I try to do at least a minimal fact check on the names that show up in 'Stories of the Century' and in some cases like this one, what's presented in the episode is mostly made up for the benefit of those early TV viewers who tuned in during the mid-Fifties. This story of Rube Burrows starts out by stating that he was nicknamed the 'Alabama Wolf' and that he was the first outlaw to rob a train single-handedly. I couldn't verify this with a quick Wikipedia search, so you'll have to make up your own mind.
However the story plays into the theme of a lone man robbing a train here, but that's not to say Rube Burrows didn't have help. He placed himself in a wooden casket and had some gang members put him on a train under the pretense of shipping a body back home. During the trip, Burrows emerged from the casket and robbed the agent in charge (Earle Hodgins) of the money in a safe on the baggage car. Thinking about this for a minute, I thought it was a pretty creative way to plan a robbery, might even get away with something like this today.
Railroad Detective Margaret 'Jonesy' Jones (Kristine Miller), a series regular in the second season wound up looking rather foolish in this story. Posing as a pickpocket and getting herself busted, she ingratiated herself with Rube Burrows' girlfriend Emma Hutchins (Jean Willis) during time they spent in a jail cell together. When Burrows came by to break his woman out of jail, Jonesy tried to follow but the constable (Norman Leavitt) turned her around and locked her right back up.
Which left it to Jonesy's senior partner Matt Clark (Jim Davis) to organize a posse with the local authorities and set out after Rube and Emma. Attempting to escape by horse drawn wagon, Rube is shot during the chase and Emma is thrown from the rig when it crashes and overturns. Both die of their injuries bringing the story to an end.
In actuality, Rube Burrow (the name is spelled without an 's' on Wikipedia) died in a gunfight after escaping from jail himself. One of the things the 'Stories' episode got right was when his body was being transported home, his law-abiding father met the train and claimed the body.
However the story plays into the theme of a lone man robbing a train here, but that's not to say Rube Burrows didn't have help. He placed himself in a wooden casket and had some gang members put him on a train under the pretense of shipping a body back home. During the trip, Burrows emerged from the casket and robbed the agent in charge (Earle Hodgins) of the money in a safe on the baggage car. Thinking about this for a minute, I thought it was a pretty creative way to plan a robbery, might even get away with something like this today.
Railroad Detective Margaret 'Jonesy' Jones (Kristine Miller), a series regular in the second season wound up looking rather foolish in this story. Posing as a pickpocket and getting herself busted, she ingratiated herself with Rube Burrows' girlfriend Emma Hutchins (Jean Willis) during time they spent in a jail cell together. When Burrows came by to break his woman out of jail, Jonesy tried to follow but the constable (Norman Leavitt) turned her around and locked her right back up.
Which left it to Jonesy's senior partner Matt Clark (Jim Davis) to organize a posse with the local authorities and set out after Rube and Emma. Attempting to escape by horse drawn wagon, Rube is shot during the chase and Emma is thrown from the rig when it crashes and overturns. Both die of their injuries bringing the story to an end.
In actuality, Rube Burrow (the name is spelled without an 's' on Wikipedia) died in a gunfight after escaping from jail himself. One of the things the 'Stories' episode got right was when his body was being transported home, his law-abiding father met the train and claimed the body.
