The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-06-09
DASH OF THE CONVICTS.
ONE OF THEM SHOT DEAD BUT
THE OTHERS GET AWAY.

An Official Report of the Cole City
Sensation Sent to the Principal
Keeper of the Penitentiary-Tw
Suspicious Characters Arrested on a
Train froc Florida
ATLANTA, GA, June S.-The principal
keeper Of the penitentiary received to-day a
full report from Superintendent William y.
Reese of an outbreak at Cole City Thursday
afternoon. in which three convicts escaped
and one was killed. A plan for escape had
been made by George Simmons, who is il
for burglary from Cobb county; George w.
Mangham, in for rape from Gwinnett
county, and Sidney O'Shields, in for burg
larry from Barlow county. All are desper-
ate criminals and long-term convicts.
The plan was connected by Simmons, the
Austell safe blower. Through outside
friends he managed to secure pistols and
cartridges for the three. The pistols were
new and of A caliber. Thursday afternoon
the men were at work at the coke ovens
under guard of Joe Cox, boy of is, armed
with a shotgun.
THE BREAK FOR LIBERTY.
At signal the three convicts dashed
away, firing at the guard The qua ID
promptly brought his gun down on ''im-
mons, who was in the lead. and killed him.
AS Simmons fell William Armour, burly
negro convict sent up from Fulton county
for burglary, noted as a dangerous despeT-
ado, thought it his opportunity, and be
picked up Summons pistol and ran also,
firing at the guard. The second barrel of
the guards gun snapped, and Cox dropped
it, ran into his house few yards away and
got another, firing both barrels at the escap-
ing convicts. Though Cox is satisfied that
some of the bullets took effect, the convicts
got away. An hour afterward the dogs
were started, and were still running the
fugitives in the mountains last night. The
penitentiary company has offered reward
of $50 for the capture Of each Of the fugi-
Gves.
RAILROAD TAX RETURNS.
The Georgia Midland and Gulf railroad
returned its property to the comptroller
to-day for taxation at SS25, 700, against
s642, 1858 last year. The comptroller &C
cepted the return.
The Fulton county commissioners re-
Gently refused to pay the coroner's fees for
the inQuests he'd over the firemen killed by
the walls of the jackson building claiming
that the inQuests were unnecessary, as a
great many people had witnessed the occur
renee, and there was no mystery about it.
The frequency OF iuquests in this county
had attracted the attention of the commits
sioners. and they thought the coroner was
making too much out of his Office. TIE
grand jury to-day reversed the action Of the
commissioners and recommended that the
coroner's fees be paid, as the inquests were
necessary and ought to have been held.
TWO SUSPECTS UNDER ARREST.
Conductor Conner, who came in on the
East Tennessee train from the south this
morning, turned two white men over to
Patrolman Waits and requested that they
be locked up. The men, who boarded the
train in Florida, had been acting in very
suspicious manner, and he thought that they
should be detained until it could be learned
who they were. He said, further, that they
were in the sleeper part OF their time and
then on the platform once and once or
twice tried to enter the baggage car, and
just before reaching Macon both men locked
themselves in the closet and remained there
until after the train had passed through the
city. Conner overheard one of the men say
to the other Il think we ought to get about
5000 out of the old fellow tonight"
Patrolman Waits carried the two men
TO the station house, where they gave their
names as Charles Perpall and j. V. Drys-
dale. Perpall had SIS in his pocket, and
Drysdale had IS Is. The men looked very
much alike, enough so to be brothers. They
claim to be from st. Augustine and deny
having been held for investigation.