Daily union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1865-1866, 1865-12-16

L
drearily along, and the prison authoriiie
slept on in full security till about four o clocl
IN the morning. when Denis Byrne, tn,
Waterman for the night whose duty it wa
to patrol the outer wards and passages AROUND
the prison, startled Mr.. Philpots, the Dep
uty Governor out of his Sleep witt
the information that he had Just discovere,
two tables piled against the boundary wal
of the prison. An alarm was instantly
sounded; the whole force of turkeys, ward
ems, etc, were at once assembled. Headed
by the Governor, a number of them rushed
to Stephens cell for the "captain" was frs
thought Of and, 10 ! his cell was empty tn,
door was wide open, the paddock lying OF
the ground together with the false KEY t.
which it had yielded the cell door leading
out on the stairs stood also open. Between
this point and the spot where the tables wer,
found there are no less than twelve doors
two of which are always kept locked a
night. One of the doors which should have
been open was found locked of the zen door;
which should have been locked nine were
found open, the tenth, heavy solid iron
door was found locked from the outside
and the false key which opened it was found
in the key hole. 1t was seen at a glance
that Stephens, the only person missing, had
been guided BY some one thoroughly ac-
quainted with the devious windings of the
prison; no one else could have led him
through the intricate bye-vays, yards and
unfrequented passages through which he had
passed In order to open all the doors
| through which Stephens had escaped four
| keys only were necessary, a KEY for the cell
door, two latch keys for the outer doors, and
| oh, !
within the prison, including the door at the
head of the staircase leading from stephens
corridor, and eight others on his route TO the
boundary wall. The tables mentioned were
placed one on top of the other at point
about fifty yards distant from the room out
of which they had been taken. They are
thick, heavy deal tables, twenty-feet BY
three, and were used as dining tables for the
lunatic prisoners.
| THE PURSUIT.
While Mr.. Marques, the Governor, and
some of his officers were noting these facts,
messengers were on their way from the
| prison to the detective office, and the yari-
Gus police stations throughout the city,
| bearing the tidings of Stephens's escape
| The most active measures were instantly ia
| ken to recapture the fugitive. Every sta
ton in England aud Ireland was tele-
| graphed to; the police in all the outlying
| districts around the city were turned out to
scour roads, lanes and fields; a large body
of police spread themselves over the south
side of the city, and the whole detective
| force were once again set on the trail of
| James Stephens. During the whole of
yesterday the search was kept up without
| result. The total amount of information
arrived at in connection with the matter is
easily summed up. In the first place, Denis
Byrne, the Waterman, was the chief agent
in effecting Stephens's escape. Byrne was
arrested last evening, a copy Of the Fenian
oath and documents, providing that he has
been "B," or Fenian captain for three
years, were found in his desk. In the next
place, Stephens, who left his cell an hour af-
ter midnight, did not use the tables at all
he was walked out ON the high road through
a wicket, of which Byrne possessed the key,
at the side Of the prison, directly opposite
to the spot where the tables had been placed
as Il blind. The two false keys found were
the only keys necessary to be procured for
the enterprise-the other two Byrne, as
Waterman, carried about him.
HOW THE ESCAPE WAS PLANNED AND EF-
FECTED.
With much ado your correspondent sue
ceeded in getting into Richmond prison on
yesterday, and, in being conducted over the
scene of the escape | have been twice over
the route traversed by Stephens in making
his escape, and marked every inch of the
way. Yet so numerous are the vindings.
and so many are the uOOrs, mars, passages,
etc, through which he passed, that | should
utterly fail to attempt description of his
road to freedom. Men who have been
through every inch of the prison four times
a year for fourteen years have assured me
that they could not follow his course were
they presented with every key possessed by
the Governor. | have gained something,
however, from my inspection of the place,
and stringing together the facts observed by
myself and those discovered by the police
with certain scraps Of information which
have reached me, but for the accuracy Of
which | cannot vouch, | shall proceed to
give a succinct narrative of Stephens es-
cape, distinguishing az | 60 along, ascer-
tanned facts from differences and private in
formation.
1t is probable that Stephens knew Byrne
as Fenian long previous to the arrests at
Fairfield. This Byrne entered the Dublin
police some seven years ago he left this
body to join the Irish Brigade which volun-
teered for the Pope's service in 1860. He
returned to this country after the defeat at
Castelfderdo and was shortly 4 aterward
elected warden and Waterman in Richmond
Prison. | saw him yesterday before he was
taken into custody and while he was still
discharging his duty as warden. He is
tall, vell-shaped military looking man, with
dark heavy eyebrows and a sullen cast of
countenance. He has been twice under sus-
pension for misconduct since his election and
had but doubtful tenure of office for some
months back. Stephens either knew in going
into the prison that he had at least one i'm
portant friend inside, or was made aware of
the fact by private signal soon afterward,
and to this knowledge his defiant attitude
before the magistrate is probably tobc attrib-
uted. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fri
days, b yrne acted as warden. On either of
these days, by using great caution, he could !
have communicated with Stephens during
the hour allowed prisoners for ex-
ercise. The alternate days were at his !
own disposal from two o'clock 7. NJ. till |
night this afforded him plenty of OPP !
portunity of communicating with the Fe- !
mans outside. On Tuesday and Thursday !
nights he acted as night Waterman, but at |
no tlInc WIS ne dllONtu dCttSS u lNC IlTl5OI-
ers CELL though he could have gone there |
during the hour Of exercise when the cell |
doors were open. The plan Of escape was
probably formed without suggestion from |
Stephens. As night Waterman, Byrne would |
possess all the keys necessary for the under !
taking but two, the "pass-key" and the cell |
door KEY. OF these two he managed to take |
moulds in wax or lead, and the keys were |
made probably by some sympathizer out |
side. Both these keys are beautifully bright /
and are evidently the work of an expert |
workman. On Monday last Stephens must |
have been made aware Of what was going |
on, for on that evening he requested that he |
might have second suit Of clothes out Of |
his wardrobe, and he was accordingly sup |
piled with the suit Of black cloth in which |
he was dressed on leaving the prison. He |
evidently feared that the clothes he already |
possessed which are those in which he was
arrested and which he wore before the |
magistrate, were too well known TO be |
used with safety On Wednesday Byrne |
is believed to have tried the false keys, !
so as to have lessened the risk Of fall |
ure at the last moment, and it is probable
that the time fixed for the attempt was
made known to him on the same day. On
Thursday night about u o'clock, when no |
one save the three policemen, whom the
with singular fatuity, had placed
where they could be least useful, and Byrne
Al IL.