THRILLING SCENES DURING THE RIOTS—ATTACK ON THE STATEMILITIA—SENSATIONAL ARREST OF ONE OF THERIOT LEADERS.
In July, 1877, during the railroad strike on the Pennsylvania Railroad, at Pittsburg, Pa., a riot was in progress on Sunday, the 21st, which had started on the day previous. The rioters were led by the loosest characters in and about Pittsburg. A great many of them were rolling-mill employes and miners from mines and mills adjacent to Pittsburg, who were in sympathy with the railwayemployes, who had gone out upon a strike on all the lines operated by the Pennsylvania Company. All of these lines were tied up. Not a car or locomotive had been moved for several days prior to the breaking out of the riot. The police force of Pittsburg was disorganized, many of them being in sympathy with the strikers. The railroad company's officers then applied to the sheriff of Allegheny County. The sheriff being unable to cope with the rioters or to protect the company's property, called up Gov. Harttranft, then governor of Pennsylvania. The state militia of Pennsylvania was ordered to Pittsburg and placed under the command of Gen. Nagley. Many of the militia were in sympathy with the strikers and laid down their arms and joined the rioters, whereupon the Governor ordered re-enforcements from Philadelphia. The re-enforcements consisted of two regiments, the first and second regiments of state militia. They arrived in Pittsburg on Saturday afternoon, July 20, from Philadelphia, and were in charge of Brig. Gen. Brinton. These men left the passenger coaches at Union Station at Pittsburg, and were marched north to the railroad yards, which were full of freight and passenger cars, up to 28th Street. At 28th Street there was a mob from eight to ten thousand men, armed with guns, pistols and clubs, who closed in on the Philadelphia troops, opening fire upon them and disarming a number of them with their overwhelming force. These troops displayed great coolness and nerve under the circumstances, but the numbers were so overwhelming against them that they were forced to take refuge in the Pennsylvania Railroad Company's roundhouse at 28th Street. Here they held the position until a late hour Saturday night. In the meantime the rioters had found a number of carloads of crude petroleum oil, which were ona side track north of the company's roundhouse, where the soldiers had taken refuge. The roundhouse being on a lower spot of ground than the main grade of the yards, the track where these cars were standing formed a down grade, running directly into the roundhouse. The mob released the brakes on two of the cars filled with oil, there being a number among them who knew just how to operate the cars and switches. These cars were turned loose down the grade, were set on fire, and ran into the roundhouse, where the oil exploded, thereby setting fire to the roundhouse, and the troops who had taken refuge there were compelled to flee for their lives, although they retreated in fairly good order. Their line of retreat was through a portion of Pittsburg then known as Pipe Town. The troops were assaulted from windows and roofs of houses with bricks, guns and pistols. Many of them were maimed and wounded. Thus they found their way to the Sharpsburg Bridge, which crossed the Allegheny River north of Pittsburg. The remainder of the Philadelphia troops formed a camp on the hills just outside of Sharpsburg, on Sunday morning, where they remained until a sufficient number of re-enforcements had assembled in Pittsburg to control the situation, when the Philadelphians were again ordered back to Pittsburg. Here they remained with the other troops until the trouble was over. In the meantime, on Saturday night, after the annihilation of the Philadelphia troops, the rioters went through the business portion of Pittsburg, breaking into hardware stores, pawnshops and in fact any other establishment they were liable to find firearms or ammunition. A reign of terror existed in Pittsburg from the fatal Saturday until late Sunday evening. During the forenoon of Sunday the rioters turned their attention to the other cars in therailroad yards. The writer saw men and women breaking into cars, and in many instances saw them leaving the yards; some instances they would have a bolt of silk, fine laces, or other fine dress goods in their arms, with possibly a ham or side of bacon on top. They, being heavily laden with this loot, would attempt to climb the abrupt bluffs which bordered the railroad yards on the east side, would lose their foothold on the steep bluffs and come tumbling down, and women and men, bacon and silk, would be found in a heap at the bottom.
About ten o'clock on Sunday morning the mob found a carload of tinware in the yards, and about the same time they also discovered two carloads of liquor nearby. They at once captured all of the tin cups and other vessels that would hold liquor from the carload of tinware. They also dumped out the barrels of liquor on the ground, turned the head up and used coupling links to knock the head out of the barrels. They then helped themselves to the liquor with the tin vessels which they had taken from the carload. The liquor consisted of brandy, whiskey and other strong liquors. Having been engaged in rioting the night before, probably not having stopped long enough to get any breakfast, they drank this liquor like thirsty people, and were soon overcome with the effects of it. In a short space of time the more violent of the mob fell by the wayside, stupefied with the overdose of liquor. The citizens learning of the general drunk, got together all sorts of wagons, carts, and other vehicles that could be found and commenced to gather up these drunken people, who were utterly helpless, and conveyed them to the jail and lock-ups. These places were filled with them in a short time. In fact, this was the first and only time in which the excessive use of strong drink was instrumental in quieting one of themost desperate and destructive riots ever engaged in in Pittsburg, or any other city.
