Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1892-07-15
A BREAK FOR LIBERTY.
Nine COnyicts Crawl Through a Sewer
at CharlestOwn, Mass.

\ Journey Of 300 Yards Through Dark
ness and Slime---ScvcrnI of the Pris-
Omcrs Rccoptured.
Nine long-term prisoners escaped from
the state prison at Charlestown, Mass, Fri
day afternoon, and their delivery surpasscs
in boldness, in risk, in preparation and exc
cutiOn any occurrence of the kind i'm the
criminal history of the state. The men
crawled for nearly a quarter of mile
through a sewer three feet in diameter
covered with slime. In the rear of the
prison yard is a small plot Of land known
as the dumping ground. Here the Prison
ers dump the refuse matter OF the institu-
ton once day, which is communicated
to the main sewer running outside the pris-
on walls by means of a maLhole.
1t was at first supposed that the prison
ers went singly to the manhole, unnoticcd
by the wall officers, and that with impro-
vised saws they cut off the bars which
covered the hole and descended to the bot
tom. From this place to the outlet of the
sewer is distance of 500 feet, and the
pipe was hardly three feet in diameter
When the tide is in the sewer is filled with
water. The men had dark and danger
GUS passage, and when seen by some rail
road men soon after they emerged they
were covered from head to foot with mud
and slime.
After reaching the river the fleeing con-
victs swan across and scrambled up grav-
el bank under the Fitchburg railroad
bridge. Six of them scooped out a big
hole in the sidewalk, and passersby thought
they were workmen belonging to the
street department and no attempt was
made to stop them. Two others worked
their way along the water front and es-
capped by one of the wharves.
Half an hour after the men left the
prison their escape was discovered. A
woman called to see one of them and he
could not be found At about the same
time the warden was notified that the men
had been seen to come ont of the hole near
the railroad track The police were at
once notified. In short time one of the
convictS, Goulding, was discovered lying
under the prison point drawhridge. He
made a desperate resistance but was over
powered and taken back to the prison.
An examination shows that the escape
of the men was under more trying condi-
tions than at first supposed Attached to
one of the prison buildings is a small wood
en- structure used for a dry house by
Il
struck the wooden kitchen sewer, leading
to the main sewer. The kitchen sewer is
20 by IL inches in size, and the men broke
down its wooden walls after cutting with a
chisel, and crawled through this 20 by Is
inch passage for a distance of 40 feet to the
main sewer. The sides of the small sew
er are covered with slime and reeking ref
use.
The men must have had assistance from
outside the Prison. The names of those
who escaped and their sentences are as
follows: James NJ. Bradley, five years,
breaking and entering; Dennis O. Heara,
% years, habitual criminal; Daniel Coffey,
10 years, breaking and entering; John c..
Lynch, five years, larceny; Michael O'Con-
nor, II years, burglary; stephen Mccall,
20 years, felonious assault; John Booth,
II years, felonious assault; Daniel Mullen,
six years. larceny. O'IIeara and Coffey
were captured on Saturday. They had
rented a room at 40 Union park, and when
the officers surrounded the building they
hid in a folding bed. Booth was captured
on Sunday at Waverly, Mass.