The weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1858-1860, 1858-04-13

The Jail Delivery ~ lnAiana = psiis.
i The telegraph tells us OF jasl delivery .,
h iianapols Sunday morning. An extra jour
- Of that town gives particulars., J. B,
81 .ars. J. Wood, J. McRay. George Wagner.
James vanness, and J. A. Taylor, countsSseit.
ere made their es, ape. Lee Overman. burglar.
also vamoeed ;--and Henry Brook locker, In
dicesd for the murder Of man named Fail, and
Miehael Gallagher, who killed Costello, the bur.
| der that caused 90 much excitement few
weeks ago, are among the missing. The man
ner Of the escape was most extraordinary. The
Journal thus states sit:-a-s- it
Shears, either IRON mis- wife, who visited him
. day OF two before, or BY the assistance OF La.
kin, another counterfe,er, WHO il out on bail,
obtained a key With which he could unlock his
CELL This key he had to use outside. while he
was inside Of the great iron door. Tue way he
done it was ingenious. He got poplar stick
about three feet long, and about the middle OF
il made . mortice, in which the handle Of the
key would fit, and through the noriice, and, Of
course. through the ring or bulge Of The key he
drove peg, 80 as to heep the key from falling
out. The stick he put through the grating, and
slipped it up and down siil he gos the key into
the hole. Then be pulled is as lar A. II needed
to 20. Now the puzzle was 10 turn the key.
This he accomplished as ingeniously as he did
the other process. lie fastened string to the
upper end Of the stick, drew il through the gra-
ting, and pulled down at far as the hole in the
grating would allow, and then he passed II
through another hole lower down, and again
pulled, and so on until he rot the key turned
and the door unlocked. He then went to all
the other cells, unlocked them, and set oil the
prisoners free. r.#...
Before doing this, he had planned the way to
get out of the Jail. He and the prisoners in the
cell with him had managed, probably BY using
the timber OF their "bupks," to pry up tie
stone covering of the cell far enough to allow
the body Of man t0 pass. This is the mCst
extraordinary part Of the whole feat, % it
would appear impossible to move the huge
block by any means, much less by such consri /
vances as could be manufactured in Jail cell
IL was moved, however, and proIped up. The
way into the garret Of the jail, (Shears' cell
beng in the upper tier next TO the roof was
now open. From the garret small chimney
rises, and thus afforded tue only means of exit
to the Jail, except by cutting right through. By
some meaI 8, Shears forced himself far enough
up this chimney to be able to pick out some Of
the bricks above the roof, aud finally TO make
a hole through which aman could crawl. In
fact, as it appears from the street, the chimney
Was nearly cut of at the roof. The road out
was open now, and II is possible that at this |
time the other cells we're unlocked. While this !
was going on, the prisoners were singing, ~ they
frequently do, vociferously, probably 10 drown
the noise Of their operations. When all was
ready, about 3 o'clock, they cravled out upon
The roof, and thence let themselves down into |
the yard by rope made of their bedelothes,
which they tore up and tied together. This |
rope was lying in the yard when we were there
BY means of plank they scaled |
The wall of the yard and were safe. The feat |
> one that deserves place beside those Of Jack |
Sheppard.