Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1891-07-24
ESCAPED FROM THE PEN.
Four 0onvicts Saw off the Window Bars
and Make Way in the Dark
Bad Men at Large,
A Mystery in Which Several Guards Must
Have Had Hand-Description of the
Men-Reward for their Capture.

Houi CoAflCIs maue gOOQ Lnelf escape
from the territorial penltentiary last night.
Their names are F. H. Currence. SEN
fenced for life from Socorro county, for
murder; G. R. Huber, in for three years
for robbery in Grant county; James
Gould, of Dona Ana county, in for fifteen
years for murder and robbery, and Jo-
seph Clark, same crime, also in for if
teen years. All the men, save Currence,
have long been employed in the kitchen
OF the Institution, and investigation made
after their flight shows that they had
taken advantage of odd intervals while
thus employed to saw the iron bars on
cellar window in such q manner as to
make it a comparatively easy matter to
finish the job when once they we're ready
to make their final break.
The discovery that something was
wrong about the institution was first made
by Asst. Supt. Bergman while making
his final round of the dollhouse for the
night shortly before o'clock. He found
that one OF the cells set apart for the
lie" men was unoccupied and soon dis
covered that the murderer, Currence, was
missing. 1t did not take long to make a
complete count of noses and upon ascer-
tanning the result, the officers of the in
stitution set about to find out by what
means the convicts had succeeded in get
ting away. This investigation was con-
tlnued far into the night by Warden Cha
yes and his assistants with not very satis-
factory results, and it is still in progress.
The investigation shows that the cage
leading from the cell house to the kitchen
had been left ajar, and that the conyicts,
who evidently had been let out of their
cells, passed through this cage into the
kitchen and thence into the cellar
where the iron bars on the win
dow We're sawed off. The cage should
have been locked by the captain of the
night guard, Juan Antonio Baca, but it
seems he failed to do this, and and
the night dollhouse keeper, Thos.
M. Tucker, who was on duty near
the cage, also comes in for share of the
responsibility as it was his duty to see
that no prisoner passed through this cage.
The night was fearfully dark, owing
to the storm, and it is because Of
this fact, probably, that this
time was selected for making the break
but Maxine Martinez was on guard duty
outside the building, and his beat lay be.
tween the corner of the house and the
window from which the prisoners es-
capped. tits only short distance between
these two points, and that the conylcts |
should have been able to finish saving off |
the bars, climb through the window and |
escape without his knowledge seems
very strange, to say the least At all |
events, the convicts are gone, and appear
to have had little or no difficulty in Sc
curing their freedom. AS to the connec-
ton OF the three employees named with
the escape, Warden Chaves is guarded
in his expressions as yet, preferring to
silt the matter thoroughly, but it is
known that he has suspended all three
OF them pending such investigation.
In the meantime every effort is also
being made to trail down and recapture
the convicts. Searching parties were sent
out last night in all directions and are |
still out, and letters describing the men
and kilograms notifying the county and |
city officials were this morning sent to all
quarters of the territory. The convicts
will probably stick to the mountains and |
try and make their way south into Mex
leo, as all OF them are bad men who have |
long operated along the Mexican border. |
1t is possible that ere this they have been |
able to exchange their prison stripes for |
citizens clothing, as they are far too
shreWd not to have considered this ques-
ton as an important feature of their long
cherished plan for escape. Appended is |
description OF the escaped prisoners as
taken from the records at the peniten-
tiary:
Frank H. Currence, alias "Hiram
Curr"-Received, November 9, 1889; SEN
tence, life; crime, murder; from Socorro
county; American, % years DID, weight, |
100 pounds; 5 feet 834 inches high; blue |
eyes; dark hair; fair complexion; III
inch foot; good teeth; four days beard |
on lace. Body marks: Small mark on
right arm, one on left arm near wrist,
and one on left chin; mouth MISPLACED |
to right side; born in Mahasco county,
Iowa.
Charles r. Huber, alias "Windy Dick"
-Recelved, September 16, 1890; SEN
tence, three years; crime, assault with
intend to rob; from Grant county; Amer
ican; "a years old; weight, l42 pounds;
5 feet n inches high; brown eyes; light
hair; swarthy complexion ; No. 5 foot bad
teeth; badness showing on top OF head
four days growth of beard on face. Body
marks: Two scars above the left temple,
one arrow wound scar above ankle inside
OF right leg; one bullet wound scar on
elbow OF left arm; one bullet wound on
right leg; one mole on muscle of left
arm, also bullet wound scar; born in st.
Paul, MINI.
James Gould-Received, October 8,
1886; sentence, Is years; crime, murder
and burglary; from Dona Ana county;
American, q years old; weight, 1856
pounds; E feet high; hazel eyes; short,
brown stubby hair swsrthy complexion
peaked head and face; good teeth; No. s
loot; four days growth of beard. Body
marks: Yellow spot on right thigh lit
tie finger of left hand crooked. Born in
Ellis county, Texas.
Joseph Clark-Received, October 9,
1886; sentence, Is years; crime, murder
and burglary; from Dona Ana county;
American, n years old; weight, IT'S
pounds; 5 feet 8 inches; light gray eyes;
brown hair; light complexion No. foot
good teeth beard, few hairs scattered over
chin. Born in Dallas, Texas.
For mild tonic, gentle laxative and
Duiooropt "a ;yap Pap,,lo |