Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1884-1886, 1885-01-23
BROKE JAIL
Two Murderers, Shooter and one Horse-thief
Escape From the County jail Night
Before Last, and are still
AT Large.

At 6 O'Clock yesterday morning the Color
ed turnkey at the jail entered the lower hall
to build a fire and get things in shape for
breakfasting the prisoners. On reaching the
stove he missed the iron bar used as poker,
which was always left at the stove. he
Immediately suspected something, and went
around among the cells on the ground floor
Finding everything all right in that quarter,
he went up fig ht of stairs reaching to the
top tier of cells, and there, TO his surprise,
be found the door to the corridor III
fr Mt OF row OF cells, where three
United States prisoners and one State
prisoners were confined, wide open the pris-
oners gone. Descending the steps he search
ed around the Jail, when just under the win
dow at the southwest corner Of the jail he
found hole sufficiently large for man 10
pass through. \ blanke; WAS pulled partl!!
through the hole, the end hanging to the
ground on the outside. he immediately
gave the alarm and Sheriff Fisher hurried
to the telegraph Office and heralded the
news, together with description of the iu-
gitives to the officers al ali points of ;he
surrounding country. He also wired the
intelligence to the United States narshal's
Office at Topeka; next he sent deputies
out on all the railroads leading
from the city. He then took the
east bound train on the Sunhower road
himself Whether by accident or design
the prisoners chose favorable night for tn,
work. During the two proceeding nights
the sheriff and his assistants had been kept
awake by crazy prisoner and on this night,
having quoted him with medicine, they al!
slept soundly. Owing to tine extreme cold
the sheriff exercised his humanity by not
locking the prisoners in their cells, feeling
confident that they could not escape through
the heavy iron grating encircling and cover
ing the corridor in front of the cells. The
door TO this corridor was fastened by three
locks, one Of which is enclosed in an iron
easement which is also kept locked. Another
is attached to the end Of "a large bolt, which
bolt is fasteccd by another lock on the in
side of the easement The other f,lstens the
iOOI v. lut tabtas Which u hAlAl Va otatAhss
iron bars, sufficiently far apart 10 admit a
mans hand. All the locks are padlocks
such as are common now on doors, etc, the
key entering the base of the lock. One key
lifted all The nadlocks, and the door Of the
Easement WAS locked with large common
KEY. All these locks were opened and II
portion Of broken key, made Of Rabbit
metal. was found in one Of the pad!ocks.
The key used in these padlocks contains =
dozen notches. The key used by
the jail-breakers WAS nodded, cor
responding exactly with the sber-
ifs key, and as the prisoners had no
material nor facilities for making a dupli-
cate, it is plain they had confederate out
side the jail who had the duplicate made
and sent in 10 them. Once outside this door
the prisoners We're at liberty TO descend ID
the floor of the Jail, where they found the
big iron bar or pocker and selected the spot
for making hole in the brick wall, directly
under the window where they could get tn,
point of the bar between the brick and tn,
Wlhoow siif- IN crueF 10 prevent noise DN
the brick falling upon the floor they spreac
blanket beneath, and performed the WORK
SO noislessly that the other pris-
oners say they heard nothing OF
their operations.
The names of the fugitives are: Ed Nc
Sweeney alias Ed Smith, a soldier dressed
in U. s. uniform. who was indicted by the
grand jury at the recent term of the United
States district court, for the murder OF Mr..
Mary Elliott at Fort Reno. |. T. last sum-
mer. Robert Perry, also a United State,
prisoner, charged with having committed
murder in the Indian nation. Georg,
Scribner. charged with assault with intent
10 kill, and Frank Hazier, horse thief cap
tured short time ago at Derby, who had
an examination before Justice Thomas ana
was bound over 10 the district court.
They will probably make towards the ter
ritory but can hardly manage TO elude the
officers; the cold will drive them into houses
and they will probably be captured.