Clarksville weekly chronicle. [volume] (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1865-1867, 1867-02-01

the night and he would place his lanterr
close TO each cell door, in order that that the
light should fill the cell and show the occu
pant. General,Morgan used tn say that
peculiar shuddering and creeping of the
flesh would assail him whenever this man
approached. He would creep about with
list slippers on his feet, and he moved then
without toe slightest noise. He used to re-
mind me Of a sly, cruel, bloated, night
prowling spider. va o.
When the tunneling approached It's com.
pletion, all the other necessary preparation:
were made The prison yard, into which
they would emerge from the tunnel. was sur.
rounded by wall twenty-five feet high, and
means for scaling that had to be provided -
There was an inner wall running from The
corner Of the "East Hall' to smaller build
ing, in which some of the female convict:
were imprisoned, but IL was eomparatively y
low, and they anticipated lit tie difficulty il
getting over it. The coverlids of several
beds were torn into strips, and the strips
we're plated into q strong rope nearly thirty
feet in length. A Strsng iron rod, used for
stirring the fires in the stoves, was convert
ed into hook, and the rope was attached
to it. Rope and hook were taken down into
the air chamber, where all the valuables were
stored. @f failfe aas ,t'rdr
General Morgan had managed to get sui,
Of citizens clothing, and the six men who
were going to escape. w ith him, were similar
ly provided. The warden had prohibited
the introduction into the prison of uniform
clothing but occasionally allowed plain suits
no be received. The General had also got
ten q card Of the schedule time on the Little
Miami Railroad, and knew when the train
left Columbus, aud when II arrived in Gin
cinnati-for this bsspait fifteen dollars, the
only money, by the way, used in effecting
his escape. w sipEs'r
Despite the strict search instituted when
we first entered the Penitentiary, several OF
the party managed to secrete money so that
ID was not found This was now divided
among the seven who were to escape.-
These were besides General Morgan, Capt.
Thomss II. Hines, Ralph Seldom, Sam. Tay-
lor, Jacob Bennett, James Hockersmih, and
Gustavus McGee. 1t is plain, that as each
man was locked in a seperate cell, and could
not get out of it by the door, without an in
terview with the night guard, itwas neces-
sary to cut an opening into the air chamber,
through the floor of each cell. from which
each one Of the seven would escape. If
these appertures were cut from the top of
the eoors of the cells, the risk of detection
would be proportionally increased; 50 an &C.
curate measurement of the distance between
the cells, was taken, and with Hines cell
as q point Of departure, II was easy to calcu-
late where TO commence cutting from under
meath, in order that the floors of all these
particular cells should be perforated A thin
crust only of the cement left but to all out
ward appearance the floor was as sound as
ever.
BY means of an arrangement which had
been perfected for obtaining all absolutely
necessary articles each one of the party
about to escape, had procured a sharp stout
knife-very effective weapons in case of sur
prise and an attempt to stop their escape
When every thing was ready, they waited
several nights for rain-trusting to elude the
vigilance of the guards more easily, iu the
obscurity Of such night--taking the chance,
also, that the dogs which were turned loose
every night in the yard would be drivev by
the rain into their kennels, which were stu
ated on the other side of the yard from that
where they would emerge, Two or three
days before the effort was made, General
Morgan received letter from an Irish wo-
man, in Kentucky, warning him not to at
tempt to make his escape, from which she
predicted, great evils to him would result
She alluded to his kindness to, the poor in
Lexington, and claimed that she was in
formed of the future in some supernatural
manner.
On the 26th Of November, General Nor
gan learned that there had been change of
military commanders at Columbus Well
knowing that this would be followed by an
inspection of the prison. and discovery Of
the plot, he determined that the effort should
be made that very night. His own cell was
in the second rarge, from which it was i'm
possible to reach the air chamber and tun-
mel, but the cell of his brother, Col, Richard
Morgan, had been prepared for him, and
when Scott tapped, as usual, upon TIE stove
as n signal for each man to retire to his cell,
the exchange was effected. There was suf-
hcient resemblance between them to deceive
man who would not look closely, especial.
ly when their faces were turned away from
the door,
AT any rate, Scott and the night guard
were both deceived and efforts were made
by the occupants of the cells near to both of
those, where close inspection would have
been dangerous, to attract to themselves the
attention of the guard when he went the
rounds. AS it was especially necessary, on
this occasion, to know certainly when the
night guard approached, small bits of coal
had been sprinkled, just before the hour OF
locking up, on the floor of the first range, so
that tread as lightly as he would, the stink
ing cur could not help making loud noise.
1t had been arranged that, just after the
twelve o'clock visit from the guard, Captain
Taylor should descend into the air cbambe
and give the signal underneath the floor of
each cell. Fortunately, the only man who
was vile enough to have betrayed the plan,
was absent in the hospital. Six hours elaps-
ed after the locking in; regularly during
that time, the night guard went his rounds.
making an awful cracking rs he passed the
lower range. Sixty odd men lay awake,
silent and excited-witb hearts beating loud
er and the blood rushing faster through their
veins, than the approach Of battle had ever
occnsioned. Perhaps the coolest Of all that
number were the seven who were abou. to
incur the risk.
Twelve o'clock struck, and the clang Of the
bell seemed to be in the hall itself-the
guard passed with his lantern--a few min
utes elapsed, while the Adventures lay still,
lest he should slip back, and then at the sig
nal they sprang from their beds; hastily
flannel shirts with material prepared before
hand, and made up bundles to lie in their
beds and represent them. Then stamping
upon the floor above the excavation the thin
nf A al. l..l