The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1882-03-20
AN ESCAPE.
A Prisoner Departs from the
- County Jail. !
How and When the FLIGHT was
] s Accomplished.

How and When the Flight was
q j Accomplished.
tass fza a - gsssasszea ~ sss1aa
A prisoner escaped from the county JAN
last night in ! manner which demonstrates
the fact that he was an adept III the art OF
Jail delivery, and had planned his escape
with cool deliberations and wonderful jndg.
ment. s
The exact time when he, babe good bye
tosthe dungeon cell is shrouded in some
mystery, as his absence fromhis accustoms
ed quarters was not discovered until, five
o'clock this morning. AT that time his
cell door was found open and the inmate
was no where 10 be found 1
The alarm was given, and a hurried ex
animation of the premises revealed the fact
shat Charles Pruss had effected his escape
by climbing up into the. rafters which sup
port the roof, and by means Of these
beams had reached that. portion of the
building occupied by the County and Cir
cult Clerks as their Offices He then drop
ped into the stairway which separates
these two apartments, and had passed out
into the yard. Here all trace of him was
lost, and the most ailigent enquiries fail
to discover his present whereabouts. 49,.
z1azsss sdt cHARI.Es PRUsss s4aas ads ii
The prisoner who made his escape, was
arrested by Officer Etzel. on the 1st Of last
January. On the Friday night previous to
his arrest the residence of Judge Lynde had
been bnrglarized and two overcoats and
other articles of wearing apparel taken
On the following Saturday night Hangsen's
grocery store was robbed and .asroll of
nickels and other money in the east drawer
was carried away This latter robbery led
to PrIss, arrest, as he was discovered by
Officer EtzcI on the railroad track with
roll of :. nickels from which
the paper had just been taken. He was
arrested, and the oveFcoats taken, from
Judge Lynde's residence. and in fact sew
eral articles taken from Davenport, were
identified by their respective owners. The
money and the paper. in which it was
wrapped was identified by Chas. Hangsen
as that taken from his store.
A suit of coryict's clothes were discover
ed in Davenport by the police, secreted in
the basement of the Scott House, and they
were supposed to belong to the man under
arrest. ~~.se.f s.sfss
He was taken to Jail, but owing to the
of the grand jury he was not
indicted, although held on the double
charge OF burglary, sgas 4Eseol 3 ~
.aF $50 LAST NIGHT 80
Steven Hull, who has had the night |
watch in the Jail since the fire in that |
building, which required the construc
lion of new roof. +. reports that
Pruss who has q cell with Charles AM
burg, was locked in securely At $50 /
o'clock Pruss asked that a deck of cardlslbe
allowed them in the cell. Shortly after
wards Hull passed by the cell. which is the
irst cell on the ground floor, on the west
ide of the Jail entrance. AT that time
10Th Of the prisoners were in their beds
asleep. Hull states that No
unusual noise was heard up to midnight
Vhen. the guard is changed, although
Iei1wagon, the murderer, whose execution
ccurs next Friday. states. that he heard
noise about IL o'clock, but could not tell
? hat it was. sss-s@s s
AT midnight Bailif Harris pass
d in the jail and commenced
is watch, relieving Hull who retired. AT
hat time nothing unusual was heard, and !
othing indicating the escape of . prisoner I
vas noticed about the premises Is
Harris took his seat at the east end OF
nc Cell occupied by Heilwagon, and con- [
nued on duty until the escape was dis |
overed
SO THE DISCOVERY
'as made at exactly o'clock this morn |
~ when the bailiff had occasion TO pass
lie cell occupied by pruss he saw that the !
DOR was open. He looked into the cell
nd saw Amberg but Pruss was missing. {
1t was discovered that rivet which
,rned part of the hinge in the door had
zen sawed off, and in this way the inmate j
I'd been enabled to open the door and {
ass out into the corridor ~ !
Amberg who has been in Jail for the
asst six months on charge of assaulting q
ficer Pierce of Moline, viii be released t
KIT Monday As his term expires on that
". He pretended that he did not know
hen Pruss got away, as he went to sleep e
I'd did not hear Pruss in his efforts to =
Iin his liberty. Amberg made no effort Il
escape. 49, :.
on gaining the corridor Pruss passed up 81
e iron stairway that leads To the second :
If ofcells, and walked around the iron :,
atform TO the west side or, as far away Il
,m where the guard was stationed as s.
ssible. M #A s55ss 3. | II
HOW HE ESCAPED. - NJ
The Jail building as is generally known :
rs partially destroyed by fire short time Il
70 and for some rpaspn fha ropa;rS r.. -