The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1883-02-28
4 Formidable Revolt in ile Mis-
souri, State Pmitmiay.
Sc rIss FIRE TO TIE WORKSHOPS.
Stripping q Foreman Of Hs Claihilg-L DaDer
ute Leader Of 4 Reckless Crowd. Surrounding
The Building With Motley Militia.

SlflpDlg tWtaldl ol hS Gietalag-A DoDn
ute Leader Of Reckless Crowd. Surrounding
The Building With Motley Militia.
JEFFERSON CRY, Mo-, Feb. %
The convicts in the State Penitentia-
ry at this place have long complain
ed of the terrible treatment to which
they have been subjected, and the
revolt among them, which occurred
at noon to day, was not unexpected
The convicts had just marched back
from dinner in the different shops,
and were seeking their various bench
es, when, in recognition of some
preconcerted signal, eight men en-
plcyed in the harness shop of Jacob
Strauss & Co., of st. Louis, led by
John b. johnson, a safe blower,
seized formidable leather cutting.
Knives, and the revolt vas opened.
Four Of the men took hold of the
foreman of the harness shop and
stripped him of his clothing. The
other four ran TO the floor below and
seized Van Horn. the foreman of the
collar department, and with knives
at his throat ordered him not to re
sist. Then Johnson ran back into
the collar-stuffing department and
fired a lot of loose straw. This done,
and satisfied that the flames would
spread, the desperate man rushed
out OF the building and ran to the
saddle tree factory of John Sullivan
with the intention of melting revolt
there.
AT the main entrance to the shop
he met Pat krump, one ofthe guards,
who, seeing him with a knife and u
club in his hand, warned him off,
Atthat moment the flames burst from
the windows of the Strauss. factory
and Krump saw that trouble was
ahead. He was not armed. krump.
however, made an effort and yelled
to Johnson.
CONFRONTING A GUARD.
"One step more, and you area dead
man y
The desperate turned and a
toward the northeast corner of the
grounds with the intention ofscaling
the walls. On his way, be ran
against Jesse Tolin, the dresser in"
OF the prison, johnson paused, and
stood defiant with his fnife and
bludgeon. threatening to brain
Tolin if the latter got near enough.
Tolin is Il small man. while the con
vict is IA giant in build aud strength.
but the plucky guard walked up To
the convict and, placing the muzzle
of IA cooked revolver against his ear,
ordered him to walk TO the blind cell.
The convict lost his presence Of miud
and obeyed.
In the meanwhile the flames were
making rapid headway through the
harness shop. So quick did the fire
burn that those IN the upper stories
were compelled to leave the building
by the windows. Fifty escaped in
this way and four were badly scorch
ed in getting out. AT THE first alarm
of fire the deputy warden manned
the prison hose. The efforts to CIR
~ it into the building was. met with
a desperate resistance. With their
knives the frenzied convicts cut the
hose in a dozen places. This gave
the fire a chance to take good hold,
but the victory of the convicts was
only a temporary one.
RALLYING IN FORCE.
The guards rallied in force and
showed their revOlvers and Winches-
ter rifles.
The promptest efforts were made to
capture and confine in the blind
cells Johnsons's companions. One
of them was Jerome s. johnson,
doing twenty-five years for murder
in the second degree, from Clay
County, aud another, Perry Martin,
of the stage robbers, who last sum
mer terrorized Southwest Missouri
ano held up several stages between
Seligman and the Eureka Springs.
Arkansas. Williams, of Kansas
City, who inaugurated a revolt in
the Kansas City Jail last Spring was
another of the party.
While the guards we're attending
to the discipline the alarm was blown
and the great bell changed out the
warning tina, mutiny Vas in the
prison. Adjutant General WaGdeli
came to the front in good style. The
armory was emptied, by his order,
of its guns, which, with the boxes OF
cartridges, we're loaded in wagons
and forwarded to the scene in short
order
In less than ten minutes lines
were formed surrounding the prison
walls, and dignified Senators, good
natured colored men, capitalists,
bankers, merchants and wood saw
yers stood shoulder tn shoulder pre-
pared tn vindicate the majesty OF
the law. The walls werec covered by
armed men. and from the roofs OF
the prison building guns frowned i'll
the most warlike and threatening
manner.
: From Strauss & Co.'S factory the
flames communicated rapidly To the
State machine shop, and the factory
where the cloth worn by the convicts
is made. Then the broom factory
went the way of the flames and next
the building occupied jointly by the
Geiseke Shoe Manufacturing Com
> psny and the Meysenburg Shoe Co.
/. was consumed.
THE STATES HEAVY Loss.
This adjoins M OF the main cell
houses, aud it was Threatened for an
hour. A single wall stood between
; the burning building and the hospi'
tai. The guard-house overlooking
; the hospital court was burned com
/. pletely. The loss to the State on
, the three buildings consumed and the
I three more damaged, including ina
, chinery in factories, amounts to full
. ly $4,000. There is no insurance
The private losses are as follows