St. Paul daily globe., 1889-02-11

expense Of the rest Of the world, and
the measures adopted to this end are
simply amazing. The shreWdest GRIM
inals, however, bring up in prison soon
er or later; and wonderful as are some
of the deeds which bring them there,
they cannot be compared with the in
geniouS and thrilling plans and devices
invented by conxicts for escaping
from their punishment. The one
idea ofthe prisoner is TO escape, and the
average hUusebreaker or footpad, de-
prived of liberty, seems to have mind
wonderfully productive of skillful
schemes and tact for putting them into
operation. Scarcely a week passes at
any state penitentiary but some prisoner
tries to overcome by, cleyerly arranged
plans the barriers that hold him in DUR
ance. True, they rarely succeed-not
more than one in hundred accomplish
ing his purpose-and not more than one
clearing the walls escapes recapture.
1t was about year ago that Charles
O'Connor, a noted crook, was imprisoned
in the Ramsey county jail pending trial
for bold robbery of the Minneapolis
postoffice. O'Cennor was dangerous,
criminal, and every precaution was,
taken to guard against his escape, but
he finally succeeded in working clever
scheme ---s..
Il. WHICH SET HIM FREE.
On his arrival at the Jail he was
given cell off from the main corridor
of the second floor. with go0d-natured
young German, considerably larger in
stature, as cell-mate. He was clever
mechanic, and as soon as he was domi4
ciled began to look. out for means of
escape. He made the building study
and after careful observation was fairly
we'll posted as to its construction.
Finally he took into his condolences a
woman who frequently visited him..
bringing always a choice collection OF
edibles. and through her assistance sew
erai fine steel saws were passed through!
to him, concealed in apple pies. The
German was easily quoted by liberal
was not at allayerse to to the idea'of
escape, though to him it'Seenled an im-l
possible undertaking.. Each night he
managed to file a little on the heavy
iron bars which imprisoned him..
keeping close watch for the
guard, who ,2appeared every
hour at irregular intervals, wear
ing padded slippers. s. and looked
into each cell. The filings each night
were filled with dirt from the cell to
hide the traces of his work. and when
the last bar was filed nearly through it
was an easy matter to break the thread
of iron which had been left to hold the
others in place. But when the job was
finally completed he was dismayed.
The hole sawed was SO small that he
was unable to crawl through with his
clothes on, and only by removing every
stitch Of clothing and inflicting painful
flesh wounds with the sharp iron bars
was he able to squeeze through. The
poor German, however, could not be-
gin TO get through the.small opening,
and was obliged to watch O'Connor
make his escape alone. Once in the
corridor he opened an outside window!
and dropped to the ground below, de-
scending part of the distance on a
rope which he had constructed Of
SOME OF HIS CLOTHING.
He effected his escape, but it is gen.
orally believed that he had ready as
sistahce on the outside by the woman;
who furnished the saws.
Mai. Loader, eX-chief of the North:
western agency of the Pinkerton sys-.
TEN, tells: story Of the. escape of a!
Chinaman from the Joliet prison which
is hard to surpass in point of clever
ness and originality. His name was.
Yuenai Lung; but he. was known about
the prison as sOne Lung" lie either
could not OF would not speak English.
and there was a good deal of discussion
as to what toTdo with him. In the,
course of day or two however, he
was installed in the position of boot
black at the. deputy warden's Office.
After a vast deal of pantomime
instruction he became reasonably adept
in his new field of labor, but he was ter
ribiy hard on brushes, and it required a.
wonderful amount of .bfacking to keep
him supplied. One evening, about a
fortnight after Zone Lung had been
initiated into the myteries of shoe
shining, the turnkey was confronted by
frightful-looking man with brist-
ling black beard that would have
turned the average dime novel pirate
green. with envy. + The fellow wore, q
dirty suit Of black clothes. As he came
up to the gate he made polite bow,
and stepped aside for the turnkey to-
open the gate and let him out. But for
reasons best known to himself the turn
key did not comply. In the first place,
it is positively forbidden to pass stran1
gers without a permit signed by the
warden, and even then suspicious char
dctciS ait uStdlliCtttlli JuOHtiuCus bSCi
ing that the fellow wanted to get out
the turnkey asked for a permit, but he
of the bristIing beard responded with a
series Of polite bows. which were com4
ical TO- the last degree. His looks were
enough to have convicted him of almost
any crime, but from his actions he apt
peared to be a haff-witted mute. To
Settle matters the gateman called a
guard and had