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17 - Life and Adventures of Frank and Jesse James by Joseph. A. Dacus · Life and Adventures of Frank and Jesse James

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Speaker 1: Section seventeen, comprising chapters forty six and forty seven of
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Speaker 1: Life and Adventures of Frank and Jesse James by J. A. Dakis.
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Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by P. J. Landau,
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Speaker 1: Chapter forty six Epistles of Jesse James. How Jesse takes
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Speaker 1: his own part with a pen. Some terse specimens of
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Speaker 1: Jesse's style. Jesse James is not an educated man in
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Speaker 1: the scholastic sense of that term. In this respect, he
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Speaker 1: differs widely from his brother Frank, who has a fair
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Speaker 1: knowledge of the Latin and Greek languages, and is said
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Speaker 1: to be able to converse fluently in the Spanish and
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Speaker 1: German tongues. Frank was a college student when the war
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Speaker 1: was commenced. In Jesse, a schoolboy in a country place.
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Speaker 1: He had made some progress, had learned to quote, read, write,
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Speaker 1: and cipher unquote, and was wrestling with quote the knotty
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Speaker 1: intricacies of English grammar and geography when his career in
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Speaker 1: school was stopped short by the political events occurring around him.
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Speaker 1: It cannot be expected that Jesse's literary performances should exhibit
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Speaker 1: the classic finish of an Addison or an irving and yet,
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Speaker 1: barring his faulty orthography, his style is direct and pointed,
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Speaker 1: and under other circumstances he might have become a very
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Speaker 1: good newspaper reporter. Although Jesse is deficient in the command
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Speaker 1: of language to express his views in accordance with the
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Speaker 1: canons of literary criticism, yet his letters, if not elegant
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Speaker 1: specimens of composition, are at least vigorous and clear. It
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Speaker 1: is a matter of regret that so few specimens of
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Speaker 1: his epistolary ability are available. We have succeeded in obtaining
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Speaker 1: copies of a few of his letters, but unfortunately none
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Speaker 1: which reveal the domestic relations and characteristics of the man.
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Speaker 1: Such of Jesse's letters, as we have been able to secure,
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Speaker 1: which have any interest for the public, we present in
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Speaker 1: this chapter. The following note was addressed from Jesse to
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Speaker 1: a friend in Missouri, and came into the hands of
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Speaker 1: a gentleman, who, for reasons which the author is bound
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Speaker 1: to respect, desires his name to be withheld. The orthography
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Speaker 1: alone is revised. The year it will be observed is
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Speaker 1: not given. Comanche, Texas, June tenth. Dear Jim, I hear
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Speaker 1: they are making a great fuss about Old Dan Ascue
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Speaker 1: and say the James Boys done the killing. It's one
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Speaker 1: of old Pink's lies, circulated by his sneaks. I can
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Speaker 1: prove that I was in Texas at Dallas on the
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Speaker 1: twelfth of May when the killing was done. Several persons
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Speaker 1: of the highest respectability know that I could not have
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Speaker 1: been in Clay County, Missouri at that time. I might
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Speaker 1: name a number who could swear to this, whose words
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Speaker 1: would be taken anywhere. It's my opinion Ascue was killed
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Speaker 1: by Jack Ladd and some of Pinkerton's men. But no
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Speaker 1: meanness is ever done now, but the James Boys must
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Speaker 1: bear the blame for it. This is like the balance
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Speaker 1: of the lies they tell about me and my brother.
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Speaker 1: I wish you would correct the lies that Kansas City
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Speaker 1: papers have printed about the shooting of Old Ascue, and
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Speaker 1: oblige yours faithfully, Jesse. The date of the murder of
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Speaker 1: Ascue given in the above letter is wrong. That event
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Speaker 1: occurred on the night of April twelfth, and not May,
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Speaker 1: as the writer of the above note assumes. The following
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Speaker 1: is a characteristic note. It contained several allusions unintelligible to
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Speaker 1: the uninitiated. It was written to an old comrade who
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Speaker 1: long ago abandoned a wild life and is living as
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Speaker 1: a respectable citizen fort Worth, March tenth, eighteen seventy seven.
