The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-05-17

ne was absent for moment Anderson arose,
dress ell himself, unlocked the ioors, stole
the Sherltf'S watch, which had, been left in
the room in order to note the tine when the
! prlsoler should be given his MEDICINE, and
made good his escape.
Anderson is crook we'll Known to
Lleuts. Shea and Josph Ripley. He is one
OF the most expert thieves, porch climbers,
aud jail breakers in the country. He has
served term in Joliet for the Burglary OF
the residence of w. j. Chalmers on West
Monroe street about eight years ago, and
has escaped from more jails thai any thief
known to the police. Mrs Chalmers is the
daughter Of the great defective, Allan
Plnkerton, who was then alive, and An
derson took great credit to himself for dar-
ing to tread on Pinkerton's preserves.
That man. said Lieut. KIple7 to a re-
porter, lis the slickest fellow in That line
ever knew. He belongs to a good family.
He is wood carver by trade, and one of
the finest mechanics that ever welded
tools. Why, that fellow said to m, once
What is the use of me working at my
trade, where l can only earn So a day, and
| can make in couple Of hours more than
| can earn in whole yearP There is no
Jail that man can't beat" continBd the
efficient thief-catcher. HE has been in
every jail of consequence in the land, and
escaped from them all at one time Or an
other, and yet he is not much over $ years
of age. For the Chalmers affair which
was case of porch climbing, Anderson re-
ceived a sentence of only three years, but
then nearly all the property was recovered
and it may have been on this account that
his sentence was made 50 light. Tror to
that burglary Anderson was confined in the
Sycamore, ILL.,, jail That is building of
limestone, with walls about 2 feet thick
That fellow was there with thirteen other
prisoners. He used to take the ash pan of
the stove, fill it full of live Goals AMI hold it
against the Jail wall. He continued this
until he had Stacked the wall through for a
distance of about feet square, which was
kept carefully hidden from view. His fell
low prisoners watched MIN working day by
day, and one night when the job was fin
ished he knocked out the lime-slacked por-
ton of the wall, and the Jail was left ten
antless few minutes after He was being
held there for burglary.
Now, nobody knew Anderson except
myself and Shea, and we knew him we'll
Shortly after his escape from Sycamore l
was one day standing in front of the
Academy of Music when l noticed a de-
crepit old man pass by. He was the most
distorted being | ever saw. He had on
spectacles, walked crooked, and had
crutches. He appeared to be in earnest CON
vel odGlOu Will all d apparently ueCeuU, ldTu-
working man, who was with him. Hooked
a second time at the contorted, decrepit
form, and | said to myself There's An
derson.' l allowed the two men to go by,
and at West Madison and Halsted streets
laid my hand on his shoulders and said {:
Hello, Anderson. He replied:
"'You are mistaken; my name is Will
SON.
"'Not in thousand years. l responded.
} IL, ~
with him, and he said that he was dead
square, that he had picked him up in a
saloon and took him along to play the re-
spectacle dodge. | arrested Anderson and
took him TO the Desplaines street station
for he was also wanted at Geneva for bur
glaries committed there. He was taken
there and made his escape one night, digging
clear from the Jail, through heavy oak
planking, to the court room, and leaving by
the roof. Three years ago he made visit
to Omaha, which cost a resident just S15,-
600 in bonds, which he sneaked.
"Wh hen we were still at the odd Rock
cry Anderson was confined there. One
Sunday afternoon | heard a fearful com
motion in the cells. | waited a while and
then went to see what the trouble was
There was Anderson with a hammer hard at
work tearing out the foundation and frame
work of the building. He was in a fearful
persplralon, and Two prisoners In an ad-
journing cell were intently watching him
What are you. doingP | asked. He coolly
answered:
"'Oh, let me alone was only looking
around for little exercise
Il took him out, and as we were going up
stairs he said to me:
'''If you had only kept away for fifteen
minutes longer l would have had every
thing pat. | had every frame out, and
would have given you no further trouble
I'm California also he had broken jail.
He is hard man to catch and convict, be-
cause ne never has q partner. His sham
ming of sickness is one of his favorite
lodges, and it nearly always works He
can make himself look as though he was in
the last stages of disease, and claims that
confinement will he death to him. regard
him as the cleveresJ and most dangerous
man in his line in the country"