Delaware State journal and statesman., 1866-01-02
HOW STEPHENS, THE FENIAN HEAD
CENTER, ESCAPED.

The London correspondent of the New
York News says:
THE ESCAPE.
The corridor of the prison in which Ste
phens slept was securely locked, the cell
door was, of course, kept locked, except
during the hour allowed for exercise. This
corridor forms the upper story of one wing
of an L shaped building; it is about thirty
yards long, and is divided from its continual
tion in the other wing by heavy, solid iron
door, which was kept securely locked. AT
the wrong side of this door, through which
they could not even see the prisoners cell
door, the three policemen were stationed.-
At the other end Of the corridor is a massive
iron door, with huge cumbersome lock,
opening directly on the lobby of stone
staircase, by descending four flights Of
which you reach the ground. The door Of
the cell in which Stephens slept is cased
with iron; the key-hole is on the outside,
the inner side being complete blank. The
door is secured by a huge swing bar, fastened
by a paddock of about eighteen inches in
circumference. AT ten o'clock on Thursday
night the keys of the cell and corridor doors
with many others, were deposited in the
case prolid for the purpose, in the Gov
emor's room. The night was wild ant
stormy, the rain poured down in torrents
and fierce gale howled and whstled arount
the labrynth of dimly-lit buildings that stan(
within the halls of old Richmond. TIL,
night passed drearily along, and the prisol
authorities slept on in full security till abou
four O'Clock in the morning, when Deni
Byrne, the watchman for the night, who's
duty it was to patrol the outer yards ant
passages about the prison, startled Mr.. PHI
pots, the deputy Governor, out of his R.fp
with the information that he had j,y' 'ois'
covered two tables piled against tb/ /oouh-
Diary wall of the prison. An alayl was in-
stantly sounded; the whole foyN Oh TURN
keys, warders, ETC., were at oDl asscinpleu'
Headed by the governor, dnper Oh tnem
rushed to Stephens cell u inc captain
was first thought of) aA io' MS cell was
empty; the door was We open' tne paudocA
lying on the ground, <gether with the false
kew to which it haJyielded; the cell door
leading out on tb/ stairs stood also open'-
Between this NAT and the spot where the
tables were 6nd, there are no less than
twelve doorsfwo of which are always kept
locked at dght. One of the doors which
should hy been open was found locked; oi
the ten loors which should have been lock.
cd njA were found open; the tenth, a heavy
soli iSiron door, was found locked from the
ovSide, and the false key which opened il
,as found in the key-hole 1t was seen at Q
glance that Stephens, the only person mis-
sing, had been guided by some one thor
oughly acquainted with the devious winding
of the prison; no one else could have let
him through the intricate by-ways, yard
and unfrequented passages through whicl
he had passed. In order to open all tn
doors through which Stephens had escaped
four keys only were necessary-a key 70
the cell door, two latch-keys for the quite
doors, and 'pass-key" which opens som
forty doors within the prison, includin
the door at the head of the staircase lea(
ing from Stephens corridor, and eight Other
on his route to the boundary wall The tt
bles mentioned were placed one on top {
the other, at point about fifty yards distai
from the room out of which they had bee
taken. They are thick, heavy deal table
twenty feet by three, and were used as dii
ing tables for the lunatic prisoners