Summit County Journal; Jun 12, 1915;
Section Men Were Held Up by a Footpad
Last Friday afternoon about 3 o'clock, an unexpected visitor approached the three section men,
A. Johnson, A. Sanderlin and Chas. Storm while they were at work on the C.& S. track just below the road crossing near the Breckenridge cemetery.
They caught sight of the highwayman coming toward them from a clump of trees about seventy-five feet away and at once perceived his intent, as he was masked and carried a revolver. They awaited his arrival as per orders and upon first request to fork over their hard earned cash, they unhesitatingly complied and handed over $92.00.
Again, obedient to the outlaw they boarded a handcar and proceeded toward Dickey. At dredge No. 1 they alighted and phoned Sheriff Detwiler. The Tonopah auto took the sheriff to the holdup scene, where Johnson, the section foreman and party joined him. An effort was made to track the guilty party to a hiding place, but no footprints could be found beyond the cemetery gate.
The section men were evidently considerably excited for their descriptions of the hold-up man are very indefinite. The man may have been a runt or a six-footer for all we know, there is no clue to his identity.
Heath, the car inspector stationed at Dickey, offers the only feasible solution: The spirits of the criminally inclined return to earth in bodily form and continue their evil practices and escape without detection. As proof of this statement, Mr. Heath refers that this party came directly out of the cemetery and returned to the same place and hasn't been seen since.
Being unfamiliar with the term, I had to look up Footpad on Wikipedia:
A footpad is an archaic term for a robber or thief specializing in pedestrian victims. The term was used widely from the 16th century until the 19th century, but gradually fell out of common use. A footpad was considered a low criminal, as opposed to the mounted highwayman who in certain cases might gain fame as well as notoriety. A modern word in place of footpad would be mugger. A mugger is a person who accosts another person while they are both on foot, and commits the crime of robbery. This often includes a violent nature resulting in injury to the victim.
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