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Speaker 1: Dear Blank, the beaves will soon be ready. As soon
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Speaker 1: as the roads dry up and the streams run down,
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Speaker 1: we will drive. We expect to take a good bunch
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Speaker 1: of cattle in. You may look out. There will be
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Speaker 1: plenty of bellowing after the drive. Remember it is business.
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Speaker 1: The range is good. I learn between Sidney and Deadwood.
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Speaker 1: We may go to pasture somewhere in that region. You
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Speaker 1: will hear of it. Tell Sam to come to Honey Grove,
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Speaker 1: Texas before the drive season comes. There is money in
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Speaker 1: the stock, as ever Jesse Jay. The following letter was
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Speaker 1: obtained in Colorado by a gentleman who claims to be
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Speaker 1: well acquainted with the handwriting of Jesse James and claims
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Speaker 1: that it was dropped by Jack Bishop. As to its authenticity,
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Speaker 1: we leave the reader to judge it is in style
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Speaker 1: much such a letter as Jesse James might have written.
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Speaker 1: Rest Ranch, Texas, January twenty third. Dear Jack, we had
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Speaker 1: a little fun on the other side the line. Lately,
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Speaker 1: A lot of greasers came over and broke up several ranches.
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Speaker 1: Some of us were down that way, and the cowboys
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Speaker 1: wanted us to help them, and we done it. Some
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Speaker 1: of our cattle had been taken, and I don't owe
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Speaker 1: the yellow legs anything good anyhow, Well, we left some
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Speaker 1: half a dozen or more for carrion bird meat. We
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Speaker 1: brought the cattle back. I was confound and glad we
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Speaker 1: met some cavalry out after raiders. There was a big
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Speaker 1: lot of them motley scamps, and we would have had
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Speaker 1: a pretty rough time, I expect, but the sneaks got
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Speaker 1: back as fast as they could. You would have enjoyed
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Speaker 1: the racket as ever, yours, j W. J. The last
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Speaker 1: letter to an individual which we here present is vouched
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Speaker 1: for as being in the handwriting of Jesse James by
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Speaker 1: Marshal James Liggett. It was written to George W. Shephard
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Speaker 1: about two weeks after the Glendale train robbery. In this
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Speaker 1: as in the other notes given above, we have revised
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Speaker 1: the orthography without correcting the grammatical errors. The letter is
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Speaker 1: without date and runs as follows, Friend, George, I can't
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Speaker 1: wait for you here. I want you to meet me
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Speaker 1: on Rogue's Island, and we will talk about that business
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Speaker 1: we spoke of. I would wait for you, but the
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Speaker 1: boys wants to leave here, don't fail to come, and
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Speaker 1: if we don't buy them cattle, I will come back
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Speaker 1: with you. Come to the place where we met, going
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Speaker 1: south that time, and stay in that neighborhood until I
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Speaker 1: find you, your friend Jay. On many occasions, Jesse has written,
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Speaker 1: or caused to be written exculpatory letters for publication in
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Speaker 1: the public journals. We present a few of these as
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Speaker 1: specimens of Jesse's epistolary style, and because of the interesting
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Speaker 1: character of their allusions to his own conduct. It will
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Speaker 1: be observed that the dates of outrages on banks and
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Speaker 1: railways are wrong in several instances, as given in these letters.
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Speaker 1: For instance, the following communication appeared in the Nashville, Tennessee
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Speaker 1: banner of July tenth, eighteen seventy five. Raytown, Missouri, July fifth,
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Speaker 1: eighteen seventy five. Gentlemen, as my attention has been called
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Speaker 1: recently to the notice of several sensational pieces copied from
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Speaker 1: the Nashville Union in American stating that the Jameses and
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Speaker 1: youngers are in Kentucky. I ask space in your valuable paper.
