Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1879-12-26
Baron Trenck Riyaled.

treleFh correspondence GOHuOn HINES.
An attempt at escape was made few
days ago by convict confined in the
Bishopric Prison here, which, though it
did not succeed, lis almost worthy to rank
with the exploits of Jack Sheppard,
Baron Trenck and Thebee Orsiai.
The Jail consists of three stories, and
is separated from the Rue du Cloite by
q wall reaching to the second story. AT
the angle of the building nearest TO the
street are three windows. one above the
other, all heavily barrcd; the highest
or penthouse, and belongs to the prison
workshop. On the morning of Sunday,
Nov. 8, the warder-superintendent Of
the workshop was having it cleaned out
by two prisoners, one of whom bears
the name of Mennasade. When the
work was nearly finished, Mennasade
was told to carry some cinders into the
yard When they arrived in the yard
the Superintendent was surprised to see
a long cord dangling from the workshop
window. He ran hastily upstairs to
see what this could mean, leaving the
prisoner alone with the turnkey. The
turnkey, having no apprehension as to
the safety of his charge, ran to the chief
iailer on duty, to inform him of what
had happened.
Under the penthouse of the work.
shop window the superintendent found
q rope-ladder, of which the cord hang
ing down the wall formed a part. 1t
had been placed there by Menassade
when he was cleaning the window early
in the morning, and, AS became known
later on, the making of it had occupied
eight months.
His work was shoemaking, and with
the bits Of string, thread ,boot-laces, etc,
he managed to secrete he wove long
rope, ana then with pieces of wood he
had picked up here and there, he FORM
ed it into ladder in every way suffi.
cient for his purpose. His idea was,
when he took the cinders in the yard,
on which occasion he was generally un.
accompanied, to draw down the ladder
from the penthouse, mount by means
Of it TO the top of the wall, then detach
it Ito which end he had contrived a
very ingenious device), descend by it
INTO the Rue du Cloitre, and get clear
away.
On the return Of tle superintendent
to the yard Mennasade had disappear
ed. The theory formed by the prison
authorities was that while the superin-
tendent went upstairs ID the workshop,
Mennasade, by means Of his rope, and
with the connivance of the turnkey,
had contrived to get over the wall and
make good his escape. Under this i'm
preston the turnkey was arrested and
locked up in one of his own cells, tele-
grams we're sent off in all directions,
gendarmes stationed on all the roads
leading to the frontier, and every
place in Geneva likely to conceal q fu-
gitive from justice carefully overhaul
ed.
All this time the missing man was I'M
side the Jail. The moment the turnkey
mad turned his back, he had followed
the superintendent to the workshop, and
while the latter was busy with his dis
c,oyery Of the rope-ladder, he had hid.
den himself in place where it had
never occurred to any one 10 look for
MN. High above the superintendent's
rostrum, whence he surveys the prison
ers ~ work, il a window, almost dark,
and sunk deeply in the wall. With the
agiiity and noiselessness Of cat Men