Post by Dave Homewood on Dec 10, 2017 20:04:55 GMT 12
That's right, robberies - plural.
I am sure most people have heard of the the so called "Great Train Robbery" in which British criminals Buster Edwards, Ronnie Biggs and others made off with £2.6 million from a Royal Mail train in 1963. Well the other day while searching for something completely unrelated on Papers Past I spotted a headline saying "Great Train Robbery". It sparked curiosity because Papers Past does not go up to 1963 so it had to be a previous robbery from the well known one. I forgot about it for a few days but now have just returned to search that headline, 'Great Train Robbery'. It's amazing how many interesting stories have popped up. Here are some interesting examples:
NELSON EVENING MAIL, 23 SEPTEMBER 1892
That is some serious money in 1892!
This one from the MARLBOROUGH EXPRESS, 15 OCTOBER 1894
GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY.
[United Press Association.]
New York, October 13.
Robbers bailed up a train in Potomac and stole £30,000.
HAWERA & NORMANBY STAR, 27 SEPTEMBER 1895
AUCKLAND STAR, 1 FEBRUARY 1902, SUPPLEMENT
POVERTY BAY HERALD, 2 MAY 1902
AUCKLAND STAR, 16 NOVEMBER 1903
I am sure most people have heard of the the so called "Great Train Robbery" in which British criminals Buster Edwards, Ronnie Biggs and others made off with £2.6 million from a Royal Mail train in 1963. Well the other day while searching for something completely unrelated on Papers Past I spotted a headline saying "Great Train Robbery". It sparked curiosity because Papers Past does not go up to 1963 so it had to be a previous robbery from the well known one. I forgot about it for a few days but now have just returned to search that headline, 'Great Train Robbery'. It's amazing how many interesting stories have popped up. Here are some interesting examples:
NELSON EVENING MAIL, 23 SEPTEMBER 1892
Great Train Robbery.
New York, September 22, Some robbers in Kansas wrecked a train and carried away a million dollars. Five passengers were killed .and many injured.
New York, September 22, Some robbers in Kansas wrecked a train and carried away a million dollars. Five passengers were killed .and many injured.
That is some serious money in 1892!
This one from the MARLBOROUGH EXPRESS, 15 OCTOBER 1894
GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY.
[United Press Association.]
New York, October 13.
Robbers bailed up a train in Potomac and stole £30,000.
HAWERA & NORMANBY STAR, 27 SEPTEMBER 1895
GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY.
Per Press Association. , LONDON, September 26.
A train at St Pancras station, has been robbed of 34,900 oz of silver, valued at £8,400. The drivers were absent twenty minutes. The empty boxes were recovered a mile away.
Per Press Association. , LONDON, September 26.
A train at St Pancras station, has been robbed of 34,900 oz of silver, valued at £8,400. The drivers were absent twenty minutes. The empty boxes were recovered a mile away.
AUCKLAND STAR, 1 FEBRUARY 1902, SUPPLEMENT
WOMAN TRAIN ROBBER.
ASTONISHING CAREER OF LAURA BULLION, OF MONTANA.
When the police of this city arrested Laura Bullion, or, as she is better known, Mrs Della Rose, they captured one of the most remarkable women criminals of whom there is any record (says an American exchange). Mrs Rose, as far as is known, is the only woman who ever assisted in a train robbery in this country. Dressed in man's attire, she helped her husband in the hold-up of a Great Northern train in Montana a few weeks ago, and the theft of £17,000 in new and unsigned bank notes from the safe of the express car. The woman's husband, Harry Longbaugh, alias J. W. Rose, also has a record as a daring and desperate criminal,
Longbaugh, or Rose, and Mrs Rose were arrested on the same day. A reward of £1300 had been offered for the arrest of any of the persons concerned in the robbery.
It was not until after Mrs Rose had been arrested that she was suspected of having actually taken part in the great train robbery. But certain admissions which she let slip at the time of her arrest aroused suspicion, and a remarkable chain of circumstantial evidence is now being linked together against her. The robbery of the Great Northern express occurred three miles east of Wagner station, Montana. It was
THE WORK OF THREE PERSONS.
Three miles east of Wagner the train stopped, by the robbers' orders. Two accomplices then got aboard. One of them, it is now remembered, was a small, smooth-faced person, who might very well have been a woman, except for her male dress, and the fact that no one would suspect a woman to be engaged in train robbing. She was masked.
She appeared to be in authority, was very energetic.and utterly reckless of life. She discharged bullets like a Maxim gun. The two men robbers kept up a constant fusillade along the sides of the train, so that no one could leave. Meanwhile, the first robber went to the express car, where he blew open the safe with dynamite, and removed all the bank notes and valuables in it.
