The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1863-12-10
THE EsCAPE OF JOHN NOR


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.h EHtk baSGAN. 3 ~ q
How Il was Accomplished.
spsbial cerrsspouAs.es ofshe cineinnssi Qasssss
4. CoLuxBus, Onro, Nov. %. :
Il Your readers can imagine, better than
can describe, tho surprise experienced b,
/ the denizens Of the Capital City, at the an
noUnocment which greeted them this morn
ing, that the notorious rebel, John Morgan,
had taken f. anoh leave ofthose who held
him in "durance vils." and was taking d
second but less dignified tour Of the Buck
eye State. The report was so astonishing
in its nature that, at first, but few persons
were found willing to credit It, and even
when 1t was confirmed through official chan
nels. il was still! with much difficulty that
many of the less credalous could be iuduc.
ed to believe in its truth. so great was their
confidence in the fancied security of the
walls within which the great horse tlliefwas
confined. But the skeptical were finally
convinced. and it IS now an qndisputcd
though mortifying fact that the great raider
and six Of his companions have escaped
from the place Of their imprisonment, and
are now, dout tless. making good use of
their time while en- route for Dixie. The
manner in which they effected their escape
clearly indicates that there has been gross
negligence on the part Of som, one, for
which he should be held responsible. and it
is to be hoped that the proper authorities
viii give the matter such an Investigation
as viii bring to light the guilty party, that
he may be made to receive ths punishment
he 10 fishly deserves.
Since their reception at the Penitentiary,
the Morgan prisoners have been ass,gned to
the south tier Of cells in the new addition to
the east wing Of that institution. All but
seven of these men were accommodated
with cells in the upper ranges but these
sven. ~ho were Colonel Richard Morgan,
Captain j. G. Bennett, s. B. TAYLOR, Ralph
Sheldon, T. H Hines, L. H. Hookersmith
and @. 8. Nagee, we're on the Logger ground
range. Underneath these. cells, with about
sixteen or eig hteen inches Of brick. mortar
and cement intervening. there is an air
chanber, GONE SIX feet in length and four
feet in width. extending the entire length Of
the range, for the purpose Of keeping the
co lls in dry and comfortable condition. II
is said that one day. while in lively mood
Hines was dancing about his cell. and, from
the character ofthe sounds caused thereby,
he concluded that there was vacant space
underneath the floor. He afterwards dis.
covered the sorreotness.af his snppos,tion
by digging through the Aoor of his cell. II
seems more probable, however. that the reh-
els became aware Of the existence Of the air
chamber in another manner, whichis repor.
ted by some Of the attaches ofttle Peniten-
tiasy. This is reported to be, that upon
complaining that their cells were damp, for
which charge there was not the lssst found
alton, they were told BY guard that it was
impossible for them to be in that condition
- there WAS large air chamber underneath
which kept them dry. Be this as it may an
attempt to escape was determined upon,
and on the Ath Of Noyembsr they commenc
ed digging through the floors ofthe cells,
using for that purpose two. perhaps more,
table knives i After establishng communi.
cation with the air chamber. they excavated
with small coal shovel tunnel from the
east end Of the chamber, passing under the
walls of the prisor, to the guard outside, TO
escape from which there would be but little
difficulty. The men were engaged bat
three honrs in each day for seventeen days
in this work, ~ viii be seen by tho follow.
ing note, which they left behind them
,a,i 4.sssti Castle Merton, Oel No. 90.
Commencement, November 4th, 1868.
Osnc'usior. November Goth, 1883. u .,
Number Of hours OF labor per day, three.
Tools. two table knives. olsi s. q
g "Ls patienss est arrieae, mais SON fruit
oss HuWSs A4tNssf - ".
BY order ofmy six honorable couicder-
ates. efss So ,Sll 4sos. y <. ssos 4
T. HENRY HINES. Captain G. SA.
The French quotation in the note, when
translated, reads .Patience is trouble
some, but It's fruit is sweet.n aogs .ea.,ia
After manufacturing ! ladder ont Of the
bed ticking, which was torn up for that
ppFpose. oil VAS in readiness for the men 10
take their departure. 9e aag4a
TWAS : part Of their plan that Dick Nor
gan should remain behind while John
made bis escape, to accomplish which vas
almost as difficult as what they had already
done. John occupied cell in the sscand
range, and. in order TO carry out the sohems
II Was necessary for him to exchange quar-,
tsrs with his brother Richssd. This was
not done until yesterday, afternoon. when
there was 3 convenient opportunity - the
prisoners were being locked in.thsir cells
for tue night Instead of going to his own
cell, Morgan slipped into his brother ,quar.
tsre uno',served Ry he gard. while Riehsrd
was equally sqccsssfql ~ taking the ono op
the SECOND rssge; and tAaash The eqaFd,
while on his ususl rounds, stopped hsioss
the door and inquired il General John Nor
| gan was there. to which Richard responded