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Speaker 1: To say a few words. In my defense, I would
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Speaker 1: treat these reports with silent contempt. But I have many
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Speaker 1: friends in Kentucky and Nashville that I wish to know
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Speaker 1: that these reports are false and without foundation. I have
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Speaker 1: never been out of Missouri since the Amnesty bill was
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Speaker 1: introduced into the Missouri legislature last March asking for pardon
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Speaker 1: for the James and Younger Boys. I am in constant
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Speaker 1: communication with Governor Hardin, Sheriff Groom of Clay County, Missouri,
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Speaker 1: and several other honorable county and states officials. And there
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Speaker 1: are hundreds of persons in Missouri who will swear that
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Speaker 1: I have not been in Kentucky. There are desperadoes roving
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Speaker 1: round in Kentucky, and it is probably very important for
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Speaker 1: the officials of Kentucky to be vigilant if a robbery
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Speaker 1: is committed in Kentucky. To day, Detective bl of Louisville
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Speaker 1: would telegraph all over the United States that the James
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Speaker 1: and Younger Boys did it, just as he did when
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Speaker 1: the Columbia, Kentucky bank was robbed April twenty ninth, eighteen
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Speaker 1: seventy two. Old Blie, the Sherman Bummer who is keeping
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Speaker 1: up all the sensational reports in Kentucky, and if the
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Speaker 1: truth were known, I am satisfied. Some of the informers
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Speaker 1: are concerned in many robberies charged to the James and
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Speaker 1: Younger Boys. For ten years, the radical papers in Missouri
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Speaker 1: and other states have charged nearly every daring robbery in
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Speaker 1: America to the James and Younger Boys. It is enough
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Speaker 1: for the northern newspapers to persecute us, without the papers
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Speaker 1: of the South, the land we fought for for four
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Speaker 1: years to save from northern tyranny, to be persecuted by
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Speaker 1: papers claiming to be democratic as against reason. The people
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Speaker 1: of the South have only heard one side of the report.
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Speaker 1: I will give a true history of the lives of
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Speaker 1: the James and Younger Boys to the banner in the future,
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Speaker 1: or rather a sketch of our lives. We have not
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Speaker 1: only been persecuted, but on the night of the twenty
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Speaker 1: fifth of January eighteen seventy five, at the midnight hour,
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Speaker 1: nine Chicago assassins and Sherman bummers, led by Billy Pinkerton Junior,
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Speaker 1: crept up to my mother's house and hurled a missal
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Speaker 1: of war a thirty two pound shell in a room
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Speaker 1: among innocent women and children, murdering my eight year old
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Speaker 1: brother and tearing my mother's right arm off, and wounding
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Speaker 1: several others of the family, and then firing the house
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Speaker 1: in seven places. The radical papers here in Missouri have
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Speaker 1: repeatedly charged the Russellville, Kentucky robbery to the James and
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Speaker 1: younger boys. While it is well known that on the
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Speaker 1: day of the robbery March twentieth, eighteen sixty nine, I
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Speaker 1: was at the Chaplain Hotel in Chaplain, Nelson County, Kentucky,
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Speaker 1: which I can prove by mister Tom Marshall, the proprietor,
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Speaker 1: and fifty others. And on that day my brother Frank
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Speaker 1: was at work on the Laponsou ranch in San Luis
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Speaker 1: Obispo County, California, for J. D. P. Thompson, which can
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Speaker 1: be proven by the Sheriff of San Luis Obispo County
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Speaker 1: and many others. Frank was in Kentucky the winter previous
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Speaker 1: to the robbery, but he left Alexander Sayers in Nelson
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Speaker 1: County January twenty fifth, eighteen sixty eight, and sailed from
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Speaker 1: New York City January the sixteenth, which the Books of
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Speaker 1: the United States Mail line steamers will show. Probably I
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Speaker 1: have written too much and probably not enough, but I
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Speaker 1: hope to write much more to the banner in the future.
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Speaker 1: I will close by sending my kindest regards to old
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Speaker 1: doctor Eve, and many thanks to him for kindness to
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Speaker 1: me when I was wounded under his care Yours respectfully,
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Speaker 1: Jesse James. The following communications appeared in the Kansas City
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Speaker 1: Times during the excitement succeeding the great train robbery at
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Speaker 1: Rocky Cut near Otterville, Missouri. The first one appeared in
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Speaker 1: the Times in its edition of August fourteenth, eighteen seventy six,
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Speaker 1: and the second one came out on the morning of
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Speaker 1: the twenty third of the same month. Jesse James's first letter,
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Speaker 1: Oak Grove, Kansas, August fourteenth, eighteen seventy six. You have
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Speaker 1: published Hobbes Carey's confession, which makes it appear that the
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Speaker 1: Jameses and the Youngers were the Rocky Cut robbers. If
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Speaker 1: there was only one side to be told, it would
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Speaker 1: probably be believed by a good many people that Carrie
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Speaker 1: has told the truth. But his so called confession is
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Speaker 1: a well built pack of lies from beginning to end.
