Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1891-03-27
DOOR

the outside walls on ellner SIDE,
which is never the case now. There
were three tiers, while the corridor or
hall, which was sixty feet long by thir-
ty wide, was lighted by two large win
dows in the far end and also by sky
lights in the roof. / was put in cell No.
1, which was the last on the left-hand
side, and at the corner of the building.
/ knew all about this wing before we
occupied it. The east wall, which con-
tanned the windows, was still in the
prison yard, while the north wall ran
along public street. Under the Win
dow nearest my cell was piled lot of
wornout machinery and refuse lumber.
The sashes in these windows hung on
hinges, and after the 1st of July they
were open day and night
had no sooner entered my cell than |
determined to make it the basis of oper-
ations for an escape. The top and sides
were of iron plates while the front had
barred door. My cell, being at the
corner, had two sides of stone. The
authorities had hurried the wing to
a finish, and when / examined the
fagstones composing the floor l found
the cement not yet fully hardened. Be
fore ! went to bed l had settled every
detail of my plan, which was to tunnel
out under the north wall. How long do
you suppose it would have taken a free
man, working ten hours day, and hav-
ing every convenience, to accomplish
that task? Two weeks at least. And
now think of my situation. Every hour
of the night after nine o'clock guard
I =
side and down the other, looking into
every cell. Each day every cell was
inspected. | had to smuggle in such
tools as could, and | had to dispose of
the dirt taken out.
knew the wall to be four feet thick
in the foundation. knew that most
Oft was composed of heavy blocks of
stone. / knew that / should have to go
down six or seven feet below the floor
of my cell if | tunneled under the wall.
figured on all the chances, made lib
eral estimate as to the time required,
and resolved to begin work the very
next night. When | returned to my
cell the next evening | brought with
me from the shop piece of hoop iron,
about foot long, and the bread fur
nished for my supper did not eat. You
see, as we'rnarched in at six o'clock we
went directly to our cells, each man
taking his supper tray off a shelf as he
passed it. We were locked in our cells,
and as there were nearly two hours of
daylight left we could read or do as we
pleased. The corridor guard made his
first round when the lamps were lighted.
This gave me two hours to work, and
|. had no sooner swallowed my supper
than l began cutting the cement from
between two flagstones. In starting to
lay these flags they had begun in my
corner, and had used stones of different
sizes to make even" out to certain
line. The floors of all other cells were
composed of two large stones. Mine
had five, and this was great thing for
me.
The door of my cell was next to the
east wall, while my bed was against
the cell partition to the west. The two
end cells were sixty-two inches wide;
all others were only fifty. Between the
door and the foot of my bed stood
homemade chair covered with chintz,
which discharged prisoner had given
me. The fiagstone directly beneath
was not over sixteen inches square, and
began on that. BY SO doing | would
have to tunnel seven feet further than
if began at the wall, but hoped that
| In beginning there | would escape the
observation of the inspector. ] had
brought in with me a piece of brown
paper, and as fast as 1 removed the ce-
ment placed it on this. 1t was slow,
tedious work, and had to be careful
that the prisoner next to me heard
| nothing. In prison you can trust no
| one.
| worked off and on that night until
| q very late hour, and | took out half
pound of the cement. It's loss was sup
piled with bread crumbs, but / had to
get rid of the paper package in the
morning. had planned how to do it.
| When we were let out the guard came
to the cell opposite mine first. In those
days each cell had a lock by itself, each
prisoner walked to the west end of the
| iron door, where two lines were formed.
| This brought the first men in last out.
| AS my door was unlocked ! delayed
few seconds, though being in plain
view. The guard stepped to the next
door, and as | emerged | had the pack
age in my left hand, and tossed it
| through the bars of the corridor win
| dow. 1t was done ut single motion
and while he was rafting the lock, and
| escaped observation. From that mo-
ment felt my escape was only ques-
ton of time
Not to weary you with details, had
the stone up in about week. l
brought in a carpenters chisel after
awhile, and for many weeks this was
the only tool had to work with.
package larger than the size of pound
of sugar would not go through the bars,
and / had to limit myself as to quantity.
But for this | might have got along
much faster. Beneath the stone was
two feet of concrete, formed of broken
stone and cement, and though | carried
some out in my pockets every day in
addition to making up the usual pack
age it was terribly slow work. 1t was
tie fst of September before | got to the
soil under the concrete. That IS, had
dug hole a little over two feet deep
and large enough for me to work in.
1t required the utmost caution, as the
corridor was as still as a graveyard at
night, with two widc-awake guards
watching and listening.
The window would be closed by the
first of October anyhow, and then
could no longer get rid of my dirt. This
idea was making me feel terribly
anxious, when l struck bit of good
luck. My tunnel ran as shown in the
accompanying illustration.
1t went down perpendicularly two
feet, and then drifted down toward the
north wall at slant so as to strike the
foundation. At the elbow l found n
buried log supporting the earth, and en-
tirely by accident l found the log rested
over hole in the ground Whether it
was n cave, an old cistern or well, or
only natural sink, l never learned,
but by showing my dirt under the log it
dropped down somewhere, and | could
work much faster than before. ! was,
however, greatly troubled to get fresh
air down in my tunnel, and the cramped
position in which | worked kept me
sore and lame. While working at night
l had to be in bed regularly every hour
as the guard came around, and every
morninr the stone had to be. replaced