, 1880-12-12
JAIL ESCAPE.
Two coIored Boys Succeed in
Getting Away from FoIz.
But Are Arrested After a Very
Short Absence.
The Way in Which They Managed to Make
Their Exit.

his charge wero In their proper places, When
he reached cell No. 135 occupied by George Fos-
ter and John Cleggett, two wcll-known colorctl
crooks, he found to his utter dismay that the cell
was empty His first move was to notify Assistant-
Jailer Hawley. who was on duty in the Office.
and there Immediately ensued an extremely
lively scene. Maj. Hawey went to the cell and
made thorough examination. Upon opening
the door and striking light
THE MODE OF ESCAPE WAS DISCOVERED.
The prisoners had with the aid of piece Of Ras-
pipe about8 inches long, attached to which was
tho knuckle or centro part Of a brass faucet
simply battered in the concrete wall, through
which runs the ventilatne shaft between the
two tiers Of cells. The hole through which they
found egress is aboutsixteon inches In diameter,
but as both the boys are quite small they easily
worked their wny out The hole was cut imme-
diate!y under the roof OF the CELL and it is sup
posed that, In order to reach high, tho priso1-
ers took turn about standing on each others
shoulders and In this manner drilled the hole.
The news Of the escape soon became known
11ot fnsopgheut tie a and the greatest excite
Hawley rushed for the telephone and summoned
= squad Of police from the Chicago Avenue
Capt. Hathaway and Lieut.. schaack. suppoains
the boys were
ON THE ROOF OF THE JAIL,
2 ladder was procured. and the young coiored
boy George wao IT,, Is well known as AZ employ6
by one Of the turnkeya.. The police had
surrounded the building, and it WAS confidently
believed the rogues had been trapped. Not so,
however, for Il thorough search of the roof
failed to show any indications that they had ereo
might have fallen down the vcntilatinx- shaft,
which would have been certain death, or By
change having reached the ground-hoor, they
would be found secretcd In the basement Just
thon Jailer Folz made his appearance, and pro-
posed
SEARCHING THE oARREr.
Ladders were again brought into requis,uon
end OF this tier Is "A trap-doTr, securely
fastened with three ponderous locks, in which no
ky g has been used for years. Il was with great
opened, but success finally crowned the nervous
efforts of tatlor Folz, who. led BY Capt. HATH
away. crawed up the luddcr, and, armed with
lamps, commenced the search OF the gurret. At
this time some OF the prisoners in the lower
tiers became unruIy- and set up .frightful
se5es Of and o4c5ss
to lock the offenders tn the dungeon If they
could be found. Tho turnkcys were rush.
as sSss e &c III "ss ssorsa ID sas:
Of CONSERVATION and extreme chagrin
over the escape and the dismal failure TO dis
esttng moment. when the excitement IVES at its
hight, news arrived that
THE MEN HAD BEEN ARRESTED
on the street. and we're locked up at the Chicago
and Conrad hcaved lona -dfawp sigh Of relief.
1tappears that after the priso9srs got on the
roef, they having carried with them blanket.
to mako a rope OF it. The hour was about Z
o'clock, and this method was exceedingly dam
gcrous. since SO many people were passing to
shreds and made ropo that reached to the street.
They fastened the rope to the lightning rod at
tho northeast end ut the building, on Illinois
descent to the sidewalk. Once on terra drma
there was short discussion as to where to CO.
Foster wanted to strike for State street, but
Clcggett insisted on taking Clark, and they COM
promised on Dearborn, where they were caught
a TRIBUNE reporter called at the jail about
1880 last night to sec
TIE JAIL-BREAKERS
1arkeued CELL without bed or bedding. Jailer
Folz md his assistant, Mai. Hawiey, were on
hand They allowed the reporter to see the
hardened In crime. He has served 4 tern4fn
Joliet CleEgett Is lad Of ID. who has seen
service ia the States employ fr1I e.d roster
."1'd never get caught only for dat kid. Dye
hyer mc?'
now ya you put al in de paper Ewine tell yer
tCan't you tcll?* asked the reporter.
tied Sc noRs Of ese ns JAIL on
lightning-rod. an we slid down.
'.And you didn't get away2'
- ~ QHk uAul 1DDA LlCSSEkk lit kHt AJLSCl1sC III
his head. He wanted TO go down Clark street.
wanted to take State an dat's how We Gotn
caught"
Couldn't you skfp7''
''How could yer get away Wid five men after
yer. hey?'
The negroes refused to speak further.
Cleggett Is already booked for stL months In
the Bridewcli, where he will be taken Tuesday.
What makes the matter worse, Jailer Foz was
fully forewarued as early as O'Clock tn the att
crn0on that two men were to attempt an escape
In precisely the manner In which Cleggett ind
Foster last night made their departure.
Detective Hike Costello had occnsjon to
visit the jail during the afternoon, and
while In conversation with a prisoner who had
requested to see hin, the fellow informed him
that two niggers" in Cell No. 1856 had fully pre-
pared to escape, nnd that they were to make
the, attempt that same night. The prisoner was
particular to state that the escape, II made at
all would be through the ventllator, aQd thence
to the roof, from which the refugees hoped to
lower themselves by rope manufactured out
of their bed clothing. The detective would have
been considered very derelct in bis duty It, with
this valuable information In his possession. be
had left the jail without warning the officials
When questioned about the matter last night,
tho detective stated that he had posted Jailcr
Folz thoroughly, and that he had taken MEM
orauuum Of the matter, and after grufHy thank
ing his informant, had promised to attend to the
cnsc. During the early evening hours when the
detective among others WAS sent out to look FOR
the refugees, per orders over the police tele-
phone wires, he laughed heartily, but said
nothing. Presumably the important tnforma-