The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1882-05-17
A PLAY JAIL.
The Insecure Condition of
the County Prison.
Short Account of the sue
cessfuI Breaks for Liberty.

l
Yesterday morning, work was commenc-
| ed under Sheriff Ankrum's supervision, OF
repairing the opening IN the jail wall,
through which seven prisoners made their
escape last Sunday afternoon.
The break will soon be repaired, and the
walls made as secure as their composition
will admit. No one pretends to claim that
the Jail is secure, for the history of that in
stitution, since its first completion in 1857,
| demonstrates the fact that its weakness has
been such as to allow about thirty prison
ers to escape at different times, and under
different Sheriffs.
Prisoners have made their exits by digg-
| ing under the floor, going up through the
roof by means of the entrance door, and
by making an opening in the lateral wall.
As soon as these various defects were
made apparent, tide defective portion was
strengthened, until the old structure has
become mixture of additions and inn
provements, with the old walls as a back
ground.
THESE WALLS
are said to be of the poorest quality, as
they are composed largely of mortar and
small stones in place of the large blocks
as would most properly be used in the con-
struction of prison.
They have always been considered weak
and defective, and their weakness was in
creased by the fire which visited that
building last January At that time the
roof was destroyed or rendered entirely
worthless. An immense amount of water
was required to extinguish the flames,
which were located between the galvanized
covering and the interior ceiling. This
water saturated everything within the
building, and permeated the walls to such
an extent that it was found impossible to
paint them or use them for many months.
This wet condition made the walls more
defective than before, and their weakness
was forcibly illustrated in the hasty work
accomplished by the prisoners last Sunday
afternoon, when they succeeded in making
an aperture in one of the so-called walls in
less than one hour
This fact shows that the walls of the
present Jail are unfit to enclose a prison,
and so long as the Jail remains in the
building, it will be impossible to make it
secure or any where near burglar proof.
In view of the interest in the old build
ing which has been generally excited by
the recent escape of the prisoners, the fol-
lowing
BRIEF HISTORY
of that structure has been obtained from
one of the old residents who is conversanr
with its construction from it's building up
to the present time:
In the year 1857, the old Jail on Four
teenth street, between Third and Fourth
avenues. was vacated, and the present
structure was first occupied. The present
Jail was built by contractor named Gagh-
egan, who agreed to construct it for the sum
of $21, 900. The walls of the Jail proper
were to be constr ucted of good substantial
stone and the blocks were to be doweled
together so as to render them more secure.
The first architect was discharged by the
building COMMITTEE appointed by the Board
of Supervisors, and second architect
named Carroll, was engaged The latter
made several alterations in the building
which necessitated more work on the part
of the contractor. The latter attempted
to follow directions, and to make himself
even failed to construct the walls as stipu-
lated in the contract.
After the building was completed, the
contractor put in bill for extra services.
The matter was referred to three arbitra-
tors, of whom E. @. Chopper, of this city
and Carroll. the architect, were two of the
members. The matter was settled by al
lowing the contractor an additional $10,-
900, which may account for the not over
close inspection of the jail and it's con-
strection at that time. It was in the ma
committee was thus placed in a position
where it could not refuse to accept the
building. The arbitrator, in inspecting
the jail, pronounced il unsafe in many par
ticulars. and pointed out number of the
defective features. That portion of their
report was not acted upon by the Board OF
Supervisors at that time.
DIFFERENT DELIVERIES
The manner in which several of the /
prisoners made their escape from the Rock |
Island county Jail shows that it has always I
enjoyed an unenviable reputation on ac-
count of the insecurity.
The first prisoner, whose escape is
noted in local histories is that of Stoddard
who was under sentence of death for the
murder of his wife. He was confined in
he old jail building, and managed to dig
his way out under the floor. He was re-
:aptured some time afterwards and paid
he penalty for his crime on the gallows.
\. F. Swander was sheriff at that Time
Ills successor to Office f. b. Gorton en-
Dyed full term without allowing any
prisoners to secure their freedom without
Iue process of the law. NJ. d. Merrill and
}. McLaughlin both suffered one or more
prisoners % escape while they had custody
f the county jail During John Peetz
areer as sheriff, six prisoners made good
aooo,ao hxy T.,rpIyaxr