Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1875-01-13

Nine Desperadoes Overcome the
Turkeys and Escape.
Captain White, the Horse Thief,
Heads the Gang.

f U-stSI thC ANAHG AuICAg
Heads the Gang.
The shesia ana Isl In Pursuit..
AT half-past eleven o clock this fore
noon jailer Jackson left the jail for the
purpose Of conveying some prisoners to
the Criminal Courtroom. He left the jail
in charge of turkeys Bettes and Shaaf.
The outer gate is always locked. and
the turnkey in charge sits at the front
door Of the Jail. Inside this door is a
large hall, on the left being the ~jailer's
office where a dozen muskets are kept
on a rack. AT the opposite end Of the
hall is the iron railing up almost to the
roof, and this railing separates the outer
hall from the corridors, on either side Of
which are the cells Of the prisoners. At
this railing is a heavy iron door, which
is fastened with a large spring lock.
Inside of this is a little iron railing ante
room from which a door leads to the cells
and by a stairway down to the floor of
the jail, where this morning all the pris-
Oners were assembled. The key of this
inner door is left inside in charge Of
some well behaved prisoner, and no
dangerous prisoner is permitted to go
into the iron ante-room.
TIL PLAS ADOPTED.
Soon after jailer Jackson left Ed Nc.
Coy, house-breaker, and two negroes APP
peared at the inside iron door carrying
a sick negro in a blanket, and informed
turnkey Bettes thatthe negro was dying.
Mccoy took the key and unlocked the
inner door leading into the iron ante.
room, into which he and the two negroes,
assisted by John McCarty (the man who
burned the Louisville railroad shops),
carried the sick negro. Mccoy then
turned around and locked the inner door,
but held the key in the lock. Turnkey
Bettes opened the outer door so that the
negro could be carried TO the room near
the %jailer's office.
II ESCAPE.
When the body of the negro was half
way out the door Mccoy, who still held
his hands Oh the key of the lock of the
inner door, opened that door suddenly,
and from below came Captain White,
Jack Clifford and Henry Bender with
six-shooters in their hands, and rushing
through both gates into the outer hall,
demanded the pistol Of turnkey Bettes,
who, on attempting to draw his pistol,
was knocked down aud disarmed. Shaaf
! drew his pistol, but his arm was caught
by Ed Mccoy, and he was also knocked
down. At this a general rush was made
by the prisoners for the hall, aud those
who got through were J.. s. White, John
|, Clifford. Henry Bender, John McCsrty,
) Ed Mccoy, Louis Jefferson (negro),
Ben Ellis (uegro), Hans Margerum and
j. J, Day. A number Of Others would
have followed, but the outer door was
: shut by a prisoner named Taylor Stocks,
, the spring lock fastening it securely.
! Another prisoner who is granted the
l freedom Of the Jail is II. b. Carroll, and
l he attempted to stop the prisoners, but
was hurled back. One Of the turkeys
: got up, and rushing into the %jailer'i
Office got a gun, but it wa unloaded,
| The prisoners, headed by Captain White,
: rushed in a body into the front yard
| and climbed like squirrels over the iron
! fence, and running down the street
crossed the bridge over Wolf river, near
the gas-works.
/ WHO THE PRISONERS ARE.
| Captain White is The notorious horse
thief, and was under sentence 10 the
} penitentiary for fifteen years. John
McCarty was under sentence of two
years for burning the Louisville railroad
shops. John Clifford was under sentence
Of ten years for robbery from the per-
son. Henry Bender was under sentence
of ten years for killing a boy in Chelsea.
Ed Mccoy was in prison for robbing o
jewelry store at Collierville and was shot
som e time since by jailer Jackson ioI
mutiny in the Jail. j. j, Day was in jail
for arson; Hans Margerum for robbery.
> Louis Jefferson was under sentence oil
fifteen years for robbery. Ben Ellis was
I, in prison for horse stealing.
The prisoner H. B. Carroll was brought
: from st. Louis on the charge OF perjury
in the Waddy Thompson case. He
could have escaped, but he assisted the
turkeys as well as he could to prevent
the escape of Others. Taylor Stocks, in
prison for assault with intent to kill,
! could also have escaped, out he closed
the door and fastened the spring lock
aud thereby prevented all the prisoners
from escaping.
HOT PURSUIT.
!. Within an hour Sheriff Anderson and
a posse Of a dozen good men, mounted
on fast horses, we're passing over Vol
, river bridge in hot pursuit Of the fugi