Bandits Take the Newport Train and Vanish Into the Night

Great Northern passenger train No. 4, due in Newport at 12:40 a.m., was held up by bandits near Mead station just out of Hillyard about 11:30 last night. The robbers boarded the engine as it was pulling out of the Hillyard yards and commanded the engineer to keep going until they ordered him to stop. As the train reached a cut near Morse, the engineer was told to stop and the fireman ordered to disconnect the first three cars containing the mail, express and baggage cars, but left the express with its valuable load connected with the train.

The robbers rifled the mail car, taking the contents of the registered pouches from Seattle, but leaving the Spokane pouches untouched, as the clerk in charge told them there was nothing of value in the latter pouches.

A hobo who was stealing a ride from Spokane to Newport saw the entire operation and was so badly scared that he ran nearly all the way back to Hillyard, then took a car to Spokane, where he reported the robbery. He has been held as a witness.

None of the train crew or government employees made the least effort to protect the property of their employers, an unusual occurrence.

The Great Northern appears to be the easiest road in the country for train robbers. This is the fourth holdup on this division during the past year. On one occasion the robbers secured $40,000. They were afterward captured and a portion of the money recovered. They were placed in a Montana jail, but escaped and are still at liberty.

The train arrived in Newport about 4:50 this morning, four hours late, although it was on time at Hillyard. The crew was quite badly excited when the train pulled into the local station.

The railroad company has offered a reward of $3,000 for the arrest and conviction of the robbers. Spokane county officials and the Spokane police department scoured the country near the scene of the robbery in automobiles, but failed to secure any trace of the robbers.