The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1882-05-30
Six Marion County Criminals
Bid Farewell to the Sc.
dalia CalabOOse.
In the Absence of the Guards,
They Pried Open a
Cell Door;
And, Although Handcuffed
and Shackled, Succeeded in
Making Their Escape.
A Lively Time Last Night While
in Pursuit Of the Fleeing
Fugitives.

Fugitives.
The BAZoO Of last evening announced
the arrival in this city of six prisoners
from Marion county, in charge of fodr
guards, en- route 10 the penirentiary al
Jefferson City 10 serve different terms OF
imprisonment. The criminals were under
the immediate charge of Howard Z.
Dudley, deputy sheriff. and son of the
sheriff of Marion county, but he did not
arrive with the party, owing 10 the fact
that the train pulled out and left him
at Moberly while he was across
from the depot at saloon procuring a
bottle OF whisky for the
WARDS OF THE STATE.
On arriving here, the guards found a
message from Dudley, telling them To re-
main here with the prisoners until he ar
rived, at half-past four o'clock in the al
ternoon, and they would take the night
train for Jefferson City.
The guards held consultation with OF
ficers Myers and Barnett, and asked that
the prisoners be permitted TO remain i'm the
calaboose until night. Of course the re-
quest was complied with, but one OF the
officers remarked at the time that the Gala
bose was not a suitable place for such
desperate characters, and that the Jail
would prove much more secure To this,
one of the guards replied that there were
four of them, and two could be on duty
constantly, so there would not be any pos
sible
CHANCE OF ESCAPE.
At about o'clock Yesterday morning
they were locked up in cell No 4, where
they spent the day, and when the train
from the north arrived, in the afternoon,
Deputy Dudley put in an appearance.
The prisoners, As announced yesterday,
were tough set, and could not have been
watched too closely, as the sequel proves.
This was not done, however, and now the
Marion county officials are the laughing
stock of the city During the day the
guards dropped in at the calaboose occa-
sio ALLY 10 take look at their men, but
no one was constantly i'm attendance, and
when the prisoners commenced making
preparations for escape is not known. Ii
is also said that liberal supply of liquor
was dealt out to them by the kind-hearted
officials from Marion, and they were
ENTERTAINED IN PRINCELY MANNER.
Last night they were furnished
with supper from the Jay Gould
hotel, and at that time no evidence
OF any attempt to break Jail was
visible. At about 5 o'clock Marshal Shv
was in the calaboose, and the prisoners
were still in their cell He left the build
ing and went to his supper, icing absent
some thirty minutes, and again visited the
calaboose, when he was not a little aston
ished at discovering the iron door of cell
No. burst open, as was also the back
door TO the station, and the six slick pris-
oners were nowhere visible He at once
rang the fire alarm bell, and a little later
gave second alarm, which caused large
crowd TO congregate, the officers from
Marion county being among the number.
When the fact became known that all six
of the prisoners had escaped, great excite
ment prevailed, and Deputy Sheriff Dud-
ley was
CENSURED NOT LITTLE,
it being said the prisoners would then have
been safe behind the bars of the states
prison had he not stopped to procure LIQUOR
At Moberlv for them.
As all SIX were handcuhed and shackled
in twos, their recapture was not thought
difficult, however, ana soon the work of
search was inaugurated. Marshal Shy
and the police rendered all the assistance
within their power, but as the direction
they hs taken after leaving the station
was unknown. ii was hardly knoyn where
10 look for the fugitives.
a BAZoO reporter was on the spot as soon
as the alarm sounded, and critically
examined the cell from which the prisoners
had escaped. A prisoner i'm adjoining cell
was int 'rviewed. but at first was not in
inclined TO he communicative. He finally
stated that he had heard them at work dur
ing the day, at times when no guards were
present, but he had no IDEA that
THEY CONTEMPLATED EscAPIYG
until he heard them leave their cell. They
had torn from the wall large scantling,
probably 2xi inches, and with
this alone had pried open
the iron door, breaking one hinge. The
lock the back door OF the station house
was all that then kept them from liberty,
and this, too, vas soon broken, and they
again breathed the air of freedom.
Deputy Sheriff Dudley seemed all
broken up over the escape Of his rets, and
at once offer ID a reward of 800 for the re-
capture OF the gang, which he subsequently
inc-eased TO Sl"), or $40 for each prisoner
reldrned to the cooler. This offer induced
a number of those who had assembled to
put forth efforts in this din ,ction, and, in
a shor: time, the whole west I'm portion of
the city was being secured by small posses,
information having been obtained that the
prisoners had struck out i'm the
DIRECTION OF THE PARK
OF this number was Detective Al.
Smith and stone mason whose name is
unknown. The latter told Smith that he
had met two men in the western part OF
the city, walking rapidly and close to-
gether, and that their actions excited sus-
picion. Acting on this suggestion, the
two started west, and when at the residence
of Mr. Whorsnp l>arral E-ou,