Stole All In Sight

WHOLÏSAtE POBBEltY. PirrsBWtGH, Pa., April 12.- A despread conspiraey to rob tho trains of the Pan-Handle Railroad Company has been discovered among the trainmeu employed on that road, and from Sunday midnight until nine o'clook yesterday morning officers wero kept busy raakiug arrests as the freight trams arrived here. Sixty arrests in all have been made and a number of warrants are still out The arrests have crcated the greatest excitement araong the railroad employés ol the city. The scènes about the jail doors yesterday morning, where relatives of the prisoners had gathered to learn the cause of their arrests were of the saddest description. Wives, children, parents, brothers and sisters with tear-stained faces stood round the entrances of the prison eager to hear the latest developments and pleading with the offlcers for admission to the jail to see the prisoners. Consternation prevails among the proprietors of the "fences" and dens where ïhe goods were secreted and sold. In ooe instance the proprietor of a notorious den was detected in the act of burning stolen property. A number of houses in various part of the city were raided and a large quantities of goods recovered. Every man arrested had stolen goods somewhere. Among tbe prisoners are several desperate characters, who wore wanted by the pólice for other offensas. They were all armed and when not taken by surprise resistod arrest Numbers overpowered them, however, and all were safely lodged in jail. A special dispatch from Dennison says the ofhcers have arrested James and W. Collis with several Ihousand dollars' worth of velvets and üigh-priced dry-goods in their possession, articles taken from United States bonded cars en route to Chicago, 8t Louis and other points West. One Busby, the worst man in the gang, slipped his handcufls and recklessly threw himself from the train whilo it was going and escaped. The most important arrest made here was Brakeman Young. He called at the jail to see one of the prisoners yesterday morning, and was imuiediately locked up. At first he protestad that he was innocent, but finally admitted that he had a larg lot of the stolen property at his home, and told how the goods had come into his possession. His onfession will, it is said, conviot thirteen 'rews. Telegrams from Cadiz, Bteubenville, and points west of Columbus report the arrest of a large number ot railroad employés implicated in the robberies. The preliminar hearing will ba held on April IS. John H. Hampton, attorney ter the company, said that the robberies had been going on for several ycars, and that at out 9500,000 worth of property had been stolen. The company began investigatvoas in September, 1886, placing detectives on trains. Seventy-five crews were detected. In ome cases every one of the men in a crew were iropücated,. The men were weU rganized and worked to protect each other. Sometimes the seals of the ars were broksn and sometimes cara were chopped open. Each man had his particular work te do. Whisky was stolen ■in large quantities and drank in the ca"booses. Not c ariug to keep whisky openly in the cars they tore np the flooring and iiid it underneath. Men were continually reported draak on duty, and the probability of disaster was something frightful to contémplate. All kinds of goods were stolen, includine sewing-machines, gun, revolvers, cutlery, silverware, cigars, clothing, liquors, groceries, furniture, and in fact every imaginable articla that can be carried on a car were quietly removed. The depredations were committed all along the road, and the losers reside at points as far West as Denver. Fences were estabhshed in this city, where the stolen property was taken and then sold, the money being evenly divided mong the crews. 1 The combination to rob a freight train necessitated the guilty knowledge and actual participation of the conductor, the 'middle brakemen, one or two, and the rear brakeman or flagman. It did not, of necessity, take in the front brakemen nor the engineer or fireman, but the others had to ;be in to make it werk, and it did work. It was not required that they should wreek trains to rob them. Urery excuse which .they knew could not well be denied was gi ven f or broken cars wbea they neglected, jwhich they f requently did, to seal or lock ■ them up again. The Government bonded [cars were broken, perhaps, of tener than the rdinary Union line or common freight cars. In these they always know they could get choico goods. Buks, cigars, rifles, all kinds of iiuported flre-arms and caddies of tobáceo seemed to be some of their necessities. Boxea of shoes and a general run of merchant supplies for their every -day use !were found in the caboose car3 of each train. Fires were in progress yesterday all along the line of the Fan-Handle road, made up of stuff got out of the caboose cars, that the evidence of things not seen 'may be wanting when the trial comes. Almost every man arrested had f rom on to ten pawn tickets for all sorts of articles on hls person. It is alleged that every pawnshop in the two cities is represented on the tickets. An amount of several thousand dollars is said to be rccoverable in this way alone. RPfl 1 The arrest of whola crews had left a large nvmber of trains deserted. There ■Were twenty-four of these trains piled losely together on the side-tracks in the yards. The detention of freight, however, was only temporary. An extra f orce oí ixty men had been employed. These were put on the desertod trains in place of the rrested employés. Late last night J. R. Dunlap, the ringleader, made a confession to the detectives, in which he implicated several outsiders and located "fences" at Dennison, ■O., New Philadelphia and other places.