The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1874-07-23

ESCAPE OF WHITE FEMALE CONXICT IN
! MALE ATTIRE.-About O'Clock, yesterday
| morning Jennie Beattie, alias Irish Jennie, a
white>woman, who was sent to the penitentiary
! from Norfolk to serve out term ofseven years
| for murder in the second degree, made good her
escape. Owing to. the crowded condition of
the buildings OF the penitentiary proper, the
female convicts have to be kept in two frame
houses outside the prison walls. These houses
were not constructed for:the purpose to which
| they are now applied, and their windows are
barred only by narrow slips of plank nailed to
the window frames. An ordinary close fence,
sixteen feet high surrounds the hoNses.i> and
gives what little security there is to this de-
partment.
Jennie came to the institution in 1870, hav-
ing deliberately killed woman in Norfolk by
shooting her with pistnl. On account of her
quarrelsome temper she was confined in cell
| to herself, and, as it turned out, occupied her
| spare moments in making suit of male ATTIRE
out Of her bed blanket. This she put on in
place OF her striped garments, and with an old
| hinge easily prised one of the wooden bars from
her window which was on the second floor
| Then tying bed quilt to another bal, she with
out trouble let herself out and lowered herself
into the yard.
The guard on duty at that hour was out of
sight of her movements, and she went to cor
ner fence where she was sheltered from obser-
Walton, when he made his rounds, and with a
trOwel made an excavation under the fence
large enough to admit her body. Through
this hole she crawled from the yard directly in
to Belvidere street. Agentleman who lives in
Immediate neighbOrhOod is confident he heard
the sound of carriage wheels OIL that street, a.
bout the time the escape was made. 1t is con-
jectured, therefore, that Jennie had some gal
liant knight awaiting her arrival outside, and
that he had carriage or some other vehicle
ready to transport her to a place of safety
She is quite good looking, is now about % yrs.
of age, and had served out four years of her
term of sentence when she so unceremoniously
and ungraciously took leave of Superintendent
Strother and his assistants.
THE RICHMOND DIsTRICT.-The Richmond
correspondent OF the Petersburg Index-Appeal
says: y
"a card is published to-day calling on Judge
Crump to announce himself candidate for
Congress, but it is now known that he will not
comply. because OF business engagements in
compatible with the holding of the office, and
because he thinks the condition of his health
will not permit. l believe the name of Col.
John Guy is next to Gov. Walkers upon the
list of aspirants, as to probable success in OBJ
tanning the nomination; but I regard the Sc
lection of the latter at the primary election as
foregone conclusion, yet he may not be able to
withstand combinations that will be made a.
gainst him in the nominating convention"
The CORRESPONDENT of the Petersburg News
has the following on the same subject:
Gas matter of fact, ex-Gov. Walker is now
the only candidate for the Conservative nomi-
nation in this district. There may be others
who would accept the mountaineering it will
probably never be offered them. Our people
are not forcing honors upon anybody.
The Radicals are somewhat disconnected a.
bout the positive withdrawal of j. Amber
Smith from the candidacy for the Republican
nomination. Now the contest will probably
settle down about Rush Burgess and Andrew
Waslburn. II Popham is in earnest he will
probably get good vote and perhaps may be
nominated. At present it seems to me that
Burgess is the coming man,
RAILROAD NEws.-Judge Ashby, direc-
tor OF the S. V. r. r. Co., returned to this
,1oa 1oc%