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Speaker 1: I never heard of Hobbes carry Charles Pitts, and William Chadwell.
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Speaker 1: Until Carrie's arrest, I can prove my innocence by eight good,
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Speaker 1: well known men of Jackson County and show conclusively that
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Speaker 1: I was not at the train robbery. But at present
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Speaker 1: I will only give the names of two of those gentlemen,
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Speaker 1: to whom I will refer for proof. Early on the
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Speaker 1: morning after the train robbery, east of Sedalia, I saw
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Speaker 1: the Honorable D. Gregg of Jackson County and talked with
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Speaker 1: him for thirty or forty minutes. I also saw and
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Speaker 1: talked to Thomas Pitcher of Jackson County the morning after
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Speaker 1: the robbery. Those two men's oaths cannot be impeached, so
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Speaker 1: I refer the grand Jury of Cooper County, Missouri, and
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Speaker 1: Governor Harden to those men before they act so rashly
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Speaker 1: on the oath of a liar, thief and robber. Carry
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Speaker 1: knows that the Jameses and youngers can't be taken alive,
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Speaker 1: and that is why he has put it on us.
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Speaker 1: I have referred to Messrs Pitcher and greg because they
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Speaker 1: are prominent men, and they know I am innocent, and
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Speaker 1: their words can't be disputed. I will write a long
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Speaker 1: article to you for the Times, and send it to
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Speaker 1: you in a few days, showing fully how Hobbs carry
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Speaker 1: has lied. Hoping the Times will give me a chance
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Speaker 1: for a fair hearing and to vindicate myself through its columns.
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Speaker 1: I will close respectfully. J. James Second Letter, Safe Retreat,
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Speaker 1: August eighteenth, eighteen seventy six. I have written a great
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Speaker 1: many articles vindicating myself of the false charges that have
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Speaker 1: been brought against me. Detectives have been trying for years
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Speaker 1: to get positive proof against me for some criminal offense
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Speaker 1: so that they could get a large reward offered for
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Speaker 1: me dead or alive, and the same by Frank James
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Speaker 1: and the younger boys. But they have been foiled on
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Speaker 1: every turn, and they are fully convinced that we will
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Speaker 1: never be taken alive. And now they have fell on
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Speaker 1: the deep laid scheme to get Hobbs Kerry to tell
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Speaker 1: a pack of base lies. But thank god, I am
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Speaker 1: yet a free man and have got the power to
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Speaker 1: defend myself against the charge brought against me by Kerry,
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Speaker 1: a notorious liar and poltroon. I will give a full
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Speaker 1: statement and prove his confession false lie number one, he said,
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Speaker 1: a plot was laid by the Jameses and Youngers to
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Speaker 1: rob the Granby bank. I am reliably informed that there
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Speaker 1: never was a bank in Granby. Lie number two he
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Speaker 1: said he met with Cole Younger and me at mister Tyler's.
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Speaker 1: If there is a man in Jackson County by that name,
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Speaker 1: I am sure that I am not acquainted with him.
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Speaker 1: Lie number three he said, Frank James, was it mister
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Speaker 1: Butler's in Cass County. I and Frank don't know any
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Speaker 1: man in Cass County by that name. I can prove
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Speaker 1: my innocence by eight good citizens of Jackson County, Missouri,
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Speaker 1: but I do not propose to give all their names
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Speaker 1: at present. If I did, those cutthroat detectives would find
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Speaker 1: out where I am. My opinion is that Bacon Montgomery,
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Speaker 1: the scoundrel who murdered Captain A. J. Clements December thirteenth,
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Speaker 1: eighteen sixty six, is the instigator of all this Missouri
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Speaker 1: Pacific affair. I believe he planned the robbery and got
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Speaker 1: his share of the money, and when he went out
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Speaker 1: to look for the robbers, he led the pursuers off
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Speaker 1: the robber's trail. If the truth was half told about Montgomery.
