Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-02-04
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QD9to.. Statesman, N
John IKorganAHow He EscaPed
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coming life of John Morgan, the rebel
freebooter, written, we believe by Basil
Duke, we extract the following account of
the escape of Morgan and his cOnfederates,
from the Ohio Penitentiary. They had
succeeded in breaking tnrough the stone
floor hole large enough to admit the body
ola man, and had reached the air chamber.
The narrative proceeds:iNtH NU..H ..
= The method adopted then was for two or
three to descend aud 90 to work, while the
Others kept watch. In an hour or two d
fresh relief would be put on, and the work
would be keptrupin this way throughout
theTday, until the time of locking up. ar
rived, except at the dinner time, when
every man Who was away from the table
had I'd give a reason for his absence. The
work, acknowledgement, was tedious
and difficult, bnt all abored with q will
The candles which had been purchased and
boarded away, now did good service
Without them 1t would have been almost
impossible to finish the task. A code of
signals was invented to meet every con-
tingency. BY pounding a bar of wood up
on the stone floor, those above commulii-
Gated to those underneath, Information of
every danger which threatened, and called
on them to come forth, if necessary. The
walls Of the air chamber, were two or three
feet thick, and built of huge stones. Two
or three of these stones were removed, and
a tunnel was run straight to the outer wall
of the hall. Fortune favored the workmen
at this juncture, and threw in their way an
adequate tool with which to accomplish
this part oftheir work.. Some one had dis
covered lying in the yard through which
we passed on our way to breakfast, an old
rusty spade with a broken handle. 1t was
at once determined that the said spade
must be secured. Accordingly men were
detailed and instructed in their respective
parts, and at the first opportunity the
spade was, transferred to the air chamber,
and put to work in digging up the tun-
mel. This is the manner in which thatval-
liable, that priceless, old, rusty, broken
spade, was gotten:
One man was selected to secrete the
spade about his person--himI will call No. l..
He wore, tor the occasion, a long, loose, sack
coat. Six or seven other men were his ac-
completes. 1t was usual occurrence for
those who were awaiting their turn at the
washing troughs to romp and rutfle with
each other in the yard. The conspirators
were, this morning, exceedingly frolic-
some. At length No. fell, apparently by
an accident upon the spade; his accom-
!
deXterously slipped the spade under his
coat, and buttoned it up. He went into
breakfast with it, and sat wonderfully
straight, and carried it safely into the hall
and down into the air chamber, .-.
f, When the main wall of the hall was
reached the heavy stones of its foundation
were removed in sufficient number to adj
init of the passage of man. But it was
then discovered that the tunnel led right
under an immense coal pile. 1t was neces-
sary that this difficulty should be remedied ;
but how? Without view of the ground
just outside of the wall, no one could cal
culate how far, or in what direction to ruin
a tunnel,so that when it was conducted to
the surface, all distractions might be
avoided. In this emergency, General Nor
gan engaged Scott in conversation about
the remarkable escape of some conYicts,
which had occurred a year or two pre-
viously, and which Scott was very fond of
describing. These convicts had climbed
by the balconies, in front OF the range of
cells, to the ceiling, and had passed out
through the skylight to the roof of the
prison. Scott declared his beliefthat there
were no two other men on the continent
who could perform the feat of ascending
by the balconies a.# .H 3
q = WHY says NdDOdlIl
Sam Taylor, small as he is, can do it"
Thereupon discussion ensued, ending
by Scott's giving Taylor permission to at
tempt it. Taylor, who, although very
small, was as active as squirrel, imme-
diately commenced the ascent, and spIang
from one to the other OF the balconies, un-
til he reached the top one. He was one of
the men who had been selected to escape
with General Morgan, and comprehended
immediately the latter's object in having
him attempt this feat. Itwould afford him
chance to glance out OF the windows at
the ground Just beyond the wall. AS he
leisurely swung himself down, he "+udied
1.-THE position" carefully, and his observa-
tions enabled them to direct the tunnel
Alright. Once during the tunneling, while
Captain Hockersmith (another :of the pro-
iectors of the plan) was at work under the
ground, Scott called for him, and seemed
anxious to find him at once. General Nor
5gan's presence of mind prevented a dis
covery, or, at least a strong suspicion of
the plot from at once resulting from Hook
ersmith's absence The General said to
Scott, "Hockersmith islying down in my
fcell; he is Sick" andhe requested Scott TO
examine and give his opinion upon me-
mortal which he proposed forwarding to
Washingtons d 1t was.something regarding
our removal to a military prison. Scott
(highly flattered by this tribute to his
judgment) took the memorial, looked at it
attentipely for some minutes, and returned
I'D saying, II think it will do first rate;'
1t did do. In the meantime, Hockersmith
had been signaled, and had ''come up" and
he made his appearance complaining of a
serious indispostion. Hi siJAii1h 1g5bi-s
While the work was going on, General
Morgan and those who were to escape with
him, habitually slept with their faces COW
cred and.their hands concealed. This was
done to aocustom the night guard to take
their presence in the cells for granted, by
the appearance of the bulk upon the bed,
without actually seeing them. This guard
went the rounds at the expiration of every
two hours during the night, and he would
place his lantern close TO each cell door, so
that the light should fill the cell and show
the occupant. General Morgan used to say
that peculiar shuddering and creeping OF
the flesh would assail him whenever this
man approached. He would, frequently
creep about with list slippers on his feet,
and he moved then without the slightest
noise, He used to remind me of the sly,
cruel, ploated, suspicious, night-prowling
spider. MT,
When the tunneling approached its com
pletion, all the other necessary prepara-
tions were made. The prison yard into
which they would emerge from the tunnel
was surrounded by avail twenty-five feet
high, and means for scaling that had to be
provided. There was an inner wall rum
ming from the corner of the "East Hall' tc
smaller building, in which some of the
female convicts were imprisoned, but 1t
was comparatively low, and they anticipat-
ed little difficulty in getting over it. The
.coverlids of several beds owere torn into
striDs. and the strips were Matted into 3