time The Te engine had hardly stopped when 3 jumped on the running-board running on one side ide while Jim mounted the other As As' soon oon as the rand fireman saw our guns they threw up their hands without tout being told and begged us not notto notto to shoot shoot saying they would do anything anything any any- thing we wanted them to lIlt Hit lit the ground I ordered and they both jumped off We drove them be before before before be- be fore us down dow the side of the train While i this was happening m Tom a and Ike had been blazing rg away y oo one e ea on each side of the train yelling like Apaches Apache so as to keep the passengers herded in the cars Some fellow stuck I 1 a little twenty two twenty twenty-to vo caliber calber out one of the coach windows and fired it straight up in the air I I. let drive and smashed the glass just over his head That I I settled everything like resistance from that f By By y ti-Is ti this i time all al my ner nervousness was waso o gone Sone I felt a kind of pleasant e ex- x as if I were at a dance or a frolic of some sort Th Tb were I all al all o out t in the coaches and as Tom c and a Ike le gradually quit and lIe firing yelling yell yell- yel- yel f ing it got to be almost as still as a graveyard I remember hearing a lit lit- lt- lt I Ue to bird chirping in a bush at the side of ot the track as if it it were vere complaining i at at at b being beIg lg waked waIted tP up i Lj Imade the fireman get o. o lantern VT and nd then T r wen tto to the express car and d' d yelled welled to tho the v led messenger to open up or get perforated He lie le slid the door back bac nd and stood in it with his hands up J Jump overboard son sonS I said and ana he hit bit hi the he dirt like a lump of lead There Ther were two safes in the car car car-a a big ane ne and a little one By the way 1 I first located the messengers messenger's arsenal arsenal arsenal-a a double shotgun with wih buckshot buckshot buckshot buck buck- shot cartridges and a thirty-eight thirty In a drawer I drew the cartridges from the shotgun pocketed the pistol and called caled the messen messenger er inside I shoved my gun against his nose and put him to work He couldn't open the big safe but he did the little one There was only nine hundred dollars in it I. I o That was mighty small smal winnings for our trouble so we decided to go through the passengers We took our prisoners to the smoking car and from there sent the engineer through h the train to light up the tho caches Beginning Beginning Begin Begin- ning with wih the first one we placed a man at each door and ordered the passengers passengers pas pas- to stand between the seats with their hands up If I you want to u. u find out what cowards cowards cowards cow cow- ards the te majority of men are all al you nave have to do Is rob rb a passenger train I dont don't mean ean because they dont don't resist resist- ill Til tell tel you later on why they cant can't do that that but but It makes a man feel sorry sor for them the way wy they lose their heads Beads a Big burly drummers r and farm farm- ers erg and ex soldiers and high collared f r dudes chides and sports sorts that a few moments c before eo were filling the car with noise and ana ad bragging get so scared that their ears er flop op There Te were very ver few people in the theay ty day ay coaches at that tat time of night so sow sowe sowe w we mado a slim sl haul until we got to the tho te sleeper The Pullman conductor met me at a atone one ne door while Jim was wa go- go round to the bg rud te other one He lie very ver Informed me m that tat I coul could not go g Into that tat car ca as it i did not belong to t tho t railroad road company and ad besides the t passengers had already been greatly zay disturbed by the shouting and firing g. g Never In all al my life have I Imet Imet Imet met with a finer instance of official dignity and reliance upon the ad power ot o Mr Pullmans Pullman's great geat name I jabbed jabed my six shooter shooter si-shooter so hard against Mr Conductors Conductor's front font that I afterward afterward after after- ward wad found one of his vest buttons so firmly wedged in the end of the barrel brel that tat I had to shoot it out He Ho Just shut up like a weak l-ifo l and ad rolled down the car steps stops I opened the door f of the sleeper per and ad stepped inside A big fat tat old man came up to me e. e puffing and blowing He Ee had one coat sleeve on and was trying to put his vest vet on over that I dont don't know who he ho thought I was Young man young oung man says he j you ou must keep cool and not get set c ex- ex cited Above everything keep cool I cant can't says I. I Excitements just eating me up And then I let lot out a ayel yell yel and turned loose my forty five forty through the tho skylight That old man tried to dive into one ono of ot the lower berths but a screech came out of it and a abare are foot that took him himIn himin himin in the te bread basket and landed him himon himon himon on the floor foor I saw Jim coming in the theother theother theother other door and I holer hollered d for tor everybody everybody every every- body to climb cUmb out and line lne up They commenced to scramble down cown and for tor a while we had a three-ringed three circus The Tho men looked as frightened and tame as a lot lot of ot rabbits in a deep snow They had on on an average about a a. quarter