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Speaker 1: It would make the world believe that Montgomery has no equal,
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Speaker 1: only the Bender family and the midnight assassins who murdered
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Speaker 1: my poor, helpless and innocent eight year old brother and
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Speaker 1: shot my mother's arm off. And I am of opinion
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Speaker 1: that he had a hand in that dirty, cowardly work.
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Speaker 1: The detectives are a brave lot of boys, charge houses,
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Speaker 1: break down doors, and make the gray hairs stand up
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Speaker 1: on the head of unarmed victims. Why don't President Grant
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Speaker 1: have the soldiers called in and send the detectives out
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Speaker 1: on special trains after the hostile Indians a m Pinkerton's
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Speaker 1: force with hand grenades, and they will kill all the
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Speaker 1: women and children. And as soon as the women and
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Speaker 1: children are killed, it will stop the breed, and the
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Speaker 1: warriors will die out. In a few years, I believe
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Speaker 1: the railroad robbers will yet be sifted down on someone
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Speaker 1: at Saint Louis or Sedalia, putting up the job and
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Speaker 1: then trying to have it put on innocent men, as
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Speaker 1: Carrie has done. Hoping the Times will publish just as
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Speaker 1: I have written, I will close Jesse James Chapter forty seven, Glendale,
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Speaker 1: The Last Great Train Robbery. A night ride to a
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Speaker 1: lonely wayside station, how the robbery was effected. The eastern
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Speaker 1: part of Jackson County, the western part of Lafayette, and
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Speaker 1: down southward through Cass County constitute the very center of
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Speaker 1: the field of operations chosen by the old guerrilla leaders Quantrelle,
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Speaker 1: Todd Anderson, Younger, Pool Clements, and the Jameses during the war.
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Speaker 1: The Snee Hills and the timber crowned undulations bordering the
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Speaker 1: Big Blue afforded them excellent hiding places when sorely pressed,
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Speaker 1: and from their fastnesses in the hills they could easily
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Speaker 1: make forays into the very suburbs of the garrison towns
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Speaker 1: of Kansas City, Independence, Lexington, Pleasant Hill, and Harrisonville. They
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Speaker 1: knew every pathway over the hills, and every crossing place
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Speaker 1: along the streams. Around and among these forests were the
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Speaker 1: farms and dwellings of their friends and warm sympathizers in
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Speaker 1: their cause. Time has wrought some changes in the country
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Speaker 1: since those days, But the forest crowned hills and the
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Speaker 1: deep tangled thickets, and the sparkling streams still or there.
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Speaker 1: The face of nature has changed, but little among the
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Speaker 1: hills of the Snee or along the banks of the blue.
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Speaker 1: It was meet that the bandits, who were believed to
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Speaker 1: be the same men who once were gorillas, should come
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Speaker 1: back to the scenes of their earlier adventures to consummate
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Speaker 1: their latest and most daring robbery. October seventh, eighteen seventy nine,
18:20
Speaker 1: was a beautiful, sunny, warm day. The woods had not
18:24
Speaker 1: yet assumed the sober brown hues of autumn, but nature
18:28
Speaker 1: was lovely in the rich ripeness of the summer's clothes.
18:32
Speaker 1: The great tide of human life flowed on in its
18:34
Speaker 1: accustomed channels. Some were engaged in the pursuit of pleasure,
18:39
Speaker 1: Some were in search of gain, Others were toiling for bread.
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Speaker 1: Some were happy in having accomplished their designs. Others were
18:47
Speaker 1: wretched in realizing the bitterness of disappointment. Some were glad
18:52
Speaker 1: in the knowledge that they had contributed to the happiness
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Speaker 1: of their fellow mortals. Others were miserable because they beheld
18:59
Speaker 1: the gloe gladness of their neighbors and knew of the
19:02
Speaker 1: triumphs of their rivals. Some planned good deeds, others plotted
19:08
Speaker 1: dark crimes. These all go to constitute the atoms of
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Speaker 1: the mighty tide of human life. And their plans, purposes,
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Speaker 1: and deeds all contribute to the production of the surges
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Speaker 1: and swirls of the stream as it flows through time
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Speaker 1: to the gulf of eternity. There were always plotters since
19:29
Speaker 1: the world began, Men have schemed, and until the end
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Speaker 1: of time. There will be the good and the bad
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Speaker 1: in humanity, sometimes one and sometimes the other quality predominating.
