Attempt To Rob A Rock Island Train The Bandits Foiled. One of Them Killed and Three Captured Submitted by: Mollie Stehno

We get the following account of the attempt to rob the south bound passenger train on the Rock Island Monday night, from the Wichita Eagle:

A reporter for the Eagle got the following particulars from Postal Clerk, Torry.

Mr. Torry was in the car that was attacked, and being under the roof and protection of Uncle Sam, he was in a position to study details of the fight without being unduly alarmed.

The mail and express were carried in the same car, only a slight partition being between the two compartments. The following are the facts as boiled down from the story told by Mr. Torry.

The engineer and fireman were held up shortly after the train had pulled out of Round Pond which is the government townsite and county seat, situated on the south side of the Salt Fork about three miles south of Pond Creek station, or as it is known in the postal circles as Jefferson that being the post office name for old Pond Creek.

About half a mile south of Round Pond the train stopped, but soon pulled out again but after running about half a mile further it came to a dead standstill. The fact is the bandit who was directing the engineer had mistaken a certain curve as the one where he thought his pals were waiting, and that was the cause of the stop.

It is the supposition that one of the bandits climbed on the tender at Jefferson and when the train had passed Round Pond, where it does not stop, he covered the engineer and fireman with two revolvers and made them obey his orders.

When the train finally stopped about a mile sought of Round Pond the robbers attacked the express car and for nearly ten minutes they yelled at the messenger to open the door and to accelerate his movements they fired several shots. He still refused to open the door and the robber then placed a stick of dynamite on the iron plate of the doorway and exploded it.

The force was so great that it shattered the iron plate into pieces and the door was broken into smithereens. The concussion was so great that it knocked the messenger down and stunned him for a few moments.

In the meantime Guard Harmon made his way out through the rear end of the car and under cover of the darkness surveyed the scene. He saw on of the robbers in the act of climbing into the car and he took deliberate aim and fired sending three buckshot crashing through the body of the robber who fell to the ground dead. This alarmed the other robbers and they ran away.

In the meantime the sheriff of L. County at Round Pond was notified and he hastened to the scene. He found one man riding furiously along the road with two horses and he arrested him. This is the man who is known in custody, and he is undoubtedly one of the robbers. Jake Harmon acted bravely and courageously all the way through. A freight train backed down from Pond Creek for the body of the dead man, as well as the officers and prisoner, all of who were conveyed to Round pond.

The coroner’s jury returned a verdict exonerating Jake Harmon from all blame.

The robber who was killed is said to have been a former member of the James gang named Bill Rhodes who has been going by the name of Pitts. It is said his claim adjoined that of Cole Dalton near El Reno. The man captured at the scene of the robbery is named Morgan.

ARRESTED IN HENNESSEY

The night of the hold-up a description of two of the men who escaped was telegraphed all along the road, the officers here getting the description. Night watch Steve Eads notices a couple of suspicious looking fellows who seemed to fill the bill and when he went to breakfast called Marshal McKeever’s attention to the fact that they had tied their horses north of Trekell & Rounds lumber yard and were attempting to trade them off for fresh ones as their were very much jaded. About 11 o’clock Station Agent Overton and the marshal arrested them and put them in the city jail. They gave their names a Jack Connors and Frank Lacey. Connors claims to be a horse shoer and horse trader, saying that he worked in Harper, Kansas last summer and later in Enid, but that his home is in New Mexico. Frank Lacey has been working for George Medley at the Pond Creek station. They admitted that they were near the grain when the attempt was made, and made and heard the dynamite explosion, but did not go to the train as they thought it might be dangerous. They were taken to Round Pond Wednesday morning.

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