of a suit of ot clothes and one shoe apiece One chap was sitting on the floor of ot tho the aisle lookIng looking look look- ing as a if It he were working a hard sum sumIn In arithmetic Ho He le was trying very solemn to pull pul a ladys lady's No 2 shoe on lis his No 9 foot toot The ladies didn't stop to dress They hey were so curious to see a real live lve train robber bless em that tat they just wrapped blankets and sheets around themselves and came camo out squeaky squeal y and fidgety looking They always show more mora curiosity and sand than the themen themen themen men do We got them all al lined u up and pretty quiet and I went through the bunch bunch I found very ver little on them them them-I tem tem-I I mean in the way o of valuables One man in inthe inthe inthe the line lino was a sight Ho lie was one of ot those big overgrown solemn th that t sit on the tho platform at lectures and look wise Before crawling out he I had managed to put on his long frock- frock tailed coat and his high silk sik hat The rest of him was nothing but pajamas and bunions When Ven I dug into that Prince Albert I expected to drag out at nt least a block of ot gold mine stock or oran oran oran an armful of government bonds but all al I found was a boys boy's French harp about four tour inches long What it was there for I dont don't know I felt a littel mad because he had fooled me mo so I stuck the harp up against his mouth If I you cant can't pay play pay play I saidI saidI said I r cant can't play says he Then learn lear right off oft quick says I letting him smell the end of my gun barrel bael Ho lo caught hold of the harp har turned I red as a beet boot and commenced to blow He lie le blew a dinky y little tune I remembered remembered I hearing when I was a kid Prettiest little gal in the te country country oh oh I Mammy and Daddy told me mo so I I made him keep on playing it I all al the tlC time we were in the car Now and then hed he'd get got weak and off the tho key leey and Id I'd Id turn my gun on him and ask what was the matter mater with wih that little gal and whether he had any Intention of going back on her which would make him start up again like sixty I think that old boy standing there in his si silk hat and bare feet playing his little French harp was the funniest sight I ever evet saw One little red-headed red woman in the line lne broke out laughing at him You could have heard her in inthe inthe inthe the next car Then Jim held them steady while I searched the berths I grappled around in those beds and filled fied a pillow pillowcase pillowcase case with wih the strangest assortment of stuff you ever s saw w. w Now and then Id I'd Id come across a a little pop-gun pop pistol just about right for plugging teeth with wih which Id I'd Id throw out the window When I finished with the collection I dumped the pillow case load in the middle of the aisle There were vere a I good many watches bracelets rings and pocketbooks with a sprinkling of a False teeth whisky flasks fask face powder I boxes chocolate carmels camels and heads of hair hall of various colors and lengths There were also about a dozen ladies' ladies stockings Into which jewelry watches and rolls roIs of bills bis had been stuffed and then hen wadded up tight and stuck under the he mattresses I offered to return I what I called the scalps saying that we were not Indians on the warpath I but jut none of the ladies seemed to know to whom the hair belonged One of the women women and and a good looker look look- er she was wrapped was wrapped in a striped blanket saw me pick up one of at the stockings that was pretty chunky and out heavy leavy about about the toe and she snapped mine sir Youre You're not in the I business of robbing women are you ou Now as this was our first holdup we hadn't agreed upon any codo of ethics so I hardly knew what to an an- But anyway I replied Well VeI not lot as a specialty If I this contains contins your our personal property you can have haveit havet it t back It just does she declared eagerly and reached out her hand for it i. i excuse my taking a look at athe atthe atthe the he contents I said holding holing the stocking up by bythe the toe Out dumped a big gents gent's gold watch worth two hundred a gents gent's leather pocketbook that hat we afterward found to contain six hundred dollars a caliber 32 calber 32 re revolver revolver revolver re- re volver and the tho only thing of the lot that hat that could have been a ladys lady's personal persona person person- a al property was a silver siver bracelet worth about fifty cents I said Madam 10 dam heres here's your property property property prop prop- erty and handed banded her the tho bracelet Now I went on how can you expect ex ox- pct us to act square with wIh you when you rou try to deceive us in this manner m Im Im surprised at such conduct conduct Tho The young woman flushed up as if I she he had been caught doing something dishonest Some other woman down he tho line called cale out The mean thing I I never knew whether she meant the theother theother theother I other lady or me When we finished our job we or ordered ordered ordered or- or dered everybody back to bed told em good night very ver at the door and left lef We rode forty miles mies before daylight and then divided the stuff Each Ech one of us got got in money We Vo lumped the jewelry around Then we scattered each man for |