Scene from "The Great Train Robbery" - Date/Videographer unknown.

19 December 2012

This Day in History 19 Dec 1912

Vancouver British Columbia - One hundred years ago today, The Sun splashed George Wilson's mug shot across the front page, offering the public a look at a criminal who had terrified the city for several days.
 
Wilson's infamy began at about 7:45 p.m. on 7 Dec 1912, when a masked man hopped aboard the Canadian Pacific Railway's No. 2 train, the "Imperial Limited", near the B.C. Sugar factory.
 
Brandishing a revolver, he ordered the 40 passengers in the observation car to stand at one end, then demanded their valuables.
 
After collecting $300 in cash, two watches, a chain, a diamond ring, and two sovereigns, he jumped from the train before it reached Barnet station, and vanished into the night.
 
The CPR offered a $500 reward for information leading to the robber's capture.
 
It didn't have to wait long.
 
Four days after the train robbery, J.H. Sinclair was walking through the foggy downtown when he was accosted by a tall, thin, man with a gun.
 
When the robber reached inside Sinclair's pocket to get his wallet, Sinclair grabbed for the gun.
 
During the ensuing struggle, the robber fired four shots, hitting Sinclair in the hand and arm.
 
The shots and Sinclair's cries for help caught the attention of two policemen, who subdued Wilson.
 
Sinclair was sent to St. Paul's Hospital to recover, while Wilson went to jail, where he was identified as the CPR robber by three passengers.
 
In his mug shot, he had a big bandage over his left eye, a souvenir of his fight with Sinclair.
 
"Wilson is believed to be the desperado who caused many holdups in the streets of Vancouver," reported The Sun.
 
"He is apparently well educated and is addicted to the use of drugs."
 
Wilson's capture didn't stop a crime wave in the city, however.
 
The day after Wilson robbed the "Imperial Limited", a gang tried to derail the same train near Whonnock so they could rob it.
 
A couple of days later, masked men held up a gambling den on Columbia near Hastings in Chinatown.
 
John MacKie.