The Lampasas Daily Leader (Lampasas, Tex.), Vol. 29, No. 281, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 1, 1933 Page: 2 of 4
four pages : ill. ; page 22 x 15 in. Scanned from physical pages.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
THE LAMPASAS LEADER
The R
lohan Express Robbery
Stories of the Greatest
Cases in the Career of
Thomas Furlong, the Fa-
mous Railroad Detective,
Told by Himself
Copyright by W. G. Chapman
In the month of October, 1883, a
daring train robbery occurred near
the station of Rohan, Ind., on what
was then a part of the Wabash rail-
road.
One of the cars belonging to the
Pacific Express company was at-
tached to the Wabash train, which
was running between Detroit and In-
dianapolis. It left Detroit in the eve-
ning and was due to arrive at the
latter city at about two' o’clock the
following morning. When the train
stopped at Rohan it was boarded by
two men, who entered the front door
of the express car and held up Bert
Lumas, the express messenger. They
stuffed a large gag, consisting of two
handkerchiefs rolled together, into his
mouth, and, after tying another hand-
kerchief around his face and fasten-
ing his hands behind his back, they
lashed him with a rope to the safe,
which they opened with the keys they
had taken from him. The safe con-
tained about four thousand five hun-
dred dollars besides a quantity of
jewelry and o*her valuables. The
two men left th.** car with their plun-
der at some poi^t between Rohan and
Peru, Ind.
When the train halted at Peru the
expressman rapped on the car-door
and, receiving no reply, called for as-
sistance and forced an entrance.
Lamas waa found lying on his back
unconscious, >ith his arms and shoul-
ders tied to the safe. There were
found indications that a struggle had
occurred, and there were three or
four bullet holes in the side and roof
of the car, the shots having evidently
been fired from within. Medical aid
was summoned, and the doctor, after
considerable trouble, succeeded in re-
storing Lumas to consciousness. He
bore no marks of violence other than
what he had suffered from the gag,
but this had nearly cost him his life,
as It was so large that it had almost
Btopped his breathing.
When he was revived Lumas stated
that as the train was leaving Rohan
he was busy writing out his report,
and while thus engaged he was
pounced upon by two powerful masked
men. They felled him to the floor,
gagged and bound him, took his keys,
and robbed the safe. Lumas said that
he became unconscious during the
course of this latter operation, and
that he had been surprised so unex-
pectedly that he was quite unable to
retain any memory of the men’s ap-
pearance. He added that they had
taken his pistol, which was lying on
the table in front of him, and fired
several shots at him, none of which,
however, had hit him.
At this time I was chief special
agent for the Gould system of rail-
roads, which included the Wabash.
On the morning after the hold-up I
received a telegraphic summary of
these events, and at once went to Ro-
han. I was unable to obtain any
further information there, however,
since nobody in the town or at the
station had seen the robbers or had
any knowledge of them. It seemed
probable that the robbers had been
lying in hiding and had boarded the
train unobserved, just as it was leav-
ing the station.
I then made my way to Detroit,
where I had an interview with Lumas,
the express messenger. Lumas was a
young man about twenty-six years of
age, fine in appearance, some six feet
tall, and weighed about We hundred
and eighty pounds. He was born in
Vermont. He had an elder brother
who was a passenger conductor on the
main line of the Wabash railroad, and
had been in the service of the com-
pany for many years. This brother
remained in the service continuously
until his death, 30 years later. They
had a widowed mother, who resided
in Vermont. Bert, the messenger, had
always lived with his mother until he
took service with the Pacific Express,
and he had an excellent reputation.
So much was told me by Mr. Brazee,
superintendent for the Pacific com-
pany of the Wabash division, with
headquarters at Decatur, 111., whom I
met at Detroit while making my in-
vestigations.
“Lumas Is in good standing with the
company, and% there is no possibility
of his having been in league with the
robbers,” said Mr. Brazee, when I sug-
gested that Lumas might have been
implicated. “Why,” he continued, “you
must remember that Lumas was al-
most dead when he was found in his
car at Peru. The robbers undoubtedly
attempted to kill,him, and would have
succeeded, too, had it not been for
the timely assistance rendered by the
doctor. Now, if Lumas had been im-
plicated in the affair,in any way, the
robbers would not have attempted his
life.”