At about eleven o'clock on Sunday morning, a man by the name of James Boyd, who hailed from Mansfield, Pa., which is a small place about seven miles from Pittsburg, at which place his father kept a hotel, or what was called in those days, a tavern (James Boyd had been in Pittsburg a short time prior to the time of the railroad strike, working as a barkeeper for Charlie DuChon, whose place of business was directly across from the Union Station at Pittsburg), with a number of others was seen by the writer to roll a barrel of refined petroleum oil into the waiting room of the Union Station. There he turned the barrel up on end and knocked out the head, then turned the barrel down again, letting the oil run all over the floor of the waiting room. He then took a handful of waste that he had secured from one of the engines, set fire to it and threw it into the oil on the floor, which ignited instantly, enveloping the entire inside of the Union Station in flames. The writer witnessed this, and the direction taken by Mr. Boyd. That evening Boyd, with others, set fire to a large grain elevator, which was situated just south of the Union Station at that time. The roundhouse and general offices of what was known as the Pan Handle Railroad were also burned in the same manner. All this occurred on Sunday and before the carloads of tinware and liquor had been discovered and the general drunk had occurred.
Boyd left Pittsburg Sunday evening, after the citizens had summoned courage and had begun to gather up the drunken rioters, as before mentioned. He hurried to Mansfield to his father's house. The writer quietly followed him to Mansfield, and after locating him at that place returned to Pittsburg. After things had quieteddown, and martial law was being rigidly enforced, the following Wednesday I went to a livery stable where I hired a pair of horses and a light spring wagon, with top and side curtains, which would readily be taken for a country man's huckster wagon, with a seat in front, and also a seat in the middle of the wagon. The side curtains were drawn down. I called upon Sol. Colson, who was a roundsman, or what is now called a sergeant of police. He was big, strong and courageous. I told him that I had Boyd located, and proposed to go down to Mansfield and arrest him on a charge of arson, as I had witnessed his actions on the Sunday previous. I will say here that at that time I was special agent for the Allegheny Valley Railroad, which is now a part of the Pennsylvania System, as it was at that time, but operated separately from the other Pennsylvania Lines. I also told Colson that many of the parties who had taken part in the riots belong in and around Mansfield (which is now known as Carnegie) and that they would, doubtless, be making their headquarters at the Boyd hotel. Whereupon Colson said that he would be glad to go with me to assist in the arrest, but that we ought to have another man with us, and he suggested a policeman by the name of John Moran. We found Moran. Both Colson and Moran were dressed in citizens' clothes. We placed Moran on the rear seat of the vehicle, Colson occupying the front seat with me, and I did the driving. It was raining when we left Pittsburg, it being about eleven o'clock on Wednesday. We drove down to Mansfield, a distance of seven miles, and located on the bank of a creek.
In going from Pittsburg to Mansfield the ground is rolling and hilly, and near Mansfield we came to the top of a hill, which is at least a mile long and quite a steep grade from the top of this hill all the way into Mansfield.The road being fairly straight, we could see a large crowd of men assembled in front of and near the Boyd tavern. As we neared the crowd I recognized many whom I had seen rioting in Pittsburg on the Saturday and Sunday before. They were apparently prolonging the spree that they had begun in that city, whooping, hollering, wrestling and fighting. They were a motley crowd, and in fact what might be called a dangerous looking crowd. We drove up to within a hundred feet of the front of the Boyd tavern. Right here I want to say that Moran, the patrolman we had brought with us, was not occupying the rear seat in the wagon. He had been on duty continuously since the beginning of the trouble, and was without doubt much fatigued. When we had gotten almost to Mansfield I heard a thud in the rear of the wagon. Turning around I noticed that Moran had gotten down from the seat he had been occupying and was lying on the bottom of the wagon. Colson thought that he was exhausted and had fallen from the seat. I went to arouse him, and to my surprise found a pint bottle which had been filled with whiskey. Moran had this bottle of whiskey with him and had doubtlessly drank copiously of the contents. He was dead drunk, but on account of our close proximity to Mansfield at the time of this discovery, it was too late for either Colson or myself to change our plans, so we drove up to the place before mentioned, and leaving Colson, after turning the team around and facing them towards Pittsburg, I went into the Boyd tavern to reconnoiter. In the barroom I found men standing at the bar three and four deep, and trying to elbow up to get drinks. Old man Boyd (Jim's father), Jim himself and two other barkeepers, sleeves rolled up and perspiring—you will remember this was in July—were serving cheap whiskey as rapidly aspossible. I elbowed my way up to one corner of the bar where Jim Boyd was working. I caught his eye and said to him in an undertone that I had a friend in my wagon just outside in front of the house, who had been suddenly stricken with the cramp colic, and asked him if he would kindly fix me up a good big drink of brandy and Jamaica ginger, and that I would appreciate it very much if he would. I handed him a two dollar note, telling him to keep the change. He placed the two dollar note in his white vest pocket and good naturedly said, "I will fix something warm and bring it out right away." He fixed up a drink, and in the meantime I went back to the wagon, and as the curtains were all buttoned down, of course Moran was out of sight. Returning to the wagon I hurriedly told Colson that when this man came out with the drink I would be busily engaged fixing the harness and I would tell him (Boyd) that the sick friend was in the wagon. When Boyd came out I told him to hand the drink to Colson. Colson told him our friend was in the bottom of the wagon, whereupon Boyd raised himself up on the front wheel to see the sufferer. Colson caught him by the collar, and I boosted him by the heels into the wagon at the same time. Colson released his hold on the reins and I had hard work to grab the front end of the wagon, but somehow managed to land on the front seat. Colson had dragged Boyd into the wagon box and was holding him down on top of Moran, who was still soundly sleeping. Colson had fallen into the wagon with Boyd and he let the reins go down between the horses. By the time I got on the wagon the horses were running away at full speed towards Pittsburg right through the crowd that was standing around the tavern.