19:40
Speaker 1: And so while the autumn sunshine was golden and the
19:43
Speaker 1: wood cricket's chirp was mournful, the schemers were prodding their
19:47
Speaker 1: brain in the devising of a scheme to commit a
19:50
Speaker 1: grievous crime. Glendale is a lonely wayside station in the
19:55
Speaker 1: western part of Lafayette County, Missouri, on the line of
19:59
Speaker 1: the Chicago and d Alton Railway Kansas City Branch. There
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Speaker 1: is a water tank, a little station house, and a
20:06
Speaker 1: few houses in a narrow vale wedged in between rugged
20:10
Speaker 1: hills which are covered with lofty trees and tangled thickets,
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Speaker 1: a fit place for the rendezvous of a banditi. Glendale
20:19
Speaker 1: is about twenty miles from Kansas City and on the
20:22
Speaker 1: line of the road between Independence and Blue Springs, in
20:26
Speaker 1: the very midst of a region where many of the
20:28
Speaker 1: darkest crimes and deeds of blood which mark the gorilla
20:31
Speaker 1: warfare of the border, were committed both by the Federal
20:35
Speaker 1: militia and the Confederate gorillas. The country about Glendale is
20:40
Speaker 1: one of the wildest regions in western Missouri, and the
20:43
Speaker 1: hills and dark ravines afford excellent opportunities for the concealment
20:48
Speaker 1: of both men and horses. A better situation for a
20:53
Speaker 1: successful foray by brigands does not exist on the line
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Speaker 1: of the road between Chicago and Kansas City. The Night
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Speaker 1: Express train bound from Kansas City to Chicago and Saint
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Speaker 1: Louis left the Union depot in the first named city
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Speaker 1: on the evening of the seventh at six o'clock and
21:12
Speaker 1: consequently was due at Glendale at about seven o'clock, a
21:15
Speaker 1: short time after daylight had faded from the west. Now,
21:20
Speaker 1: as we have before intimated, Glendale is a place with
21:23
Speaker 1: a nice name, but few inhabitants, though perhaps it is
21:27
Speaker 1: not destined to go down to history with the historic
21:30
Speaker 1: interest attached to Arabella, Malplakeett, Shiloh, Kennesaw, or Waterloo. Yet
21:36
Speaker 1: so early in its history Glendale has become famous. The
21:41
Speaker 1: incident which contributed so much to this result occurred on
21:44
Speaker 1: the evening of the seventh of October eighteen seventy nine.
21:48
Speaker 1: In addition to the station house, the business of Glendale
21:51
Speaker 1: is represented by a post office and a general store
21:55
Speaker 1: kept by the postmaster. The evening in question was very
21:59
Speaker 1: pleasant outside of houses, and when the curtains of night
22:02
Speaker 1: were drawn and the store was lighted, the postmaster and
22:06
Speaker 1: four others who constituted the male population of the place
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Speaker 1: except the station agent, mister MacIntyre, had gathered in front
22:13
Speaker 1: of the little store to discuss the neighborhood's affairs. They
22:18
Speaker 1: were quietly interchanging views. Suddenly a stranger joined the circle, and,
22:23
Speaker 1: walking quickly to where the proprietor was sitting, he tapped
22:26
Speaker 1: him on the shoulder and said, I want you. What
22:29
Speaker 1: do you want? Asked the other. The new arrival did
22:32
Speaker 1: not deign to answer the question, but quietly stepped away
22:36
Speaker 1: and said, here boys. In a minute, nay a moment,
22:40
Speaker 1: half a dozen rough looking men, muffled and masked, stood
22:43
Speaker 1: by a side, armed with huge pistols in wicked looking knives.
22:48
Speaker 1: Their pistols they held cocked in their hands. Then the leader,
22:51
Speaker 1: in a harsh, grating voice, said, now take care make
22:55
Speaker 1: tracks out of this. The terrified citizens started to obey.
