Railroad Raiders (1917) Reel Life, May 05, 1917, page 4 HOLMES "RAILROAD RAIDERS" VI This Chapter is full of fast work and big stunts for Miss Holmes THE OVERLAND DISASTER, CHAPTER VI HELEN HOLMES, daring young heroine of the screen, whose most recently coferred title is "Venus of the Valve," manages to roll down a railway embankment in a Pullman car and escape without a scratch, in Chapter VI of "The Railroad Raiders," Signal-Mutual photo-novel, the most sensationally adventurous chapter play in which Miss Holmes has ever appeared. "The Darling of the Rail," as so many of her admirers call her, has never been seen to better advantage than in this latest chapter of "The Railroad Raiders."  Miss Holmes is everywhere in the picture, flipping cars on fast moving trains, boarding engines and remaking train schedules after cutting into the train dispatcher's wire from all sorts of remote mountain way stations; fording rivers up to her neck in icy water, and holding up members of the raiding gang at the point of her trusty automatic. There is action and to spare throughout the chapter, as may be understood when it is realized that John P. McGowan, director of all the Helen Holmes photoplays, gets into the game himself as "Desmond," bent on squeezing out a few hundred stock holders of the system. THE STORY OF CHAPTER VI In Chapter VI of "The Railroad Raiders" Thomas Desmond (John P. Gowan) is made general superintendent of the "K" system and characteristically enough, he launches a new lineof investigation intot he mysterious robberies that have come close to impoverishing the road during the previous two years. The first thing that impresses him is the suspicious behavior of Burke, the disgruntled "K" official, whom Helen Holmes insists is in league with the raiders. Acting upon his suspicions with regard to Burke, the new superintendent trails him to the rear room office of Lowenstein, the pawnbroker, and having overheard a criminal conspiracy between the two, with Helen as a witness, Desmond contronts Burke with proof of his guilt and terrifies the conspirator into agreeing to betray his gang into the hands of the railway secret service organization.  Immediately following this agreement Burke concocts a scheme to wreck the private train of the "K" system's president by derailing it, and it is this sensational wreck scene resulting in President Wilson's death, that constitutes the big episode of the chapter. Roy, the president's son, and Helen Holmes' persistent suitor, narrowly escapes death with his father, owing his life to Miss Holmes' forsight and warning. Helen's activities agains the raiding gangs harassing the "K" system, have so narrowed the scopeof their operations that early capture of the ringleaders is considered by Superintendent Desmond to be practically assured, but, while the desperate gang sees the end of its career approaching, its leaders thirst for revenge against Helen Holmes and her associates of the secret service department.  A desperate plot is hatching against Helen and her aids (sic), of which she gets an inkling, and immediately begins to make counter plans for the confusion and capture of the would be assassins. HELEN "DELIVERS THE GOODS" Newspaper and magazine comment of "The Railroad Raiders" is of a flattering anture.  The Atlanta Georgian says: "Leaving out of the question the usual laymen's faith in the invulnerability of motion picture stars to such 'slings and arrows of outrageous fortune' as beset the everyday human, it is impossible to avoid recognition of the fact that when Miss Holmes is photographed in some desperate leap off a cliff, or into the tonneau of a moving motor car from a speeding train, the actress really delivers the goods.  MUTUAL "The Railroad Raiders Is All That Mr. Sutchinson Guaranteed!" -- Rob Reel in CHICAGO AMERICAN HELEN HOLMES in The RAILROAD RAIDERS This newest of Helen Holmes photo-novels is playing to capacity business everywhere. It's crammed with ACTION - PUNCH - THRILLS Now Booking at all Mutual Exchanges with Helen Holmes and J.P. McGowan.  Directed by J.P. McGowan.  Signal/Mutual. More Information on this film...                                       This work (The Railroad Raiders (1917), by Signal/Mutual), identified by Bruce Calvert, is free of known copyright restrictions. Books None. Last Modified September 13, 2009.