In the meantime, the drunken rioters on the outside,thinking the team was running away, started in pursuit. It was all the way uphill, therefore I had but very little trouble slowing the team down to a natural pace, as they soon became winded.
As the team started old man Boyd and some of the soberer spectators had noticed Boyd being pulled into the wagon, and immediately procured horses and started in pursuit. Our team being winded on account of the steep grade, the men on horseback were gaining on us rapidly. All this time Colson was holding Boyd down on top of Moran, and Boyd was making a desperate fight. He was a wiry young fellow, although no match for Colson. However, it was just about all Colson could do to keep him in the wagon. The writer had to do the driving and look after the team, and was not prepared to engage with the pursuers, who were armed with pistols and guns, but fortunately, by the time we had reached the grade, half a mile up the hill, one of those terrible Pennsylvania thunder showers burst forth with wind and rain, and it struck us fair in the face; in fact, with such force that our horses stopped and would hardly go against the storm. Of course, when this storm struck us it also struck our pursuers, compelling them to go back. The result was that we arrived in Pittsburg in due time with our prisoner and lodged him in jail.
Moran had never once become cognizant of what had happened, and was still in oblivion when Colson and I delivered him to his wife in Pittsburg.
Colson was Moran's superior in rank, but in view of the fact that Moran had always been faithful, and was overcome by fatigue through overwork during the several days and nights preceding the occurrence just related, did not prefer charges against him. Moran sobered up and didmany years of good service on the police force afterwards.
This, I think, was one of the most exciting arrests I ever participated in. Boyd was tried in the courts of Pittsburg in due time, and was sentenced to the penitentiary for fourteen years.
The Pennsylvania Railroad Company brought suit against the county of Allegheny and the city of Pittsburg for damages to their property sustained during the riots in Pittsburg. This case was later tried in Beaver County, Pa., and the railroad company was awarded a judgment against the county of Allegheny and the city of Pittsburg for $2,000,000 damages.
The railroad company, needing ready cash at the time, sold this judgment of two million dollars to a syndicate, which consisted of Wm. H. Thaw, of Pittsburg, and nine other representative men of Pittsburg for $1,600,000 ready cash. The city of Pittsburg and county of Allegheny then issued bonds for the two million dollar judgment. These bonds were to mature in twenty years, with legal interest payable annually, so that the purchaser of these bonds made four hundred thousand dollars net on the purchase, as well as the interest on the bonds, all of which has long since been payed by the tax payers of the county of Allegheny and the city of Pittsburg.
A TERRIER BEATS A PACK OF BLOOD HOUNDS ON A MAN TRAIL—ARREST AND CONVICTION OF A PAIR OF REALLY BADTEXANS FOR THE CRIME.
In 1885 an attempt was made by two masked men to hold up a passenger train on the International & Great NorthernRailroad, at a point south of Overton, Texas. It was in the month of February and about midnight, and the weather was quite cold, and the ground covered with about two inches of snow and sleet in the vicinity of Overton. The train, bound south from Longview to Galveston and San Antonio on that night, was in charge of Conductor Frazier.
When this train was about to pull out of the small station of Overton, the colored porter, whose duty it was to see that no tramps or other intruders boarded the train when leaving stations, noticed two men climb upon what is known as the blind end of the baggage car, from the north side, and the opposite side of the train from the station. The porter, upon seeing the men, boarded the baggage car at its rear end, and, as the baggage cars of that period all had doors at each end, he entered the car by the rear door and opened the front door from the inside, he having a key. The train had not got fully under headway as yet. He peered out and ordered the tramps, as he supposed them to be, to get off the train; whereupon the men, who were on the front platform of the car turned upon him, each of them holding two large Colt revolvers. He then noticed that they were wearing masks, and it is needless to say that he was frightened. Slamming the door shut, he fastened it and rushed back into the car where he met Conductor Frazier, and informed him that there were two tramps on the front end of the baggage car, whom he had ordered off, but that they had refused to leave and had pointed guns at him. He did not tell the conductor that the men were wearing masks. The conductor, believing them to be merely tramps who had gotten onto the car for the purpose of stealing a ride, and the night being very cold for that section of the country, he concluded that he would go and bring these men into the smoking car, carry them to the next station and there put them off. They would be more comfortable in thesmoking car than out on the front platform. He went to the front end of the car, accompanied by a brakeman by the name of Powers. Frazier opened the front door, and the men on the outside immediately opened fire on him. He fell forward dead, and his body rolled off the train into the ditch. They now caught sight of Powers, the brakeman, who was behind the conductor, but as soon as the firing commenced he (Powers) turned to run back into the coaches. They shot him in the body, wounding him seriously. The affair was promptly reported by telegram to the Vice-President and General Manager, Mr. Hoxie, whose headquarters were in St. Louis, Mo.