22:59
Speaker 1: As they were going, the leader said to the depot,
23:02
Speaker 1: do you hear, in great consternation, the little company of
23:06
Speaker 1: citizens filed away to the depot. In the depot was
23:10
Speaker 1: the operator and agent, mister MacIntyre, and mister W. E. Bridges,
23:15
Speaker 1: assistant Auditor of the Chicago and Alton Railway Company, already
23:19
Speaker 1: under duress. When the citizens were all assembled in the room,
23:23
Speaker 1: the leader said, now sit down, act clever, and keep still,
23:27
Speaker 1: or you will not have heads left on you. Of course,
23:30
Speaker 1: obedience to such an order was just then regarded by
23:33
Speaker 1: all the parties as a great virtue, and they therefore obeyed.
23:37
Speaker 1: The masked men, who had now assembled to the number
23:40
Speaker 1: of twelve, according to one account fourteen by another witness,
23:44
Speaker 1: tore away the telegraphic instrument and went out and cut
23:47
Speaker 1: the wires. The instrument was smashed. Now, said the leader,
23:51
Speaker 1: whose only mask was a long dark beard. I want
23:55
Speaker 1: you to lower that green light. But said the agent,
23:58
Speaker 1: the train will stop if I do. That's the alumn
24:02
Speaker 1: precisely what we want it to do. My buck, And
24:04
Speaker 1: the sooner you obey orders, the better I will give
24:07
Speaker 1: you a minute to lower the light, said the bearded leader,
24:10
Speaker 1: at the same time thrusting a cocked pistol to the
24:13
Speaker 1: face of the agent. The operator could see the long,
24:17
Speaker 1: bright barrel of the pistol, and the dark, cavernous interior
24:20
Speaker 1: of the tube had a forbidding appearance. He looked up
24:24
Speaker 1: into the face of the long bearded man. He saw
24:27
Speaker 1: a cold, fixed look, and every indication, so far as
24:30
Speaker 1: features could reveal, intentions that the robber chieftain meant just
24:34
Speaker 1: what he said, and he lowered the light. Of course,
24:38
Speaker 1: the position of the light was in order to the
24:40
Speaker 1: conductor to stop at Glendale and receive fresh instructions according
24:44
Speaker 1: to the code of signals in use among railway men,
24:48
Speaker 1: but to be perfectly sure of the expected plunder, and
24:51
Speaker 1: in order to destroy even the possibility of the train
24:54
Speaker 1: passing without making a stop, the robbers heaped a pile
24:57
Speaker 1: of cross ties, fence rails another lumber across the track.
25:02
Speaker 1: Having completed their preparations, the robbers quietly awaited the coming
25:06
Speaker 1: of the train. It was a little after seven o'clock.
25:10
Speaker 1: The prisoners in the station house were wondering about what
25:13
Speaker 1: would happen next, and especially were they concerned and anxious,
25:16
Speaker 1: respecting what should happen to them. Then the distant rumbling
25:20
Speaker 1: of the train was heard louder and louder. It fell
25:23
Speaker 1: upon the ears of the listeners. The engineer saw the
25:27
Speaker 1: signal displayed which commanded him to stop. He sounded the
25:31
Speaker 1: whistle and ordered the brakes on. The train stood still
25:34
Speaker 1: on the track with the engine at the tank. The conductor,
25:38
Speaker 1: with lantern in hand, sprang upon the platform ere the
25:42
Speaker 1: wheels had ceased to revolve, and was about to proceed
25:45
Speaker 1: to the little station house to receive his orders. But
25:48
Speaker 1: he had made little progress in that direction when a
25:51
Speaker 1: man rushed up to him with a cocked revolver, which
25:54
Speaker 1: he held out as if to fire. This man was
25:57
Speaker 1: speedily joined by another who was also armed in like manner.
26:02
Speaker 1: Both the men wore masks. Mister Greeman, the conductor, was,
26:06
Speaker 1: of course powerless to resist such odds, and, with mingled
26:09
Speaker 1: feelings of alarm and disgust, was compelled to await the
26:13
Speaker 1: pleasure of the strange men, whom he now knew to
26:16
Speaker 1: be robbers. Two men rushed up to the cab of
26:19
Speaker 1: the locomotive and made prisoners of the engineer and firemen
26:23
Speaker 1: by the presentation of pistols and the stern declaration that
26:27
Speaker 1: instant death would certainly follow a failure to obey or
26:31
Speaker 1: an attempt at resistance. One of the robbers, addressing the engineer,
26:35
Speaker 1: called out, hand me that coal hammer of yours. What
26:39
Speaker 1: do you want of it? Asked the other hand, It
26:42
Speaker 1: here very quick, or you'll never have use for another
26:44
Speaker 1: was the emphatic command of the robber, accompanied by a
26:47
Speaker 1: very significant movement of the pistol. Arm thus appealed to
26:51
Speaker 1: the engineer obeyed, the large hammer used by stokers to
26:55
Speaker 1: break coal was handed to the mast desperado. Then a
26:59
Speaker 1: group of the masked men with the long bearded men
27:02
Speaker 1: at their head, gathered at the door of the express car.
