St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-02-10
Criminals, Like Love, Laugh
Loud and Long at Cum
ming Locksmiths.
Murderer Jesse POmeroy
Gives Prison officials a
Surprise.
Three Crooks Successfully
Escape by Means Of the
Sewer Route.

painful for the time being, says
the Washington Star. With the
Short-time cOnvicts it is different. They
only expect to remain in prison short
while, and if they do not get the good
behavior Communication it does not con-
Germ them much. for if they have been
in the habit of spending or doing"
time in prison. as the crooked people
put it, month or two more does not
make much difference.
The states have their own rules for
prisons, and good behavior computation
differs in the different states. In New
York. where most of the district prison.
erS are sent, two months are allowed
for the first year, four months for the
second and eight months for the third
year. In a ten years sentence the good
behavior of the convict would deduct
three years and six months. In other
words, he would have to serve but six
years and six months.
John Shea,s Escape.
Even stone and brick walls with
heavy iron gratingS and armed guards
cannot prevent the escape of some of
these men, and during the past score
of years many remarkable escapes have
been made in various parts of the
country. John Shea, who is now un-
der life sentence in Missouri for killing
a st. Louis policeman, is probably the
most remarkable criminal at large so
far as prison breaking is concerned,
although others had done some clever
work in that direction, and proved that
heavy walls and iron bars were not 100
much for them.
John Shea cheated the gallows on one
occasion and cheated a life sentence
later. and when he took French leave
of the prison there was no indication of
selfShneSS about him. for in arranging
his plot he took into his confidence
other murdererS and criminals who had
long sentences staring them in the face.
Shea has now been out of prison sew
eral months, and not many weeks ago he
came here and visited some of his old
friends. With him came man named
Kelly, whom Shea had induced to be
lieve that he would collect some $500 or
S400 from his old friends and then they
could have good time Oh the stake.
They roughed it through the West on
their way here, and Shea was arr ested
on one occasion and set at work Oh
StOne-pile.
Jesse PomerOy's Attempt.
The attempted escape of jesse Pom
eroy from the Massachusetts state
prison some time ago was Il smart piece
of work, and he was only detected in
his task short time before he would
have effected his escape. Being dan.
gerOuS and desperate prisoner, Jesse
was provided with cell where he would
not come in contact with other prisoners,
and the guard paid especial attention
to him. 1t so happened that the prison
rjC nj, RI f<Nrf Il, INnff
this change aroused suspicion of the
guard.
Jess was permitted to read books, and
during the time that he appeared to be
better than usual he seldom took notice
OF the guard, and would remain
with his back toward that official
all the while the latter was about
the cell. Subsequent events proved
that as soon as the guard disappeared
the prisoner laid aside his book and
performed what the guards and prison
officials thought could not be done with
out the assistance of iron tools. The
cell was lined with steel plates, the
bolts coming through into the cell,
and being held in position by a
heavy nut. Jesse had saved pieces
of brown bread. which he had
soaked and made up in form
similar to the nuts on the bolts, and in
some uneXplainable manner he sue
ceeded III removing these nuts and
placing the bread limitations in their
places.
During odd intervals he would remove
the plate and climb through into the air
shaft, from which he removed obstruc-
tons from time to time until he had
nearly cleared the way to the roof of
the prison, and then he was detected in
the clevereSt piece of work of the kind
ever done.
Sing Sing prison III New York is con-
Sidered one of the best and strongest
institutions in the country, but 1t is said
that even that prison has been so OPP
Grated against by criminals that they
have managed to escape.
An Escape Through Sewer.
In the Baltimore prison three crooks
perfected their plans and escaped, and
were so far away when their absence
was noticed that they were not captured.
Their escape demonstrated the claim of
many prison officials and detectives that
all persons who escape by means of
Well-laid plans are assisted by persons
on the outside. These prisoners
were at work during the day of
from the dinner table caused the
spreading of a general alarm over the
telephone and telegraph wires asking
for their capture.
The men had gone through a trap in
the prison yard and had passed through
the swer, going as tar as Jones' Falls
and then disappearing. The iron bars
had been removed, showing to the salts
faction of the officers that there was
outside assistance in the case.
The District Jail.
The United States Jail in this city has
remarkable record so far as escapes
are concerned, and during the many
years of its existence but few prisoners
have managed to get away. There have
been several prisoners who have got
away from the guard outside the build
ing when they were intruSted to per-
form labor of some sort and who got
away because there was not the neces-
sary prison wall about the grounds.
The escape of Lum Sewell, one of the
Lieut.. Tyler diamond robbers. and Joe
Buck, who stole the diamonds of Mrs.
Sarah Brown Potter, was effected about
three years ago. and in that instance it
was pretty clearly established that there
was ali outside worker.
The wide corridor about the prison is
thought to be one of its strongest points,
and the officers think it would be if
there was sufficient number of guards
on duty in the prison at night. The
bars in the cells occupied by the prison.
erS were cut, as were those in the win
dOwS of the outer walls, and there be-
ing no prison walls about the grounds
and no guards about the outside escape
was the easiest matter in the world.
Lum Sewell remained in the city and
was soon rearrested, while Buck was
not captured for several months, and
then he was found in New Orleans.
With prisoners who escape from the
upper floors of prisons the bed clothing
is generally brought into requisition for
the purpose of making rope enough 10
reach to the ground from the window,
and with prisoners of experience the
task IL an qaSv 0na aud oop ka oooor,