The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1891-12-26
DARING ESCAPE.
Dropped From the Roof of the
Ohio Penitentiary.
The dummy" Racket Successfully
Played on a Prison Guard.
j. g. shaw, the Notorious Thief and
Housebrenker, Who Tried to Save His
Pal, Chas. Rohan. by Swearing He
Committed the Crime, at Large.


Pal, Chas. Rohan. by Swearing He
Committed the Crime, at Large.
COLUMBUS, o., Dec. 21.-An escape
which eclipses anything of the kind
within the history of the Ohio peniten-
tiary took place Sunday evening j.
g. Shaw, a notorious thief and house
breaker, descended from the roof
by rope into the front yard
of the prison, just north of the
warden's Office and main entrance,
and got away. Shaw was serving n
double sentence, aggregating ten years,
having been sent up from Franklin
county for seven years and from Cuya-
hoga county for three years, the offense
in each case being house-breaking. Af-
ter being convicted in Franklin county
he was taken to Cleveland and tried
there. He was received at the penitcn.
tiary in the fall of 1890.
The prisoners confined in each range
or story of cells are allowed Sunday af-
ternoon out in the corridors alternate
ly. Sunday was the afternoon out in
the hall for the prisoners in Shaw's
range, and then he had an unusually
good opportunity to carry out his plans
for escape. Guard Goudar who
was on duty in Shaw's department, saw
| the latter enter his cell about 1880 Sun
day afternoon, and passing the door a
short time later, he noticed form he
supposed was Shaw's reclining on the
bed. Sunday evening, about six o'clock,
| after the prisoners were locked in their
cells, it was found that the form in
| Shaw's bed was dummy made by
stuffing Shnw's prison garb with bed
| clothes.
A search for the missing prisoner
was at once instituted 1t developed
that he had assembled to the roof and
| passed out through the ventilator.
| Thence he reached the ground on a
| rope fastened around chimney. This
rope, which was yet waving in the
breeze, was made of little pieces of
wrapping twine which Shaw had pick
ed up in the shop where he worked.
He had tied hundreds of these bits to-
| gether until he had rope long enough
! to reach the ground. 1t must have re-
quired several months to manufacture
the rope, and how he kept it concealed
IL
He had evidently climbed through
the ventilator just before the prisoners
were locked up in their cells and
waited for a favorable opportunity to
come down. The escape was made
from the east wing, between the main
entrance and the female department,
and within less than sixty feet from the
warden's office. 1t is pronounced by
the prison officials as the most daring
on record. Shaw evidently had an ac-
complice from whom he received n suit
of clothes, as he used his zebra costume
| for the dummy.
Shaw is the map who attempted to
save his pal, Charles Rohan, charged
with the celebrated Cohen burglary on
Murray HILL New York city, by swear
ing that he committed that crime. Ro-
han was released from the penitentiary
n year ago, and Immediately rearrested
here by two of Inspector Byrne's men
and Detective Murphy, of this city, for
the New York crime, Rohan was a
graduate of Oberlin college. He went
| to New York, where he wooed and won
Il prominent young lady
On the night following his wedding,
his wife was awakened by pistol shots,
and soon saw her husband rush in to
the room. He had burglarized the next
door residence. and being discovered at
his nefarious work, was pursued and
shot at. He fought his way through a
crowd of policemen, who were attract
ed by the pistol shots, and made good
his escape. He was soon afterwards
captured for another job and sent to
the penitentiary from Cuyahoga county.
In the meantime it developed that the
wedding in New York was mock
affair, and his supposed wife has since
married a wealthy merchant.
few days ago Rohan was tried for
the New York crime and his defense
was based on the affidavit of Shaw to
the effect that the latter was the man
who deceived the young lady and rob.
bed the house of her next door neigh
Dor, The young woman, deeply veiled
to conceal her identity, came into court
and identified Rohan as the man, not
withstanding Shaw's affidavit Her
name was kept "A secret in the court
room by an arrangement with the at
torneys, and the New York papers have
since been unable to solve the problem
of her identity, At late hour Sunday
night Shaw had not been captured.