While still dubious, I appreciated
the stand which Mr. Brazee had taken
on behalf of one of his subordinates.
I knew him personally, and he had a
reputation for kindness, which was
well deserved. I next interviewed Mr.
Fuller, the general superintendent of
the Pacific Express company, and all
the other officers who would have been
likely to know anything about Lumas.
They all spoke in the highest terms
of Lumas, and of his brother also. Un-
der these circumstances, I did not deem
it advisable to repeat my statement
as to the possibility of Lumas having
been implicated in the affair, but re-
quested that Lumas receive instruc-
tions to report to me whenever I
wished to see the messenger. It was
also arranged that Lumas should come
to me whenever he was wanted for
the purpose of identifying any sus-
pects.
I next decided to shadow Lumas in
the most thorough manner at both
ends of his route. I placed two of my
operatives at work for this purpose,
one at Indianapolis and the other at
Detroit. The instructions given to the
operative at Detroit were that he
should pick up Lumas when he left
his train at that point, and not lose
sight of him again until he boarded
his train for Indianapolis. The op-
erative at Indianapolis was told to
pick up Lumas when he stepped off
his train and to keep him in sight un-
til he left for Detroit. Thus the ex-
press messenger was kept shadowed
at both ends of his route and this pro-
cedure was kept up for four months,
until every act of Lumas was known.
The operative at Detroit soon. no-
&
^<r
J
wf
*IJ
“l TELL YOU, EVERYTHING WILL BE ALL RIGHT,'
ER KEPT INSISTING TO LUMAS.
THE NEWCOM-
tlced that Lumas was a hard drinker.
He was a habitual frequenter of low
saloons-and other places of ill repute
in that city. On the other hand, the
man who was engaged in watching
Lumas at the Indianapolis end report-
ed that as soon as Lumas arrived
there he would go to his rooming
house, retire to bed, and remain there
until it was U.me to leave for Detroit
again. It v?aa evident that Lumas di-
vided his spare time into two parts—
sleep and pleasure, the formfer part
being that of Indianapolis and the lat-
ter of Detroit. He needed sleep and
rest after his carousing in Detroit, and
he seemed to live his purposeless life
In a highly practical and purposive
manner.
The operative in Indianapolis, obey-
ing his instructions, succeeded in ob-
taining a room in the lodging house
adjacent to that which Lumas occu-
pied. The man who was shadowing
him in Detroit was just as fortunate,
and in a short time had managed not
only to make the acquaintance of
Lumas but to established himself on
terms of intimacy with him. He was
with him almost constantly while
Liynas was in Detroit, and in this
manner became acquainted with- most
of Lumas’ friends in that city.
There were in Detroit at this time
two men of the same name—Pat
O’Neal and Jim O’Neal. Their busi-
ness affairs were closely related, Pat
being a private detective and Jim a
thief, the result being that the two
men were well acquainted with each
other. There was, however, no rela-
tionship between the two. Pat O’Neal,
the detective, was a widower, and
lived with a widowed sister who kept
a rooming house, and it was in this
house that Lumab and the Detroit op-
erative both lived. O’Neal, the detec-
tive, did not know either of them per-
sonally, but he naturally knew some-
thing about them. He learned from
his sister that Lumas was employed
by some express company, and that
the operative was connected with
some advertising concern in the east,
for this was the impression which the
man wished to give.
One night while my Detroit agent
and Bert Lumas were seated at a table
in a Detroit beer garden, they were
approached by a plainly dressed man
of medium size, about forty years of
age, light-complexioned, sandy-haired
and clean-shaven. He was evidently
intimately acquainted with Lumas, for
he sat down at the table without pre-
liminaries, andthey had several drinks
together, after which they drew their
chairs together and began to converse
in an undertone which was evidently
not meant to reach the ears of the op-
erative. Nevertheless the latter man-
aged to hear an important part of the
conversation.
“I tell you everything will be all-
right,” the newcomer kept insisting to
Lumas.
“I haven’t been treated right,”
Lumas answered, “and that is why I
have been drinking so much of late.”
