The Daily state register. [volume] (Carson City, Nev.) 1870-1872, 1872-03-12
Err
Nine Prisoners Escaped.
$500 REWARD!!!
Posse In Full Pursuit.

oSSS III I'LL III u1I.
on Monday. between the hours OF
and 6 o'clock a. m, nine of the on
victs confined in the County Jail, eff
fected their escape. At l:3O o'clock,
Sheriff Swift retired. Just before re-
firing he went through the cells and
all was well. At > O'Clock Deputy
Sheriff Gus. Lewis also retired, and
no signs of any break were 10 he seen.
Fred. Sargent. m of the special Of
ficers. was on guard and so noiselesslv
was the work done that he heard moth
ing. of 1t. At 80 a. III. Mr.. Satfal
came OH guard. and a few minutes
after his arrival, Mr.. Burgesser who
clerks for the proprietOrs of the Mag
noIia, and had just opened the bar,
rushed into the >heritf'S office. and
stated the fact of the escape of the
prisoners. The sheriff and his depu-
ties wereimmediatelv upon the ground
and every effort made to secure the
runaway~.
To form an idea of the of
their escape, il i necessary to describe
the interior Of the Jail: There are TWO
rows of cells, three on each side; ON
the south side of the jail. and nearest
the Magnolia Saloon, ten were con
fined ~ follows: In the cell nearest
the entrance, Chapman, Parsons and
Willis; i'll the center one, Ryan. Flynn,
Carer and Russell; aud in the third.
Burke. Roth and Clifford. The slabs
in the two end cells We're raised, and
an excavation made under the walls
of each INTO the middle cell. from
which a hole was made underneath
the wall connecting with the Magnolia
Sa Don. y hole was cut in the floor
of the faro room nearest the Jail wall.
by cutting il from underneath with a
sharp knife. The hole thus made.
an bv which the escape was effected.
is by measurement, llxl3 inches
CThe pieces cut out are at the Magnolia
saloon once in this room. the prIS-
OnerS had only 10 cross INTO the n
adjoining. force the rear window and
a 1t would seem almost impOs-
sible that such large men could get
through 50 small a hole, only for the
fact that they were working for free
dom. Chapman refused to join in the
escape. which fact we sincerely hope
NAV act in mitigation of sentence for
his previous act. The prisoners on
the other side of the Jail say that they
fatty refused TO participate in the out-
break. Tavlor and Roberts informed
US that they could have gotten out had
they desired to, hut that they had
suffered enough during their last at
tempt to escape to try 1t again.
The walls of the Jail do not extend
into the ground, but merely rest there
on. The one comprising the lower
part of the wall can be removed by
hand, by merely raking away the soil
beneath them: the flags in the cell
can be raised with a pick, and no
noise made. Every precaution was
taken to avoid II noise being heard,
bv spreading mattresses and h like
on the floors of the cells. Burke left
his shackIes two pair in the rooIn;
they were very neatly cut, e~videncing
the fact that the convicts must have
been supplied with tools and help
from the outside.
The faro game. was closed and the
house locked up at = O'Clock a. H.; it
is therefore safe to say that the break
occurred etwee ) and ) O'Clock. The
prisoners took with them a faro box,
worth 500; nothing else of value
is missing.
1t will be remembered that the 10
men who were in Court for sentence,
on Saturday last, requested a post
ponement OF said sentence until Mon
day, which was granted by the Judge.
This was, no doubt, a ruse to effect
their escape; ~ nothing could be
gained by Il pOstponefnent but time
foraccomplishing their ends.
No blame can DE attached to Sheriff
Swift. for a more careful. efficient otfi-
car, does not live. His attention to
his charge has been noticed by all; al
most the whole of every day and
night he has been on the watch,
and had the Jail beer what it should
have been, this break could not have
occurred.
The Governor has offered a reward
of 5000 each, for the r%ecapture of the
prisoners, and the Sheriff and his
posse are in pursuit of them.
The names Of those who escaped
are, AS fofiows: Burke. Both, Clifford,
Ryan, Flynn, Russell, Carter, Willis
and Parsons.