On receipt of this report Mr. Hoxie notified me at once, instructing me to proceed upon the first train to Overton, and investigate the case. I left St. Louis early the morning following the hold-up, arriving at Overton eighteen hours later. Here I learned, in addition to the facts before mentioned, that there was a north bound passenger train from Galveston that night. There was a water tank about three miles south of Overton. This north bound train was to meet and pass Conductor Frazier's train at the water tank, and the masked men, who later proved to be John Knight and John Price, intended to steal a ride on the south bound train to the water tank, and there to board the north bound train from Galveston, hold it up and rob it between the water tank and Overton, but owing to the fact that they had been discovered on the south bound train as it was pulling out of Overton, and that they had shot and killed Conductor Frazier and wounded Powers, they left the train, and, taking a circuitous route, made their way back to their homes in the little town of Overton. Owing to the coating of snow on the ground they were easily traced to Overton. Of course, when they reached the main street their tracks were lost among thenumerous other tracks there. Having learned all this I concluded that these men were residents of Overton and not tramps. I therefore went on with my investigation, which consumed about two days of my time.
In the meantime, as soon as it became known that Conductor Frazier had been murdered, a special train was sent from Marshall, Texas, to Overton with a pack of bloodhounds, which were owned and kept by the Texas and Pacific Railroad Company, and were in charge of a man by the name of Mundon, who accompanied the dogs everywhere they went. Mundon had a posse of several men with him, and at Overton their numbers were augmented by the citizens of that place.
The dogs were taken to the spot where the masked men had left the train, which was about a mile and one-half south of Overton. Here the dogs went upon the tracks and followed them, in a circuitous route, to Overton, where the dogs became more or less confused by the large number of tracks they found on the street. However, there was one old dog in the pack called Lee. Lee finally scented a track in the street, began bellowing, and continued until he arrived at a high picket fence which surrounded the home of John Price. The dogs were being followed by a large crowd, and when the dogs arrived at the fence, which was too high for them to jump over, old Lee kept up his howling until Mundon silenced him. The dogs were then taken back to the spot at which Lee had scented the first track that led him to the home of Price, where, after a lot of barking and capering on the part of the dogs, old Lee scented another track which he followed to the house of John Knight.
Knight and Price were brothers-in-law, and both of them were among the crowd who were following the dogs, and by reason of their presence the crowd burst into jeers and laughter when the dogs led them to the houses mentioned.Again the dogs were taken away and put on other tracks, which led out into the country.
While this was being done and the dogs were being followed over the country by nearly every man and boy in Overton, I was quietly making the investigations, the result of which I have told before. I really feared that the dogs were liable to locate some poor unfortunate, but innocent person, who would be more than likely to be subjected by the mob to violent treatment. So I went to Palestine, which is a division and headquarters of the International and Great Northern Railroad. Palestine is about forty miles south of Overton. Here I found the colored porter, who was a light and rather handsome mulatto. He wore short sideburns and a mustache, of which he took great care. He had previously stated that he would be able to pick out the men whom he had seen board the train at Overton, and who had killed Frazier, on sight, providing they were wearing the same clothing that they had worn on the night of the tragedy.
Meanwhile, I had telegraphed to St. Louis for Mike McCabe, one of my men, and McCabe had arrived at Palestine on the same train that I was on. I took the porter, whose name was Davis, to a colored barbershop in Palestine where I had the barber shave off his sideburns and elegant mustache, to which Davis protested vigorously. I then had Davis don the suit of a common field hand and a soft hat such as are usually worn by colored field hands in that section. After I had gotten Davis shaved and decked up in his new outfit, the change in his appearance was so great that I am satisfied his own mother would not have recognized him.
I then placed him in charge of my man McCabe, who was unknown in that part of the country. I instructed McCabe to take the first train the following morning for Palestine to the water tank before mentioned, near Overton, and thereDavis and himself were to leave the train and walk from there into Overton, and there to go around the town and look carefully over every person that came in contact with them. In case Davis could recognize one or both of them he was to quietly inform McCabe and McCabe was to report to me at once. This program was carried out.
In the meantime, I had arrived at Overton before McCabe and Davis and watched and waited for developments from them.
A short time after McCabe and Davis arrived they were passing a blacksmith shop when Davis, the colored man, noticed and recognized John Price, who was in the blacksmith shop, had on an apron and was shoeing a horse at the time. Davis instantly recognized him as one of the men, from the opposite side of the street. It was then near noon, and the bloodhounds and the mob following them were seen coming down the hill into town, evidently for their dinner. Davis caught sight of and recognized John Knight among the front rank of the mob following the dogs. This fact McCabe promptly communicated to me. I then instructed McCabe to send Davis back to Palestine and to instruct him to await there for further orders from me.