27:06
Speaker 1: One of the men with the coal hammer then commenced
27:08
Speaker 1: beating on the door of the car. The messenger, who
27:11
Speaker 1: was in charge of a large sum of money more
27:14
Speaker 1: than thirty five thousand dollars in currency and much other
27:17
Speaker 1: valuable property, was inside, but had refused to open the door.
27:22
Speaker 1: The messenger, mister William Grimes, could hear the blows of
27:26
Speaker 1: the ponderous hammer and knew that his place would soon
27:29
Speaker 1: be opened to the marauders. The door was already yielding.
27:33
Speaker 1: It was falling to splinters, and a minute later the
27:35
Speaker 1: car was broken into by the masked and armed robbers.
27:39
Speaker 1: Grimes in the meanwhile had formed a hasty plan to
27:43
Speaker 1: escape with the money. While the robbers were beating on
27:46
Speaker 1: the door. He opened the safe, took therefrom a large
27:49
Speaker 1: amount of money hastily deposited in a satchel, and re
27:53
Speaker 1: locked the door of the safe, and was attempting to
27:56
Speaker 1: escape by the other door. He was too late. The
28:00
Speaker 1: robbers sprang into the car before he was ready to
28:02
Speaker 1: leave it. In any event, escape was rendered impossible by
28:06
Speaker 1: the fact that the other door of the car was guarded.
28:09
Speaker 1: He could only have escaped a part of the band
28:12
Speaker 1: to fall into the hands of their comrades. When the
28:15
Speaker 1: robbers rushed into the car after having broken the door open,
28:19
Speaker 1: one of them cried out to the messenger, here you
28:21
Speaker 1: gimme that key. I will not. You may take it,
28:25
Speaker 1: answered the messenger. The words had no more than escaped
28:29
Speaker 1: his lips when one of the gang in the car
28:31
Speaker 1: dealt him a terrible blow with the butt of a
28:33
Speaker 1: heavy revolver, which felled him to the floor. They took
28:38
Speaker 1: the key, opened the safe and rifled it of all
28:41
Speaker 1: its contents which were of value to them. They then
28:44
Speaker 1: took the packages from the messenger's satchel and the great
28:47
Speaker 1: railway and express robbery at Glendale was an accomplished fact.
28:52
Speaker 1: During the time occupied by a part of the robber
28:55
Speaker 1: band about the express car, a patrol was distributed along
28:59
Speaker 1: the sides end the train, and these were discharging firearms
29:03
Speaker 1: at intervals for the purpose, as is supposed, of intimidating
29:07
Speaker 1: the passengers. The whole time occupied in completing this great
29:12
Speaker 1: robbery probably did not exceed ten minutes. The whole amount
29:16
Speaker 1: of booty secured was probably fully forty thousand dollars. The
29:20
Speaker 1: passengers were greatly alarmed during these proceedings. Valuables were hastily
29:25
Speaker 1: concealed under seats, about the persons of the owners, and
29:29
Speaker 1: wherever else a place not likely to be examined by
29:32
Speaker 1: the robbers could be found. After concluding the work which
29:36
Speaker 1: brought them to Glendale, the brigands, amid the reports of
29:39
Speaker 1: pistol shots, set up a shout which echoed among the
29:42
Speaker 1: hills for a long distance around, sought their horses mounted
29:47
Speaker 1: and rode away through the gloom. They had locked the
29:50
Speaker 1: citizens in the little station house. These waited until everything
29:54
Speaker 1: seemed still about the place, for the train had moved on,
29:58
Speaker 1: And then they broke down the door and walked out
30:00
Speaker 1: of their temporary prison house. End of Section seventeen.