Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-09-22
ADARINe ESCAPE.
How caltfsrnis convscs Gained Ais Free
Han Yr~ncisco Post. I


The circumstances surrounding the
escape Of Charles Wethcrbce aiaas
"Nish - from the san Quentin penn
tentiary, on Sunday last, would point
to degree of laxity on the part Of the
guards which merits m investigation
and q discharge Of the persons who, by
reason of their lack of forethought and
official stupidity, helped the convict
TO escape. weiherbee arrived at the
prison on the 1st Of September,
1884. under sentence Of ten years
imprisonment for burglary IN tins city.
His co-defcndant in the case was VIII
liam O'Brien alas Maurice Hennes-
sey, who, released on his own recog-
nizance on the burglary charge, was
afterwards arrested for falsely register
ing himself as o voter, and sentenced
by Judge Hoffman to three years at
San Quentin, besides the tine of $500.
Wctherbee is twenty-four years of
age. with o fiorid complexion, black
hair, and q 6S-footer. BE Is shoe
maker by vocation, and the fact that
he was under 3 ten-yeRrs' sentence and
had been in Jail less than one year
should have been the very best res-
son for debarring him from the
trustyship" which he enjoyed
namely, TO be let cut Of the prison walls
daily. TO clean up the rooms and make
NJ the beds of the guards. Wetherbee
was at work as usual on Sunday, about
noon of which day hls absence was first
noticed. The change of his striped
convict garb for q suit Of one OF the
guards, and the finding Of 1t IN one OF
the rooms which he had cleaned up. was
the circumstance which attracted at
tention. Subsequent Developments
show that Wetherbee concealed him
self IN q hole underneath the guard
house. directly IN front of the
guards dInine-room and the prl-
son door. This hole he must have
scooped out, little by little, a;
odd moments. How III the world he
could ever have accomplished this OBJ
iect. when a guard patrols the guard
house OF the wall directly above him,
can only be explained on the theory Of
gross lack Of vigilance, surpassed only
by the exhibition on Monday evening
when the very place where the convict
lay crOuched IN conceaiment was sup
pOSee to be searched, and the escape wa
not found. The supposition Is that iron
noon Oh Sunday last until about : o clocA
on last Monday evening Wether
bee was slowed away IL tins holt
dug il the ground under the guard
house In pian sight of the warden
domlciie and -he guard, he must nav
walked down 20 the boat landing an
lei q whitehall boa belonging to tn
Prison ln,o the water. Captain Fred
SOD. Of the night guard, observed Tn
movement of the man al the dsvIts. an
hailed Inn with " Who's tina
down there No answer wa
made. and Wetherbee coolly droppe
into the boat. holsted sail, and mad
of, with the help Of 4 light breez
and the food tide. Fredson mad
inquiries after . little while as 10 tn
person who left III the boat, and M
satisfactory explanation being obtained
II dawned finally upon the astute pr
son officials that the man IN the boa
must have been the escaped convict
BY the time that second boat was OBJ
tanned for the chase Wetherbee had
good start, and, steering up the rive
route. was soon lost IL the fog. 1t sp
pears that he landed at Petaluma, u
the boat was recovered there on th
mud-flatS.