Powers, the wounded brakeman, had been taken to the railroad hospital at Ft. Worth, Texas, where he was supposed to be lingering between life and death from the wounds he had received. I had been informed that Powers could also identify the men who had assailed him. As Davis had identified Knight and Price, and his identification of them being corroborated by strong circumstances, I concluded to arrest Price and Knight and immediately take them to Ft. Worth, so that Powers might have an opportunity of seeing them. I therefore telegraphed from Overton to Major Jos. Merron, general Superintendent of the International & GreatNorthern Railroad, and located at Palestine. We had a cipher code. I requested Maj. Merron to send a special engine with a coach to Overton that night and to arrive at about eleven o'clock, which would be after the citizens had retired. I also asked him to send my man McCabe to me with this special train. Maj. Merron replied that he would comply with my request and that he would come himself and bring another man with him if I desired. I asked him whom he proposed to bring. He wired back that he would bring Chris. Rogers, who at that time was city marshal of Palestine, a position he had held for a number of years, and he was a terror to the evil doers of the community, having killed no less than seven or eight men during his term of office. I wired the Major "O. K.," requesting him to instruct his engineer to approach the station at Overton quietly and without ringing his bell or blowing his whistle. The train arrived at eleven o'clock, bearing Maj. Merron, Chris. Rogers and McCabe. I met them and we at once went to the house of John Knight, where I rapped for admission. My knock was answered by John Knight himself, whom we quickly seized. Cautioning him to keep quiet, which he did, we then proceeded to the house of his brother-in-law, Price. Here we expected to have some trouble as Price bore a very bad reputation, he having been mixed up in a number of shooting scrapes, and was considered by the people of Overton "the bad man of the community." Arriving at the Price house I sent McCabe, who, by the way, was not a very large man, but thoroughly game, to the back of the house, while Rogers and myself went to the front door, rapped for admission, and were promptly answered by a man's voice from within, asking who was there and what was wanted. I stated that we were officers of the law and had a warrant for his arrest. I omitted to say that I had obtained warrants for both Price and Knight,charging them with the murder of Conductor Frazier. Price replied that if we were officers we might call in the morning, after he had his breakfast, and that if he felt like going with us he would do so, but that if he did not feel like going he would probably not go.
Price lived in a small, one-story cottage or shanty, and at one end of the sleeping room there was a large fire place, in which there was a large fire burning, which heated and at the same time illuminated the room. This fire place was built up against the outside of the house, and there was a crack extending along the chimney probably one-half inch wide. By looking through this crack, and by the light of the fire, a good view was to be had of the interior of the sleeping room. The bed was standing directly in front of the fire place and facing it. Over the head of the bed was a shelf extending along the partition, and upon this shelf Price kept a Winchester rifle within his reach as he was lying in bed.
When Price made the above reply, I left Rogers at the door and went to the crack near the chimney, where I got a view of the inside of the room, as above described. I saw Price sitting up in bed with his Winchester in his hand, and while he was still talking I went back to the door and hurriedly told Rogers of conditions on the inside. Whereupon Rogers said, "Price, your house is surrounded and you had better put that Winchester you have in your hands back on the shelf. Come to this door and open it at once or let your wife and babies come out before we set fire to the place and burn you out. You have been bluffing the people of Overton, but you cannot bluff us. We are officers and if you come to the door and surrender we will protect you. If you do not we will get you, if we have to burn you out." His wife pleaded with him to open the door, which he did. We took our prisoners to the special car and immediately started for Fort Worth, arrivingthere late that evening. We went to the railroad hospital, where I arranged with the surgeon in charge to have Powers brought out of his room, which was small, and placed in a larger room. We then had a party of probably twenty-five or thirty railroad men, and other men who lived near the hospital, file into the room and form a semicircle around Powers' cot. He was placed so that by merely turning his head he could have a good view of the people who were lined up in single file, forming the circle before described. Knight was standing in the circle near one end of the line and Price was stationed in the line about midway between the center and the other end of the line. Their dress and general appearance was very similar to many of the others present. After everything was arranged the doctor in charge told Powers to look over the line and see if he could recognize any persons there. Powers at once pointed his finger at Price and said, "That is one of the men who was on that train." He then turned his head and looked along the line, and without hesitation pointed to Knight, saying, "There's the other."
We then took Knight and Price to Tyler, Texas, where they were both locked up in default of bail, to await their trials on the charge of murder. The Knights were an old respected family of Russ County, Texas, and Price had married John Knight's sister a few years before the occurrence heretofore related.
Col. Spivey, a prominent criminal attorney, was employed by the defense. The railroad company employed Capt. Jas. Hogg and his law partner, John M. Duncan, to assist in the prosecution.