“You’re drinking a great deal too
much,” answered the sandy-haired
man. “Now you keep quiet and later
on everything will be all right.”
That was as much of the conversa-
tion as the operative could fully catch.
After separating from Lumas he took
measures to locate the sandy-haired
man. He found that his name was
Denny Downer, and that he was a
saloonkeeper on Griswold street, De-
troit.
While this conversation was taking
place Jim O’Neal, the thief, was seat-
ed at a nearby table with some of his
own' friends. He knew Lumas to be
an express messenger, and knew that
he lived at the house of Pat O’Neal’s
sister, and, hearing the same part of
the conversation that the operative
had overheard, he concluded shrewdly
that possibly Lumas had been con-
cerned in the express car robbery.
When next he met his namesake, Pat
O’Neal, the private detective, he voiced
these suspicions to him, telling him
of the conversation that he had over-
heard between Lumas and Denny
Downer, the latter of whom the de-
tective did not know.
I was keeping in close touch with
my assistants, in spite of a good deal
of other work, and received a prompt
report of the conversation, and, on the
following day a second report from
the operative, informing me who the
sandy-haired man was. On receipt of
this news, having known Denny Down-
er as a thief for many years, I at once
came to the conclusion that he was
one of the men who had keen impli-
cated in the Rohan robbery. My ac-
quaintance with Downer had begun in
Pennsylvania, and I had been in the
criminal court in Pittsburgh on a cer-
tain occasion when Downer was sen-
tenced to a five-year term for bur-
glary. I knew the man’s criminal rec-
ord, and the description fitted him as
perfectly as the name. I thereupon
decided to go to Indianapolis, taking
with me all the daily reports which I
had received during the four months
from the two operatives—*11 all, some
two hundred and forty. I notified Mr.
Brazee of my intention and requested
him to accompany me to that point,
telling him that I expected important
developments to occur there. A return
telegram was receive! from Mr.
Brazee, stating that the latter would
join me at Decatur, D1, and go to In-
dianapolis with me. We met at De-
catur and proceeded together to our
point of destination, where we se-
cured adjoining room3 at the Spencer
house, just across the street from
the Union station.
It was evening when we arrived,
and the train On which Lumas was
employed was due to arrive at Indian-
apolis at two o’clock the next morn-
ing. I instructed my operative in In-
dianapolis to be on hand at the Union
station when Lumas’ train arrived,
and to bring him over to my room
at the hotel Immediately. I had had
one of my operatives meet numas at!
his train on a number of occasions be-
fore, and had had him taken to see
various persons for the purpose of
identifying them as the express car
robbers, but Lumas had always failed
to do so, adhering to his statement
that it was impossible for him to iden-
tify any person owing to the sudden-
ness with which he had been at-
tacked. I had never expected him to
identify any one, but as the man had
been instructed by the express com-
pany to go with me or any of my as-
sistants at any time that he was need-
ed for making an identification, there
was no likelihood that the operative
would have any trouble in inducing
him to come to the hotel.
I learned from the dispatcher that
Lumas’ train would arrive on time,
and accordingly, as soon as I had en-
gaged my room at the hotel, I set
about making preparations for the re-
ception of my expected guest. I set
out a large table in the middle of the
room, and spread the daily reports of
my two operatives over the top of it
in such a manner that they filled it
completely.
Mr. Brazee was Instructed to re-
main in the adjoining room, and to
sit alongside the door, which was left
partly open, in such a manner that he
could hear everything that was said
without himself being seen. I had told
him of my plans, but Mr. Brazee, while
consenting to accompany me, had de-
cried the whole matter and stated
that, in his opinion, nothing of any
value would result, reiterating his con-
viction that Lumas was innocent.
The train arrived on time, and
Lumas, stepping out of his car, was
met by the operator.
“Mr. Furlong wants to seo you at
the hotel at once.” said the latter.
Lumas, very sleepy—Indianapolis,
be it remembered, was his sleeping
town—grumbled a good deal at going
to a room at that hour in the morning.
However, he went with the operative
unsuspectingly, for though they had
occupied adjacent rooms in the lodg-
ing house for several months the op-
erative had contrived not to be known
to Lumas by sight. As Lumas’ hours
of arrival and departure were very
regular,, there had been no difficulty
about this.