So accurately did the woman robber and her accomplice cover the passengers with their fire that no one looked out of the windows ever so little without getting hit. Miss Gertrude M. Smith looked out of one window and saw one robber. She then ran to the other window in terror and was promptly shot through the arm by the woman robber. Mr Douglass, the travelling auditor for the road, was shot in the shoulder. The brakeman, attempting to escape, was shot in the shoulder. After the safe had been blown open and the contents loaded into bags the robber who had performed this part of the work joined his companions, and the three escaped. The train proceeded rapidly to Wagner station, where posses were collected, but notwithstanding the fact that liberal rewards were offered by the railway company,
NO TRACE OF THE THIEVES
could be found. Mrs Rose was arrested in the waiting-room at the Laclede Hotel. In her possession was found £6000 in notes, many of which were known to be part of the robbery. The arrests were immediately due to the passing of four £4 bills by Longbaugh. He bought a watch valued! at £15 from' Max Barnett, tendering, the four bills in payment.
When Barnett deposited the money in the Mechanics' Bank the teller detected the stolen money and refused to accept it. He telephoned at once to John E. Murphy, United States secret service agent, who notified Chief of Detectives Desmond, and half a dozen detectives were immediately detailed on the case. Before midnight the man was arrested, and at 9.30 the woman was taken into custody, and a large quantity of the stolen money was recovered.
The arrest of Longbaugh was accomplished with considerable skill. It required six men to do it. It was a delicate operation, for the robber has killed dozens of men and has again and again fought his way out of the clutches of the police. Six detectives went hunting for him. His capture is described as follows by one of the detectives:—
"We figured that the man might be around the Union station. I was at Twentieth and Chestnut streets when I saw a carriage drive by. I got a glimpse of my man through the glass door. I saw that he fitted the description. The carriage! drove so rapidly that I could not keep up with it. But I got a good look at the rig. I went to the station, but could not see my carriage. I went back to Chestnut Street and saw the vehicle going west. It stopped in front of Manley's saloon, and my man went in and got a drink.
"I got a good look at him this time and saw that he
FITTED THE DECRIPTION EXACTLY,
I followed the carriage and saw it stop in front of a house at 2005. The man entered. Just at this time the other detectives came along. I related what had occurred, and we planned his capture. We all entered the house. We located our man in the middle parlour.
"Detective Shevlin and I feigned intoxication, and we staggered into the room,, I yelled, 'I am drunk, but I am a good! fellow!' He was taken in by this, and in a second we were upon the man. Before he had a chance to do a thing I caught him by the right wrist and jerked his revolver from his hip pocket. Detective Shevlin had done the same thing with his left side. We threw the muzzles of his own guns in his face, and by this time all of the rest of the officers were upon him. He had no chance to resist, and we had him before he knew it."
The next morning Mrs Rose was arrested. She was at once taken into Chief Desmond's private office, while Longbaugh was in the photograph gallery., Chief Desmond first presented to her attention several watches which had been taken from her valise. She admitted they were hers. Then her purse was taken, and from it were taken rolls of $20 and! $10 bills. She said the money was her own, and could not be made to answer any more questions by the police. On the following day, being judiciously flattered, she proved more communicative with reporters than she had with the police. Although she still shielded her husband. Longbaugh, or Rose, as she called him, she admitted she had passed an apprenticeship with the best known train robbers in the country, including Bill Carver and the Ketchum boys. Longbaugh is known to the police far and wide. Many stories are told of him, so the local police say. One of these is of an encounter of his on October 3 with six detectives at Nashville, Tenn. He escaped after being chased 15 miles. The cause of the trouble on this occasion also was an attempt to pass on a storekeeper a $29 bill to which the signature of the National Bank of Helena, Mont, had been forged.
ASTONISHING CAREER OF LAURA BULLION, OF MONTANA.
When the police of this city arrested Laura Bullion, or, as she is better known, Mrs Della Rose, they captured one of the most remarkable women criminals of whom there is any record (says an American exchange). Mrs Rose, as far as is known, is the only woman who ever assisted in a train robbery in this country. Dressed in man's attire, she helped her husband in the hold-up of a Great Northern train in Montana a few weeks ago, and the theft of £17,000 in new and unsigned bank notes from the safe of the express car. The woman's husband, Harry Longbaugh, alias J. W. Rose, also has a record as a daring and desperate criminal,
Longbaugh, or Rose, and Mrs Rose were arrested on the same day. A reward of £1300 had been offered for the arrest of any of the persons concerned in the robbery.
It was not until after Mrs Rose had been arrested that she was suspected of having actually taken part in the great train robbery. But certain admissions which she let slip at the time of her arrest aroused suspicion, and a remarkable chain of circumstantial evidence is now being linked together against her. The robbery of the Great Northern express occurred three miles east of Wagner station, Montana. It was
THE WORK OF THREE PERSONS.
Three miles east of Wagner the train stopped, by the robbers' orders. Two accomplices then got aboard. One of them, it is now remembered, was a small, smooth-faced person, who might very well have been a woman, except for her male dress, and the fact that no one would suspect a woman to be engaged in train robbing. She was masked.
She appeared to be in authority, was very energetic.and utterly reckless of life. She discharged bullets like a Maxim gun. The two men robbers kept up a constant fusillade along the sides of the train, so that no one could leave. Meanwhile, the first robber went to the express car, where he blew open the safe with dynamite, and removed all the bank notes and valuables in it.