In due time the day of the trial arrived, Circuit Judge McCord presiding. The defendants demanded separate trials. Col. Spivey proposed to try Knight first for the reason that it was generally understood that Knight being the youngerman of the two had been influenced by his brother-in-law, Price, and also that he had always borne a good reputation prior to that time. Knight's trial lasted about two days, when the jury returned a verdict of guilty of manslaughter. His punishment was fixed at ten years in state prison. His counsel immediately served notice that he would apply for a new trial, and also asked the continuance of Price's trial until the next term of court. The continuance motion was granted and Price was released on bail.
While the question of Price's bond was being arranged by the lawyer and the court, I, in company with Master of Transportation, Wm. Boyd, left the court room and walked out into the grounds in front of the courthouse, where we stood conversing for a few moments relative to the result of the Knight case. I had noticed a rather singular looking young man who had been apparently following me almost continuously during the trial. He was a good sized man, probably thirty years of age, in his shirt sleeves, and was wearing an extra wide-brimmed Texas hat, no collar, and had the appearance of being slightly under the influence of liquor, all through the trial. He promptly followed Boyd and myself from the court house into the grounds, and appeared to be trying to hear our conversation. I noticed him so often that I had become accustomed to looking for him myself. I did not know him. He looked to me as if he were looking for trouble.
After standing within a few feet of where Boyd and myself were talking he approached us and said, in rather a gruff manner, "Furlong, I know you, and I want to tell you all dat you will never convict John Price, and I am mighty glad he is going out on a bond."
I replied to him that it did not make any difference to me whether Price was ever convicted or not; that I had onlydone my duty in causing his arrest and having him prosecuted; that the matter was now in the hands of the court and that whatever the court saw fit to do with Mr. Price would be satisfactory to me.
He then said, "I was afraid that Price would have to stay in jail until the next term of court. Now that he is going to be let out on bail I intend to kill him before that time comes. He shot my brother some time ago, in a very cowardly manner and without any cause. My brother will die from the effects of the wound before long and I intend to kill him."
I said to him, "If I were in your place I do not believe I would talk about what you intend to do, as you are liable to get into trouble."
"Well," he said, "I am just telling you this, and I don't propose to talk any more about it. I just want you all to know how I feel in the matter."
As a matter of fact I felt greatly relieved when this man told me what he did, as I had feared that he contemplated making trouble for me. As he concluded his remarks he extended his hand to me, and as he was departing said, "Watch out now, and remember what I have told you." About four or five weeks later Price came out of his house. It was early in the morning, and he was standing on a platform, that extended from the rear of his house, washing his face. This platform stood about three feet above the surface of the ground, and a man who was under the platform crawled from his concealment and with a gun shot Price through the head. He fell dead where he stood. A party was arrested for the shooting but there was no conviction, and up to the present time no one has been convicted for the shooting of Price.
After the arrest of Knight and Price, I returned to St.Louis, Mo., where I reported in person to Mr. H. M. Hoxie, Vice-President and General Manager of the Gould System. When I entered Mr. Hoxie's office to make my report of the Knight and Price affair, the Hon. John C. Brown, then General Solicitor of the Gould Railway System, was in his office, and he remained there by invitation to listen to my report of the case. At the conclusion of my report Mr. Hoxie turned to Ex-Governor Brown and said, "Governor, this is a remarkable case, and the only case that I know of where a terrier had beaten a pack of blood hounds on a man-trail."
I, being Irish, presumed that I was the terrier referred to by Mr. Hoxie, in his joking, but complimentary manner.
All this occurred while I was Chief Special Agent for the Gould Railway system.
DESPERATE ENCOUNTER WITH A GIANT BLACKSMITH, WHO HADSUDDENLY LOST HIS MIND AND BECOME VIOLENT.
Mr. Hoffman, I believe his first name was John, was a blacksmith, and about thirty years old, six feet in height and weighed over two hundred pounds. He was a powerfully built man, quiet in demeanor and good natured. He was employed in the blacksmith shop of Trax & Cramer, which was the largest establishment of its kind in or about Oil City, Pennsylvania. They employed a large number of mechanics and their helpers.
It was a very warm morning in July and the men were hard at work at the shop, when suddenly the big man, Hoffman, attracted the attention of his companions by his actions. He was known to them as a sober man, andhis sudden and strange conduct was a great surprise to all around him. He became violent without any apparent provocation, and all in a moment. He began throwing things, hammers, tongs, and large sized pieces of iron and steel, in fact anything he could get hold of, through the shop. His fellow workmen were unable to get to him. He began foaming at the mouth and making a noise like the muttering of thunder in the distance. In short, he had evidently become violently insane within a few moments.
The City Hall was situated on the opposite side of the street, and but a short distance north of the blacksmith shop. The messenger from the shop was sent, posthaste, for police assistance. I was the only officer there when the messenger arrived, and being the only one, I responded to the call.
On reaching the shop I found Hoffman occupying the building alone. He was standing near the center of the shop with a sledge hammer in one hand and a large piece of steel in the other, and apparently ready to attack any person that might appear within his range. The other occupants were all in the street and outside the door and out of his reach. A large crowd of passers-by had been attracted by the excitement, and were blocking the sidewalk in front of and near the place.
