, 1885-12-18
sTRgIeAT,s EscApg IRON eRIson


How 1t Happened That the Raider ard
III Men Were Missing fro Libby.
The old, yellow, moth-ce vered books
and papers of Libby prison tell a not I'M
romantic tale OF two women who were
directly connected with two momentous
events Of the famous southern prison.
After the wal these ladies' figured In good
positions in the gift of the government,
which they had ever proven loyal to, al
though surrounded by rebels In the very
hotbed OF treason. One of these was Miss
Abbie Green. She fingered about the old
warehouse so much, In her desire to dc
something for the union prisoners con
fined therein, that she was told that Il
she did not stop fooling with the d-n
Yankee prisoners she would be hustled
Into Castle Thunder. But she feared not
and 1t was she, as much a. any other per
son, who was the i~nstigating cause Of III
men escaping in a body. In the prison
was n Col. A. ID. Streight, who had or
ganized an expedition. having for its oh
ject the raiding of the country In and
around Rome, Ga. Forrest captured the
whole Of them and they were sent to
Richmond prison.
Abbie Green happened to know Streight,
and she smugglcd in to him a pair of
large Colt revolvers, with the word that
II he would escape he would be taken care
OF until he could get out of the country
One night some of the prisoners standing
at the window could, by the aid Of a pale
moonlight, see dark objects popping up,
as II were, from the very bowels of the
earth In a vacan lot across the street.
Where in the hi are all those men com
ing FROM shouted one Of the prisoners
-Shut up. You d-n fool" said another,
who was in the secret. Come away from
hat window and keep your mouth shut. -
When the roll wa called next morning
III men were missing. II took my man
Jim said my informant, "the mex morn
ing, aud made an examination of the lot
across the street. 1t wa full of high
weeds and | directed Jim to get in and look
tbout. In doing so he suddenly disap-
peared. When l went to the spot where
thad seen him last, a yawning hole con
ironted me. 1 stood there in wonderment
Tor a moment, when | looked up and be
held Jim running out Of the prison. Then
the whole thing dawned on my bemud-
died mind. Those III men had got out Of
the prison in the same that Black
Jim had got into IT.
BY means OF a large chimney the men
had lowered themselves to the basement,
where we kept a large quantity OF straw
The men had dug down through the floor
OF the basement, across the street forty
two feet, and emerged into the vacant lot
The dirt taken from the hole was piled IN
the room and covered with straw. "If II
hadn't been for a very peculiar accident,
continued the aged narrator, "we would
have lost every le-bodied man
in the prison that night Col.
Streight got fast in the hole. Tho
men had dug under a gas-main, making &
sudden turn down and then up. Streight
was a big, heavy fellow, and In going
under he got caught between his shoulders
and hips. The men in front pulled and
those in The rear pushed; but for hours he
remained in this plight until toward day
break he was hauled out more dead than
alive. IL was hen too near daylight tc
make the delivery general. One hundred
and seventeen got away but we captured
more than half of them. Streight was
taken care of by Abbie Green In a little
hut just outside the city, where food was
provided until he was able to get away
which he finally did, and reached Wash
lngton in safety Miss Green was given
a position in the United States treasury
a position which she still holds.-Cor.
Chicago News.