Wichita eagle., 1889-04-19
MISS ANNA HAYS, THE heroic
DAUGHTER OF SEDGWICK'S
BRAVE SHERIFF

The New York Sun appears IN Its Is
sue of the 14th with four column and {
half write up of Wichita. The writer
makes up his wonder story in six chap
tiers, in which more blood curdling his
tory and flights of imagination are
crammed than ca noften be found out
| side of dime novels. Of course his sto
ries are based on facts. Besides the his
torical C) incidents the scribe deals, foi
quite space, in social scandals and the
like. Among other things he recites the
incident of Miss Anna Hays, of her he
roic conduct on the occasion of a jail
break. We make the following extract,
which does not say too much for either
Miss Hays beauty or courage:
When the Wichita man hears the
stranger tell marvellous story of any
sort he feels bound to tell one about
| Wichita or its people still more marvel
Gus. If stranger talks about cour-
ageous deeds of any sort. the Wichita
man has two stories to tell at least, and
they relate to a young lady, Miss Anna
| Hays, the daughter of the sheriff of the
! county.
She is a brown-haired young lady Of
about 90 years, tall, well formed, and
graceful. She would attract attention
anywhere by her vivacity and good
looks, but no one would suppose from a
casual acquaintance that she was wo-
man of splendid courage.
On The night of July ~ last it happen
ed that she and her father, the sheriff,
and her mother were the only ones in
the jail building, besides the prisoners,
who numbered forty men. Among the
prisoners were Jake and Joe Tolber and
Thomas Thurber, who was then under
sentence Of death for the murder of
Messrs. Cass and Goodykountz, two Vim
tia, /. T., merchants. The Toll
bers have since been hanged
for the crime and Thurber sent to prison
for life. David Lemons, soldier who
had murdered his sergeant, was another.
Tode Baldwin, in the territory, was an
other. Ben Grant, who had killed a
United States marshal at Caldwell, was
another John Grindstone, who had
shot another Indian at breakfast, was
still another. Grindstone was an espe-
cially heartless wretch. He was at
breakfast with friend when the crime
was committed for which he was in
prison. Drawing a revolver, he said to
his host:
"How would you like to eat that"
s'First rate" said he; 1--WE eat lots of
'em."
C D. you. you can't eat this"
said John, and shot his friend dead.
Among the rest were other despardoes
from the territory waiting trial for man
slaughter, horse stealing, etc. 1t was
just as tough a gang of men and just as
fearless as can be found anywhere.
Shortly after midnight, when the
sheriff and his family were asleep, the
whole lot of prisoners got loose in the
main room of the prison, and succeeded
in cutting whole through the ceiling
of this room and reaching a scuttle in
the roof. Up through this they went in
a jiffy, confident Of liberty at last.
There was one thing that prevented a
very remarkably Jail delivery.
The old Jail had a tin roof, and as the
prisoners with undue haste ran across
this roof, intending to leap down on
one-story extension of the main building
they made such thunderous noise that
the sheriff and his wife and daughter
leaped out of bed very much awake and
very much alarmed lest the sheriff lose
his reputation as an officer.
Although alarmed, the sheriff was by
no means unnerved. ThIusting a big
revolver into his wife's hands, and tell
ing her to watch the doors leading from
the dwelling into the Jail lest some break
through that way, he grabbed a Win
chester and ran into the hall, intending
to call Miss Anna to ask her to help her
mother to watch the hall. There he
found the young lady, with the rifle OF
one of the absent guards in her hands,
all ready to go out doors and head off
the flying prisoners.
Hurrying out of the front door they
on the steps, one going toward
one side of the extension and the other
to the other. Big electric lights illu-
the surroundings and they were
able to see the leaders of the gang just
on the edge of the two-stOry
part of the building preparatory to drop
ping to the extension. The sheriff is a
crack shot. Before the prisoners real
lied that he was around he had shot the
hats off of two of them and ordered the
gang back into the Jail. In pretending
to obey the most of them rushed to the
opposite side of the building, out of sight
of the sheriff. There stood Miss Anna,
looking CHASTITY in her night
apparel. She threw up the
rifle as the leaders came in sight. |
''Stop," she said Thurber, who was
in advance, recognized her, and realized |
from her tone that she had the nerve to |
shoot He weakened instantly.
Don't shoot, for Gods sake, Miss |
Anna. Wen sure go back" be said,
and they did. Every one climbed down |
through the scuttle that they had SO
joyously climbed up through a few
before. Then the police, at
tracted by the sound of the sheriff's rifle,
came and helped secure the prisoners in
the cells. 1t is an interesting fact that
within five minutes after the police ar
rived something happened to the electric
light apparatus by which that part of |
the city was left in darkness for the rest
of the night The prisoners broke Jail |
fifteen minutes too quick for their own |
good.
exploit with the rifle. In June, 1887. the |
sheriff had negro named John McKin-
ney in the jail, who had been guilty of |
an unusually heartless murder and |
the Wichita people determined that !
TIE VI uoiiSC NOhiN NC bGllSI
served by quick rather than lawful /
The sheriff got his prisoner /
out of the county for time, but there he |
pretended TO be crazy, and the authori
ties refused to keep him. He had been
gone so long that the sheriff naturally |
that the excitement had died |
down. Besides, the negro was returned
so quietly that it was thought no one
knew of it.
Nevertheless at o'clock on the next