On taking in the situation, as above described, I concluded that the only thing that could be done was to seize and overcome Hoffman as soon as possible, so as to prevent him from injuring himself or others. The question then arose as to how this giant could be overcome and subdued without injury to any one. The bystanders were all anxious to see him captured, but there was none present that appeared willing to assist.
I noticed at once that Hoffman was watching the crowdand that his attention was in that direction, so I went around to the rear door and approached him from behind, being unobserved by him. I seized him around the waist and threw him down on the floor, but as he was like a rubber ball and strong as a lion, and perspiring as though he had been sprinkled with a hose, he soon squirmed himself out of my grasp and sprang to his feet. I again grabbed him by the legs and threw him to the floor. Although I was strong and a pretty good wrestler, I found it easy enough to throw Hoffman to the floor, but it was impossible to keep him there, he being so strong and active. He had scarcely any clothing on, and by reason of this and his perspiring so freely, he was as slippery as an eel, and I could not keep my hold on him.
After I had thrown him down several times, which required every ounce of strength that I possessed, I found myself becoming exhausted, and finally in desperation I summoned all my strength and power and succeeded again in throwing him down, and this time I was fortunate enough to secure what the wrestlers would call the strangle hold, or neck grip, on him, thereby succeeding in shutting off his wind. I then yelled to the bystanders to help me, and finally a couple of them did.
With their assistance I succeeded in holding him down until another bystander brought a coil of clothesline from a grocery store, which was directly across the street. I took the clothesline while the citizens, who had volunteered to assist me, were holding him, and commenced to wind it around his legs from his feet to his body, and then his arms, fastening them so that he could not move. I then procured a wheelbarrow, patrol wagons not being known then, and placed him in it and wheeled him from the shop to the lock-up, where he was examined andpronounced violently insane. In due time he was placed in a straight-jacket and taken in safety to the county institution for the insane at Sugar Creek, Pennsylvania, where he died in a few months without having recovered his mind.
This, I believe, was the most desperate and dangerous position I was ever called upon to face during my whole life.
The reader should remember that the blacksmith was almost a Hercules in stature and strength, and being insane his strength really had no bounds.
BARNEY SWEENEY "FALLS" FOR A BIT OF STRATEGY, AFTERKILLING HIS PAL IN A FAKE HOLD-UP DOWN ININDIAN TERRITORY.
The old Indian Territory, now the eastern portion of the State of Oklahoma, was the scene, or stage, of many daring hold-ups and brutal murders, during the early days, but no crime committed there was surrounded with more mystery than the one of which I am going to relate the particulars.
On the night of September 13th, 1882, as a north-bound M. K. & T. passenger train was being moved out onto the main line from a siding about a mile north of Vinita, two men climbed onto the front platform of the smoker. "Chick" Warner, the conductor, espied them and opened the door. Before a word had been spoken, one of the men shot the conductor in the cheek with a small caliber revolver, making a painful and dangerous wound. The man who is said to have done the shooting, was then shot and instantly killed by his companion, his lifeless bodyfalling across the platform of the car. The man who did the killing stepped from the train and walked back to Vinita station, where he reported to the station agent, who also represented the express company, that the train had been held up by the famous James brothers and Ed Miller. He named others who had often been mentioned as members of the notorious James gang. He stated that this gang had been camping in the woods, or brush, on Little Cabin Creek, about four miles to the north and east of the scene of the alleged hold-up. He had known them all personally before coming to the territory, having been born and raised in Clay County, Missouri, near the former home of the James boys. He also said that he was a cousin of the Jameses. When the gang went into camp on Little Cabin Creek, it was near to a farm where his sister lived, and where he was staying. They met him and had told him that they intended to hold up and rob, not only that train, but other trains on the "Katy," and invited him to join them. He also told the express agent that he was an expert marksman with a revolver and rifle, and that he had been practicing shooting with his gang, and had beaten them all shooting at a target, and that he agreed to aid them in holding up the train near Vinita for the purpose of causing their arrest and punishment later on.
I was Chief Special Agent of the Gould System at that time, and the M. K. & T. was one of its leased properties. Col. Eddy, the General Manager, wired me to go to Vinita at once and investigate the affair, and instructing me further to prosecute all parties connected with the crime. I arrived in Vinita the next day. I had no difficulty in establishing the identity of the man who had done the killing. His name was John B. (or Barney) Sweeney, formerly a resident of Clay County, Missouri, and whose reputation was all bad.
William (Barney) Sweeney
William (Barney) Sweeney.
Murderer, train robber and monumental liar who claimedkinship with the James Boys.
I ascertained that during the afternoon preceding the affair Sweeney had been at Vinita, and while standing on the platform of the railroad station he, with others, had seen the special train bearing General Manager Eddy pass, south bound. The telegraph operator, of course, knew it was Col. Eddy's train and that the Colonel was aboard, and had conveyed the news to the spectators.