I was Beated at the table with the
reports when the two men entered. I
asked Lumas to be seated and told the
operative to retire to the hall until
he was summoned.
“Lumas,” I said, quite quickly, “I
want to call your attention to these
reports that are spread out upon this
table. They are the daily reports of
my operatives who have shadowed
you and those associated with you for
the past four months. These reports
set forth everything that you have
done in those four months, and any
one you have associated with. I can
tell you how many cigars you have
smoked, how many drinks you have
taken, whom you have talked with,
and what you talked about. I find that
your mother is a fine old lady and
stands high in the community where
she resides, in Vermont. I find that
you have respectable connections and
that you were well raised. I know all
about your brother and his high stand-
ing on the Wabash road, and that your
character heretofore has been good.
Also that the officers of the Pacific
Express company have had the high-
est regard for you and believed im-
plicitly in your integrity.
“For these reasons,” I continued, “I
have taken it upon myself to'give you
the opportunity of telling the whole
truth about this express robbery, but
I want you to understand distinctly
that if you do not tell the truth, if
you say one word that is not the
truth, I shall stop you and turn you
over to the officers of the law. But
if you do tell the whole truth, and
nothing but the truth, I will do all
that I can to secure the extension of
leniency to you for your part in the
crime. In addition to this I can say
that, if you tell the whole truth, Mr.
Brazee and the other officers will be
as lenient with you as the law will
allow. So now I want you to answer
my questions truthfully or not at all.
Now, sir, I want you to tell me how
much money you received from the
proceeds of that robbery.”
At the mention of his mother and
brother the tears had started into the
messenger’s eyes. Long before I had
ended my speech Lumas was weeping
openly. Now, raising his head and
looking me in the eyes, Lumas an-
swered:
“Mr. Furlong, I only received ten
dollars.”
“Lumas, wait a moment until I call
in Mr. Brazee, who is your friend,” I
said.
Mr. Brazee, who had heard every
word, was still seated behind the door,
thunderstruck. As I entered the room
I noticed that he appeared almosl'. ns
distressed as the mesenger. I asked
Mr. Brazee to write down a record of
the conversation as he remembered it,
and Mr. Brazee did so.
When we emerged into the room in
which the messenger was still seated,
I said:
“Lumas, who were the two men who
robbed your car?”
“Denny Downer and a friend of his
whom he called Little Al,” replied the
man. “I never did know his real
name.”
Lumas went on to say that he had
made the acquaintance of Denny
Downer in a saloon in Detroit, and
that Downer evidently knew at the
time that he was an express mes-
senger. The two men formed an inti-
macy, and soon Lumas got into the
habit of drinking with his friend a
good deal. Downer had induced Lumas
to let him know when he would be
carrying a large sum of money, “a
big run,” as it was termed. Downer
had then gone on to Bay that he would
have a friend with him and would
7
ft
//A
“MR. FURLONG, I ONLY RECEIVED TEN DOLLARS."
board his car at an out of the way
station and bind him, without injur-
ing him, and shoot a few bullets
through the side of the car so as to
make it appear that he had made a
fight, and that subsequently they
would divide the spoils and that no-
body would eyer suspect Lumas on ac-
count of his good standing with the
company. Lumas finally was persuad-
ed to enter into the plot. He learned
that a safe containing a sum of money
exceeding four thousand dollars and
some other valuables was to be
shipped on his train, and notified
Downer. Downer and Little Al took
a train from Detroit and reached Ro-
han a little ahead of Lumas’ train.
After the robbery, when he had re-
turned to Detroit, Downer sent Lumas
a letter containing ten dollars, with
the promise to send him more later
on; but Lumas had never received an-
other penny. His conscience had
troubled him and he had been drink-
ing heavily in consequence. Lumas
stated, further, that he had become
convinced that the confederates had
tried to strangle him with the gag, so
as to be able to keep all the spoils and
at the same time to remove a danger-
ous ally. ___
All the officials of the express com-
pany were amazed at Lumas’ confea-
PLENTY OF TRUTH IN WORLD
But It Is Impossible Unless One
Ignores Fact Long Enough to
Examine Soul, Says Writer.
