Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1882-02-22
Jail breaking.

the Jail at Stockton, California, He is
known among the officials as "bad
burglar and safe robber," and among
his associate convicts as a splendid"
fellow. During bis imprisonment he
was looked upon as leader to put up
jobs" of all kinds, particularly escapes.
His pals yeuld never squeal on him
when he WAS carrying out his well-laid
plans. Nine mouths ago, while confin-
ed in cell at Folsom, he planned his
last escape. His cell door is made OF
granite blocks held together with
ce nent. By removing the cement be-
tween two blocks and prospecting with
q wire, he discovered hollow below
him, aud he decided to ascertain its eI-
tent. From the workshop he smuggled
q cold chisel and piece of hard wood,
which he secreted in his cell. The
granite block he decided to out in two.
and he did it by striking his chisel
every time a door opened or slammed.
1t was difficult job, and required a
great deal of time, which was taken only
at night, as he worked outside during
the day. The block was nine inches In
thickness, and when he succeeded in
removing half Of it he propped the
other half up with stick Of timber, and
covered the whole with apiece Of wood
cut to fit exactly. He plastered the
wood over with cement, which he white
washed, making it look like the granite
floor. When he made an examination
Of the hollow space below he found that,
by cutting through stone and cement
three and half feet thick. he could
reach an abandoned sewer, which had
been constructed and abandoned before
the completion Of the building. In
order to avoid detection by the guards
as they made their regular rounds he
hung some of his clothes upon the
wall, and the rest he made into q dunn
my, which he tucked nicely under the
blankets. Naked, he worked night
after night, until he had entered the
opening of the stone sewer. The holes he
cut were SO small that he had to grease
them so rs to allow his body to clip
through. After passing through the
sewer some 81 feet he met with An OBJ
struction in the shape Of stone and
cement ten feet in thickness, which had
been filed in when the sewer was absn-
doned. THIS he removed. slowly, piece
by piece, carrying it back like squirrel
into the hollow space underneath his
cell. He met with another obstruction
when this was removed 1t was gran
ite block two and half feet thick.
When he made his way through this he
raa tunnel into the ground eight feet
long, wide enough to admit his body,
and then started All incline upward,
which. after running four feet, brought
him into an unused closed, in . small
room with an nsphsltum floor, and with
q window barred with chilled iron bars
Sansoms had provided himself with
steel saws made out of case knives to cut
the bars. The only opportunities he
had afforded him to complete this work
were given when the guards were chang
ing shifts or when they were in some
remote portion Of the institution. 1t
was during the time of the change Of
shifts that he escaped and gained his
liberty. When once ON the outside he
procured clothing from some tramps,
and he then made his way through to
Marysville. Often while he was work
ing In the sewer the air was so foul that
he had to withdraw to save himself from
suffocation. In the nine months re-
quired to complete the job Sansome lost
twenty-five pounds of flesh. When
Sheriff Cunningham covered him with
his revolver at Marysville he found .
small unloaded pistol on him, and when
Ssnsome was asked what he intended
doing with it he said that he had bought
it from a tramp to kill rats with. The
felon had three years and eight months
70 serve, counting his FIVE years credits.
His sentence was fifteen years for safe