A fact from Nathaniel Reed (outlaw) appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 4 June 2008, and was viewed approximately 1,631 times (disclaimer) (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:
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As I was asked to do, I've been through this article and copyedited it. Hopefully I haven't destroyed any of the sense of what was being said. There are a few places though where there seems to me to be disjunctions in the flow of what's being said.
The Robbery at Blackstone Switch section starts off by suggesting that Reed himself was in charge of the robbery, but at the end we're told that Reed agreed "to testify against the man who planned the robbery in exchange for probation, although he did not participate in the proceedings". What proceedings are these? And if Reed didn't plan the robbery, then who did?
"Despite their practice staged-robbery the previous day, as the Katy No. 2 approached ...". While the reader can guess that's the name of a locomotive, guesswork ought not to be necessary.
The second and third paragraphs about the messengers has a slightly jarring chronology. Why not tell us about the railroad company's suspicions and actions before telling us that the engine driver warned the messengers? Why? What messengers?
"... the pain from his wound grew so severe that he gave some of the stolen loot to his partners ...". The pain made him give his loot away?