A writer in the Atlantic makes use
of the sentence: “Until the facts are
in their right order there is no truth.”
He might have expressed it “until the
facts are all in and in their right or-
der,” etc., for truth is not directed
from limited facts. Edmund Burke
gave this definition: “Truth is those
unalterable relations which Provi-
dence has ordained that everything
should bear to every other.” So it is
not the right order but the number
that expresses the truth. And here is
the fearful dilemma we encounter,
since it is impossible to get all the
facts, for no fact is unrelated, it is
impossible to get at the truth. Human
reason does not reveal it, which ex-
plains why human reason is always
disagreeing about it. There is not a
point in the universe that human rea-
son is -solid upon. Then there is no
truth in the world? Yes; plenty of it
—the intuition, the inspiration, the
fruit of the spirit and the voice of the
conscience. But the relation of every-
thing to everything, in all time and
eternity and in all the universe, is im-
possible, and hence truth is impossi-
ble, unless one ignores fact long
enough to ask the soul what it means.
Considering the Future.
“Some of the things you have said
deserve to be remembered forever,”
said the admiring friend.
“I don’t desire any such recogni-
tion,” replied Senator Sorghum. “The
success of a man in my .position some-
times depends on the ease with which
his previous observations can be for-
gotten.”
sion. I turned the man over to my
operative and took the first train for
Detroit, where I arrested Denny Down-
er. Downer at once admitted his con-
nection with the robbery, and stated
that “Little Al” was Al Perry of Bos-
ton, a noted porch climber and thief.
Downer and Perry were lodged in
the county jail at Wabash, Ind. In
due course both were put on trial.
They pleaded guilty, and each man re-
ceived a senten.ee of six years in the
penitentiary at Michigan City, Ind.
Their sentences were made compara-
tively light because they pleaded
guilty.
Lumas, who pleaded guilty also, was
used as a witness before the grand
jury against Downer and Perry. As
he. was much younger than the two
men, and inexperienced in crime, and
had, furthermore, been used as a tool
by them, sentence on him was sus-
pended.
After the robbery the express com-
pany had offered a reSsward for the ar-
rest and conviction of each of the
robbers, and when they had been con-
victed Pat O’Neal, the private detec-
tive, filed a claim against the com-
pany to recover the money. As he had
had nothing to do with the arrest or
the conviction, he naturally failed to
Obtain it.
SHAKESPEARE SEIZED IDEAS
Appropriated Entire Structures of Fel«
low Playwrights' Dramas, Writes
Critic of Bard of Avon.
The reader now has the fabulous
story of “Macbeth” as it existed when,
by the arrival of King James I in Lon-
don there was theatrical value to be
found by Shakespeare in a Scot’s play.
We have read the story as it existed in
English when Shakespeare came up to
London; as it existed in Latin before
he was born; as it would have existed
until today whether both Shakespeare
and Middleton had lived or not, or
even if there had been no written Eng-
lish language.
A thought so impressive concerning
“Macbeth” is to be considered here as
casting intellectual light on our mod-
ern attitude toward the entire scrip-
tures of Shakespeare. It is to be ac-
cepted by his worshipers that Shake-
speare licked histories, novels, poems
into shape for acting, and the fact that
a fellow-playwright was striving to
earn a living in an original way did
not deter Shakespeare from seizing the
entire structure of that fellow play-
wright’s drama.. We shall advert to
such an act on his part because a man
of genius, Robert Greene, thus de-
spoiled, and dying in penury, cried out
against the injustice of his fate.—“Wil-
liam Shakespeare,” John McGovern, in
National Magazine.
Husband'* Work.
Papa—You are old enough to button
your own shoes now, Ethel.
Ethel—Must I always do it, papa?
“Yes, my child.”
- “Must I-always button my own shoe?
and button my own dresses, papa?”
“Well—-yes—until you get a b , -.band
to do it for you.”
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
The Lampasas Daily Leader (Lampasas, Tex.), Vol. 29, No. 281, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 1, 1933, newspaper, February 1, 1933; Lampasas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth895265/m1/2/: accessed July 3, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Lampasas Public Library.