I learned that the man who had been killed was an unknown young man who had appeared at Vinita but a few days before the trouble had occurred. He succeeded in making the acquaintance of a brother-in-law of Sweeney's, who lived on a farm near the alleged camping place of the James gang on Little Cabin Creek, and with whom Sweeney was making his home. This brother-in-law needed help to work his corn field and employed the young man to go to work for him as a farm hand. The young man, who appeared to be a Swede, or Norwegian, and spoke but poor English, accompanied this man, whose name, I think, was Powell, to his home and there met Sweeney for the first time. I also learned that the latter had afterwards induced this unknown farm hand to accompany him and assist him in this attempted hold-up near Vinita. Sweeney had furnished the unknown with a little, light calibre, toy pistol, which was afterwards picked up near the scene of the killing. Sweeney was a man about five feet seven inches tall, stout, stocky built, and about twenty-eight or thirty years of age, dark complexioned, dark small eyes, a luxurious head of black hair, a rather pretentious, long, dark mustache, and weighed about one hundred and seventy to eighty pounds. He was very quick and active in his motions, was a great braggart, and whenever occasionpresented itself, never failed to tell people of his great marksmanship and how fearless he was. He was raised near Missouri City, Clay County, Missouri, where his father owned a farm in what was known as the Missouri River bottom. He had a sister, a young woman, who kept house for the father, his mother having died prior to the occurrence of which I write.
Sweeney's father bore the reputation of being an honest, hard-working man, while his son had the reputation in Clay County of being a suspected horse thief, a notorious liar, absolutely unreliable and a treacherous coward. He had been arrested and tried for the murder of a reputable farmer of the neighborhood, who was shot and killed one evening while sitting on the porch of his home with his infant baby in his arms. The shot was fired from behind a thick hedge, from the opposite side of the road, and from a distance of perhaps seventy-five feet from where the farmer was sitting. Sweeney was seen going towards the farmer's house a short time before the shooting had occurred. He had also been seen returning to his home from the same direction some time after the shooting. He was carrying a rifle. He was arrested and tried for the murder of the man, and it was proved at the trial that he had once threatened the life of the murdered farmer, who lived but a short distance from his father's place, but he was acquitted, there being no direct evidence of his guilt. However, a great many people of Clay County believed then, as they do up to the present day, that "Barney" Sweeney, as he was familiarly called, had been the murderer of the farmer.
A short time after this, by reason of his unpopularity, he left that part of Clay County and went to live with his sister on Little Cabin Creek. Knowing the facts aboutSweeney's bad reputation, and after hearing the story he had told about the affair at Vinita, I concluded to place him under arrest, charging him with having shot and seriously wounded Conductor Warner, as well as having murdered the man who he claimed was Ed Miller, or Wilson, thinking, as I did, that I would surely be able to find out who this unknown man was. I knew that it was not Ed Miller, because I knew that he was dead, having been killed while attempting to rob a bank in a little town in Minnesota. I also knew that at this time the James boys were not in or about the Indian Territory. Frank James was living peaceably, as a good citizen, in Tennessee. Jesse, his brother, was also supposed to be somewhere in that vicinity. I knew where Dick Little, another member of the outfit, was making his home, and thus knew that Sweeney was deliberately falsifying all the way through. To use stronger language, he was a deliberate liar.
At the time of which I write, Captain Sam. Sixkiller, a full-blooded Cherokee Indian, was the Chief of the United States Indian Police, and lived at Muskogee. This police force was maintained by the United States Government, and consisted entirely of Indians of good reputation, and it was their duty to patrol the Indian Territory. They were armed and mounted, and were there to protect the law-abiding Indians and other residents and their property, especially from whiskey peddlers, of which there were a great many plying their nefarious trade, selling the Indians cheap whiskey at exorbitant prices, which was strictly prohibited by the Federal laws governing the Indian Territory.
Sixkiller and his force had all authority to arrest any person charged with a crime, on sight or on complaint. So after deciding to arrest Sweeney, I wired from Vinita toCapt. Sixkiller, at Muskogee, requesting him to join me at Vinita for the purpose of arresting this law-breaker, without mentioning Sweeney's name.
In a short time I received an answer from Sixkiller's physician stating that Sixkiller was confined to his bed with a severe attack of fever. Upon receipt of this information, I reported to Luke Sixkiller, a brother of the Chief, who lived at Vinita, and who was a member of the United States Indian police force. I requested Luke to accompany me to where Sweeney was living with his brother-in-law to arrest him. Luke promptly told me that he would not dare arrest Sweeney unless his brother, the Chief, was present. "Why," he said, "this man Sweeney is a terror. He is a wonderful shot with either rifle or pistol, and it will take at least a half-dozen men, well armed, to capture him. He is a desperate man, and so we will have to wait until the Chief gets well enough to come and help capture him."
I had been accompanied to Vinita by one of my assistants, whose name was William H. Bonnell. He was a little fellow, only weighing about one hundred and thirty pounds, inclined to be tall, but slender, had plenty of nerve, and was a remarkably good marksman, always willing and anxious to do his duty, and would take as many chances as any man I ever knew. He had helped me to get the information which led me to the decision of arresting Sweeney, and on hearing that Sixkiller was sick he at once suggested that he and I go to the Little Cabin Creek farm and capture Sweeney ourselves. Our conference took place in the evening, and I told Bonnell that I would sleep over the matter and would decide by morning what should be done.