The Sun.
London, England, 1862-06-13 00:00:00

THE ESCAPE FROM NEWGATE.

It will be remembered that about a month ago a
prisoner, named Philip Krauss, a German, who was
confined in Newgate upon a charge of being con-
cerned in an extensive robbery of tea from the East
India Docks, made his escape from that prison—an
event which, from the recent alterations that have
been made in the building, particularly with a view
to the safe custody of the criminals placed there,
was considered almost impossible to have occurred.
It seemed, however, that the doors of the cells were
not by any means of the requisite strength, and
the prisoner succeeded in cutting out one of
the panels of the door of the cell in which he was
confined, and he then, by a series of ingenious
contrivances, succeeded in making his way to the
external wall of the prison, and at length dropped
down into the Old Bailey about 4 o'clock in the
morning, a period when at this time of the year
numbers of persons are on their way to and from
Newgate-market, but fortune befriended him, and
he succeeded in getting clear off. The prisoner, at
the time of his arrest, followed the occupation of a
sugar baker, a trade in which great numbers of his
countrymen are employed at the east end of the town,
and there appears to be no doubt, from inquiries
that have since been made, that he received valuable
assistance from some of his friends outside, and that
he succeeded in obtaining from them some of the
materials by which he contrived to make his escape,
notwithstanding the vigilance of the officers of the
prison, and it has been ascertained that parties were
in attendance in the morning on which the attempt
was known to be intended to be made, near the pri-
son, and that the moment he was free he was sup-
plied with a butcher's frock, which he quickly
slipped on over his ordinary clothes, and this dia-
-1 guise no doubt materially aided him iu waking his
eseape. A curious fact has come to light which
shows what a narrow escape the prisoner had of
being recaptured. It appears that a day or two
after he had been at liberty he wrote to an intimate
friend, one of his countrymen, telling him he was at
liberty, and requesting that he would meet him at a
time he appointed at a coffee-shop in Vie neighbour-
hood of Rotherhithe, and his " friend," unable to
resist the temptation of the reward that bad been
offered by the Sheriffs and the Governor of Newgate
for the apprehension of the escaped prisoner, went
to the authorities and showed them the letter.
Im-
mediate steps were, of course, taken to reca
recapture
the culprit, and officers in plain clothest whether the
were des-
patched to the place of rendezvous, but
of the coursenot to keep the ap
or the person he
mind of the prisoner misgave
him, or
he had taken
had written to repented
and gave him timely
nether cause, the
pri-
sonerpointment, or from some.
appearance, and the
Csompanion. The police
d ever since in endea-
vouring hours, returned
officers, after waiting
did not makewfaedhrrinsi
ve, but from
without their anticiePmatelcroyitei
vouring to trace the time
have been actively employed
fugitive,
ofbhas
referred to every trace him been entirely kw
impression of those employed in the aff
air
is the
is that
he will never more be heard of in this coun-
try.
Prisoners have, on one or two former in-
stances, succeeded in making their escape from
Newgate, but in every case they have been re-ap-
prehended; and this is the only one in which the
party has been fortunate enough to get clear off.
The prisoner in this case, however, was a foreigner,
and as he had formerly been a sailor the belief is
that he succeeded, immediatelyafter
obtaining his
liberty, in getting an board
some outward-bound
ship, and thus completely baffled his pursuers.