Connecticut western news., 1875-05-28
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 One of the boldest and most desperate attempts to escape from Sing Sing prison was made recently, and it might have ended disastrouslv to more than a score of lives, had it not been for the presence of mind of Dennis Cassin, a Hudson river railroad engineer. Just north of Sing Sing prison, between the extreme north guard house and the first arched railroad bridge as you go south, is located the prison quarry, on the east side of the railroad track. From it, over the railroad track to the prison yard, on the west side, extends bridge over which. stone from the quarry is trundled in wheelbarrows by the con- victs. At a quarter past eight o'clock in the morning, an extra freight train bound south approached the prison slowly, moving not faster than three miles an hour The train was drawn by locomotive No.s 89, Dennis. Cassin, eng- neer. They were slowly following the Sing Sing passenger train. As the en- zine reached the prison or trestle bridge, five convicts dropped upon it from the bridge, four ~ofa them running into the engineers cab, and the other hurrying to the coupling which fastened the en- zine to the train. The convicts on the cab, with drawn revolvers, ordered the engineer and fireman to jump off, and they did, when the convicts put on steam and the engine started down the road with them like lightning. Their escape was detected almost immediately, and several shots were fired after them by the prison guard, none, however, taking effect. Then commenced the pursuit. The superintendent of the railroad was notified quickly, when a.telegraph alarm vas sounded at all, points south of Sing Sing.
 A dispatch, was sent from the Grand Central depot to. Station Agent Revere, switch at that station onsthe, river side, so as to let the engine, with the aconvicts on board, go off the bank into the river. Danger signals were also ordered to be set on the down track, and prompt measures of every kind were ordered to prevent serious disaster by collision with the stolen locomotive. The tTackrnen in the. vicinity of Scarborough saw thezen- zine coming like lightning, or rather saw vast cloud of steam, and smoke, and water whirl by with 8 deafening roar and gazed with terror at the fri ghtful speed the engine had attained. At Tarrytown crowds of people were gathered expecting to see the engine dash into that station and off the switch into the river, but it did not arrive. After waiting short time Station Agent Revere sent an engine up the track to look for the. stolen property and found No. S9 with both cylinder-heads broken, three miles north and about opposite the Aspinwau place. The boiler was full of water, and the steam down. Thescon- tvicts left the disabled enginesa half mile ftrthe CT north, and Aed Itos Aspihwall s woods, having first stolen all the clothing that could be foundin the engineers and fireman s boxes on the tender. Soon after Engineer Cassin came running down the track, and once more recovered his en- zine. He makes the following state ment:
 passed along through Sing Sing with my train very slowly, as had been mo- titied that the Sing Sing train was ahead; :; anybody could have jumped on;l when my engine reached the strestle bridge, which runs over the track from the prison quarry, I saw some one jump on the, step of the tender on the east side; the stranger proved to be convict in full uniform; he hurried up to my side as I sat on my box, and pointing 8 revol yer at my head, shouted loud: ' Get off herei" I didn't like the looks of things and turned to get off, whan 8 convict came hurrying over the top of the ten der, and he too had revolver in his hand. It was all done in minute. He trushed, up to me with his pistol pointed at my head and yelled quickly: {" Get | offlY VssGet offlS " Don't stopl" I got off. Then two other convicts seem ed to jump from the bridge on, to the engine, and one of them had Q pistol. A fifth one was at the coupling and pulled the pin which detached the locomotive from the train. The four on the engine had my fireman wedged in up to the boiler. He turned to jump off on the side, but the iconvicts planted the muzzles of their revolvers up to his head, and one of them shouted: "Get out of the window; get out quick!" The fremen went right through the window, and he says he could feel the muzzles of the revolvers against his back as he pass ed out. Just before the convicts jump ed on the engine I had three gauges of water in the boiler, and had shut off the pumps; but as turned to go when or, dered, showed the pumps full on, the convicts not noticing the movement. I knew that if they didn't discover the pumps were on that the engine would not run far before she would become choked with water and would have to stop.
 r ., I was afraid of nothing after they got away except that they might run into the Sing Sing train, and kill some of the passengers. Without doubt they pnlled the throttle valve wide open when they started and let her slide. Then, in all probability, she took water very fast, and from the looks of the engine, the water was thrown all over her, till finally the cylinderssgot so5ful that both heads were blown out or broken, and that necessarily ended the trip. She ran about three miles, and must have run the first mile and half like lightning. As soon as I got on the. ground I, ran back to the telegraph office and had word sent along the line south, and then ran down the tack after my engine, finding her three miles north of Tarrytown with both cylinder heads broken and the steam down.
 The convicts who were engaged in this bold affair are classed among the most desperate scoundrels in the coun- try. Their names are as follows: Stephen Boyle, sentenced Feb. 4, 1869, for twen- ty years; Peter McKenna, sentenced Sept. 30, 1873, for life; William H. Flaw ley, Feb. 25, 1874, for five years; Charles Fowler, Feb. IS, 1874, for four years and six months, and William Sullivan, alias ;. C C Big Mike" March 9, 1875, for five T l.years. It is not positively known how the rascals procured the revolvers, but it is thought their friends brought them up from New York and secreted them in the quarry, where the convicts could