So accurately did the woman robber and her accomplice cover the passengers with their fire that no one looked out of the windows ever so little without getting hit. Miss Gertrude M. Smith looked out of one window and saw one robber. She then ran to the other window in terror and was promptly shot through the arm by the woman robber. Mr Douglass, the travelling auditor for the road, was shot in the shoulder. The brakeman, attempting to escape, was shot in the shoulder. After the safe had been blown open and the contents loaded into bags the robber who had performed this part of the work joined his companions, and the three escaped. The train proceeded rapidly to Wagner station, where posses were collected, but notwithstanding the fact that liberal rewards were offered by the railway company,
NO TRACE OF THE THIEVES
could be found. Mrs Rose was arrested in the waiting-room at the Laclede Hotel. In her possession was found £6000 in notes, many of which were known to be part of the robbery. The arrests were immediately due to the passing of four £4 bills by Longbaugh. He bought a watch valued! at £15 from' Max Barnett, tendering, the four bills in payment.
When Barnett deposited the money in the Mechanics' Bank the teller detected the stolen money and refused to accept it. He telephoned at once to John E. Murphy, United States secret service agent, who notified Chief of Detectives Desmond, and half a dozen detectives were immediately detailed on the case. Before midnight the man was arrested, and at 9.30 the woman was taken into custody, and a large quantity of the stolen money was recovered.
The arrest of Longbaugh was accomplished with considerable skill. It required six men to do it. It was a delicate operation, for the robber has killed dozens of men and has again and again fought his way out of the clutches of the police. Six detectives went hunting for him. His capture is described as follows by one of the detectives:—
"We figured that the man might be around the Union station. I was at Twentieth and Chestnut streets when I saw a carriage drive by. I got a glimpse of my man through the glass door. I saw that he fitted the description. The carriage! drove so rapidly that I could not keep up with it. But I got a good look at the rig. I went to the station, but could not see my carriage. I went back to Chestnut Street and saw the vehicle going west. It stopped in front of Manley's saloon, and my man went in and got a drink.
"I got a good look at him this time and saw that he
FITTED THE DECRIPTION EXACTLY,
I followed the carriage and saw it stop in front of a house at 2005. The man entered. Just at this time the other detectives came along. I related what had occurred, and we planned his capture. We all entered the house. We located our man in the middle parlour.
"Detective Shevlin and I feigned intoxication, and we staggered into the room,, I yelled, 'I am drunk, but I am a good! fellow!' He was taken in by this, and in a second we were upon the man. Before he had a chance to do a thing I caught him by the right wrist and jerked his revolver from his hip pocket. Detective Shevlin had done the same thing with his left side. We threw the muzzles of his own guns in his face, and by this time all of the rest of the officers were upon him. He had no chance to resist, and we had him before he knew it."
The next morning Mrs Rose was arrested. She was at once taken into Chief Desmond's private office, while Longbaugh was in the photograph gallery., Chief Desmond first presented to her attention several watches which had been taken from her valise. She admitted they were hers. Then her purse was taken, and from it were taken rolls of $20 and! $10 bills. She said the money was her own, and could not be made to answer any more questions by the police. On the following day, being judiciously flattered, she proved more communicative with reporters than she had with the police. Although she still shielded her husband. Longbaugh, or Rose, as she called him, she admitted she had passed an apprenticeship with the best known train robbers in the country, including Bill Carver and the Ketchum boys. Longbaugh is known to the police far and wide. Many stories are told of him, so the local police say. One of these is of an encounter of his on October 3 with six detectives at Nashville, Tenn. He escaped after being chased 15 miles. The cause of the trouble on this occasion also was an attempt to pass on a storekeeper a $29 bill to which the signature of the National Bank of Helena, Mont, had been forged.
POVERTY BAY HERALD, 2 MAY 1902
A great train robbery is reported from Brussels: An English lady and gentleman, whose name has not been mentioned, were travelling from London, via Calais, to Vienna. When they reached Herbesthal, on the German frontier, they found that £40,000 worth of jewellery had been stolen from their luggage.
AUCKLAND STAR, 16 NOVEMBER 1903
GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY.
£13,000 Stolen From a Guard's Van in the Transvaal.
CAPETOWN, November 14.
While a train was ascending an incline between Pietersburg and Wylstroom, in the Transvaal, an armed gang hailed it up, and entering the guard's van, overpowered the escort and stole £13.000.
LONDON, November 14. According to the "Standard's" correspondent the gang comprised oversea colonial desperadoes.
£13,000 Stolen From a Guard's Van in the Transvaal.
CAPETOWN, November 14.
While a train was ascending an incline between Pietersburg and Wylstroom, in the Transvaal, an armed gang hailed it up, and entering the guard's van, overpowered the escort and stole £13.000.
LONDON, November 14. According to the "Standard's" correspondent the gang comprised oversea colonial desperadoes.
