Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1891-11-14
A HlNpoo JAIL.sREAksR.
He Could Give Some of His Craft In Thi
Country Points.

He Gould Give some of His Craft In This
Country Points.
For some months Raojee Koli, mo-
torious robber, behaved well. His de-
voted wife then appeared and petitioned
for some jewels, which she asserted
were her own property. Anyhow, she
loitered about, and 1t is said she had an
interview with him. Whether she
helped or not in what happened after
ward is best known to those who must
have assisted our native Jack Sheppard
In his wonderful escape. 1t is asserted
that at p. m. he was locked up in one
OF the solitary cells, which had an iron
barred door and walls sixteen feet high,
with a batten and Mangalore tiled roof.
The next morning Raojee was non est
His escape was no mystery when the
mode was carefully examined.
He appears to have been provided
with light rope some twenty-five feet
long, which is usually used for the
weaving weft. To this was hnotted a
tape from his pyiama; at the end of the
tape he is supposed to have tied his cap
with little mud in it, and had adroitly
thrown it so as to pass between the
beam OF the roof and the tiles. By a
little shaking the weighted cap brought
down this end of the rope within reach.
When all was quiet he appears, or is
said, to have swarmed up the rope and
most professionally removed the heavy
tiles, placing them carefully one on tn o
top of the other. When the hole was
sufficient to admit his body he got
ft,rn trrh nd n fha ,fk IL -
assist in getting down from the roof
When this feat was accomplished, he
had to circumvent the watchers and
clear the inner and outer wall and pass
the sentries. Nothing daunted, he ap-
pears to have made for the central
tower by getting out of his own ward,
wriggled into tho hospital ward, and
made for the outer ward at the back OF
the hospital. Here he placed an iron
tin against the wall, but found he was
too short to reach the top with its aid,
SO went to the building and wrenched
off one of the shutters of window,
thereby procuring nails, which he fixed
In the wall to assist in getting on the top.
This was easily accomplished. To de-
scend on the other side was nothing for
him; but the next question was a more
serious one - that was surmounting
the outer wall, which varied from
eighteen to twenty feet in height. Even
this had been thought of, as he walked
half way round the Jail to the black
smith's shop, situated between the outer
and inner wall, where he forced open
the chest, armed himself with an imple-
ment sufficient for his purpose, and next
proceeded to the esuperintendent's Office,
which is next to the Sepoys' guard
room. The paddock offered little re-
sistance. The contents of the prisoners
property box were soon ransacked.
Appropriating forty rupees in cash and
rigging himself out in the best suit of
clothes of undertrial prisoners, he pro-
ceeded to the outer wall. where he must
have been some time listening to the
footsteps of the sentinel, and at the
same time working through the wall
with his blacksmith's Implement during
the interval between the sentry's visits.
At last, when all but through, his keen
hearing pointed to the time for the re-
moval of the last impediment, and he
was free, with forty rupees in his
pocket and a good suit of clothes to his
back.
Thus ended well-planned, skillful
and daring escape, much to the chagrin
of the Jail authorities and the contingent
guard, whose sentry shortly afterw ard
stumbled over the debris accumulated
on his footpath, which had not been
there when he last passed that way. -
Allahabad Pioneer