Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1888-07-10
KELLEY AND CHRISTIE
THEY LOAD UP THEIR CELL AT THE JAIL
WITH CONTRABAND sfURP,
Accumulated for the Purpose Of Carrying Out 3
Schsms 10 Escaps-Ths Plot Frustrated by
the Vigilance Of the officials.

Schsms 10 Escaps-Ths Plot Frustrated by
the Vigilance Of Ii, Officials.
Kelley and Christie, the convicted muir
derers Of Officer ice Glenn, seem bound to
keep up their reputation for being tough
customers.
For some time past they have had little
scheme on foot which was to result in their
escape from the county Jail On Eoff street,
and for all known at present to the contra
ry, they were detected just in the nick oil
time to prevent general Jail delivery,
with perhaps the serious woundiDg or kill
ing of an official of the institution as an
incident of the escape.
Ever since the prisoners have been with
in the custody Of Sheriff Hsndlan, and
especially since their conviction Of the
crime of murder, he has strictly and re-
peatedly epjoined upon Tailor Nichols the
importance of keeping both eyes upon the
prisoners, and has ordered that systematic
and daily search be made in their cells for
weapons or instruments which might be
used in attempting to escape. Sheriff
Handlan arrived home from Baltimore
yesterday morning, and it was his
intention to at once make a tho
rough personal inspection of the cells
occupied by the two men, in order that he
might be entirely certain that everything
was as it should be. Just before the
Sheriff started home, at noon, however, ne
received an urgent message TO come up to
the jail at once. He lost no time in COM
plying with the request, and on arriving
there, found Tailor Nichols in good deal
of stew. He told the Sheriff that he was
satisfied some deyilment was on foot in
the Kelly and Christie cell, and asked that
it be subjected to thorough search with
out loss of time.
Sheriff Handlan at once sent for
Deputy Sheriff White and Officers Gaus
and Carney, and on their arrival the
officials went into the lower corridor,
where the two murderers are located.
Sheriff Handlan called Kelley and asked
him what was going on in his cell. Kelley
replied that there was nothing wrong, but
the Sheriff told him it was no use to ct
tempt to conceal the fact that noises had
been beard coming out OF the cell at
various times, and that an investigation
would be made. Van Baker was also
asked what was going on, but he replied
that as far as he knew everything was all
right; that the "boys" might have been
pounding in nail, or something OF that
sort, but that was all.
Kelley was then turned over to the
officers and thoroughly searched, the re-
suit being the finding Of cheap, but
strong, penknife on his person. He had
nothing of this sort when locked up, and
how he got it is a mystery. The knife
was confscated, and the prisoner con-
signed to a new cell. Christie was then
subjected to like search, but nothing
was found on him of compromising
nature. He was then consigned to sepa-
rate cell, and o thorough search made Of
the one he and Kelley had occupied in
common. There the Sheriff and his Off
GERS made a surprising hanl. Five clubs
were found, four OF them having been made
by cutting whitewash brush handle into
con yenent lengths, the handle having been
stolen from the colored man who recently
whitewashed the building. The fifth club
was large square piece of pine, on which
handle had been whitfield at one end,
while the other had been wrapped with
strip of blanket torn from their bed, in
order to deaden the sound of the blows
struck with it, There is some doubt
whether this club was to be used as q
weapon, or RI q rough mallet, to aid them
in effecting an escape. There were two
pieces of heavy tin, doubled up, one of
them being fashioned in the shape of key
with which it was hoped to open the cell
door. This key was very cleverly made,
considering the obstacles the prisoners had
to encounter, but when it was laid over
the jailor's key by the Sheriff, it was found
that the wards did not correspond ex-
actly, and had it been tried in the lock
it would not have worked. The key had
evidently been fashioned from memory,
one of the prisoners having seen the cell
key in the hands of the jailor or his assist
ant. The second piece of tin had been
fashioned into handle for knife, which
consisted of very thin and flexible piece
of steel, about nine inches long and one
inch wide, the continuance being evidently
designed to be ultimately converted into a
saw, with which to cut the iron bars Of
the cell, in case the key failed to work.
There were also two other pieces of steel,
thin and slender, we'll adapted to making
Oh - hau
be pieces Of a clock spring, or else obtained
from q woman's corset. The larger piece
of steel may also have been obtained from
this source, and it is supposed some Of the
female prisoners in the upper corridor were
kind enough to supply the men below with
the steel, which could be easily lowered
from the upper window to them by means
of thread.
The prisoners will henceforth be con-
fined in separate cells. and will be watched
more closely than ever before.
A REGISTER reporter called at the Jail
yesterday afternoon for the purpose Of OBJ
tanning the facts as above detailed, but
without success, Tailor Nichols, in pur-
suit of his usual policy toward the press,
asserting repeatedly that nothing unusual
had occurred, q statement having some of
the characteristics of fiction.
In a conversation about the discovery OF
the armory of the prisoners, last evening,
Sheriff Handlan recounted some Of the |
history of the two men while they |
were confined in the Mt Vernon |
Jail, and said that he was sat |
istied they would have killed the jailer
there had he mr.. Handlan) not sent let. |
ter Of warning to the Sheriff Of the county, |
based upon information he had received |
while looking up the records Of the two
men. The jailer there was in the habit
of treating the two prisoners with the
utmost consideration and kindness, his
wife frequently cooking things for them
ontside Of the regular prison fare. In
some manner Kelley and Christie learned |
that the authorities from West Virginia |
were coming for them, and they deter |
mined to bring things to climax. They |
arranged TO slug the jailor the night |
before the West Virginia people came over |
for them but in the meantime the TAILOR