The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1875-07-13
THE SING SING ESCAPE.
Arrest Of William Hawley, One Of the LOGON
tive Steaiers.


Arrest Of William Hauley, One OF the LocOmo
tive Steaiers.
The daring and extraordinary escape
of the five convicts from Sing Sing OF
the 14th of last May is again brough
into prominence by the capture of tn,
first Of the number, effected early yes
| terday morning. In the annals of es
capes from penal institutions Of this
State none have partaken more Of the
| sensational, nor have any excited more
| widespread interest than this. Individ
ual convicts have at times resOrted tt
plans and artifices in their desperate at
| tempts to regain the precious boon o.
liberty well calculated to oproduce aston
ishment by the fertility of genius dis
played; astute keepers have been clev.
erly hoodwinked; barriers considered
| insurmountGble have yielded to well-laid
schemes, aided by caution and perse.
yerance; guards have been overpowered;
prison doors have been unlocked; in
TACT, all the appliances of science and
art have been successfully called in
play, but never before was locomotive
boldly stolen and made to subserve to
such ends.
Although the circumstances of the oc.
currence are comparatively fresh in the
public mind brief review may not prove
uninteresting.
At about ten O'Clock on the morning
of the 14th of May freight train on the
Hudson River railroad, comprising q
large number of cars all heavily laden,
was proceeding from above Sing Sing to
New York, and adjoining the track at an
elevation of about thirty feet is stone
quarry upon which number OF convicts
from the Sing Sing Prison were at work,
the usual number OF keepers and sentries
being present. Ordinarily trains passing
by this quarry 60 at rate of speed that
would cause the death of any person bold
enough to attempt to board them by
jumping from the ledge, but, owing to
the large freights before mentioned, the
train ON this particular occasion passed
the quarry more slowly than usual.
Taking advantage of this fact three of the
convicts at work en- the ledge made a
sudden break and jumped on the top of
the forward car. Others Of the cOnyicts
seeing the situation followed suit, and a
stampede ensued. Only five of the num-
ber, however, boarded the train. These
at once once overpowered the engineer
and fireman, detached the locomotive
from its train of cars, and. pulling the
throttle valve wide open, flew down the
road at lightning. speed, all having en-
tirely escaped the bullets fired at them
by the prison sentries.
The locomotive, however, proved an
elephant in their hands; none knew how
to manage it.; and before they had gone
five miles it came to stand-still, one of
the cylinders having burst--a most
fortunate occurrence for the men, it
afterward tr&nspired, as the Railroad
Superintendent in New York, hearing
of the affair, had ordered the switch
turned at one of the stations so that the
locomotive with its occupants might be
thrown into the river.
After the failure of the iron horse, the
convicts took to the woods, and from
that time to the present have remained
at liberty.
The man captured yesterday morning
is William Hawley, alias Shang Hamil-
ton, alias Shang Morris, who at the time
sentence for bigamy. The capture was
effected in this wise: Some two weeks
ago Inspector Speight obtained informa-
ton that led him to suspect that Haw-
ley was in the city. Further inYestiga-
tion satisfied him that such was the tact,
but the exact whereabouts of the convict
could not be ascertained. Detectives
Ferris and Kennedy, of the Central
Office, were intrusted with the case, and
at once commenced the campaign.
By tracing back the history OF Hawley
they found that just prior to his incar.
ceration at Sing Sing he had been on
terms of the closest Intimacy and friend
snip with young woman residing In the
lower part of the city, and it was DETER
mined to put a watch upon her move
ments. For three days she was ssshad.
owed" wherever she went, but no good
appeared to result. On the fourth day
the detectives noticed that her moye-
menus appeared exceedingly erratic.
She went to different parts Of the city,
for no purpose, and acted In
a very strange and suspicious manner.
1t was evident that she was aware Of be-
ing followed and was trying to throw the
officers off the track New disguises
and the utmost caution had now to be
adopted. In a few days the detectives
located her at No. IN Jane street, where
it was subsequently ascertained Haw-
ley's mother resided. A perpetual
watch was then placed upon the house,
passing between Hawley (whom the de.
tectives supposed to be residing else
where) and the inmates OF the house,
but no person was seen to enter the
premises excepting the ashman and the
milkman. The former, 1t was afterwards
was the conyeyer of all commu-
nications to and from Hawley.
1t was noticed that the blinds OF one
of the front rooms were always kept
closed, and this fact led the officers TO
believe that it was occupied by Hawley
himself. 1t was also noticed that when
ever the hall door was opened a peculiar
sound, as II made by gong, could be
family heard. From this it was reasoned |
that an alarm was sounded within every
time the. door opened. Ii this was the |
case, and Hawley was inside, the de-
tectives knew some stratagem was nee
sssary in order to get in without giving
he alarm. Yesterday morning, shortly |
before O'Clock, the officers were ready |
'or action. The milk man came along at |
ais usual hour, opened the hall door and |
was heard. Waiting about three min
ates, and watching their opportunity |