The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1893-05-01
TRIED TO BREAK JAIL.
John Leal Saws
Through His Prison Bars
in Bob DaVis's
HoStelry.

At about four o'clock yesterday MORN
ing Joseph Burns. hall man In the
County Jail, saw prisoner making an
effort to escape from his cell. Burns
gave an alarm. aud Deputy Jailer Henry
Hanley responded. He found it was VIM.
P. Leal. alias Thomas Reilly. who was
convicted Of swinoling F. L. Thurber.
Whyland & Co. out of $780, ana who has
been indicted for threatening to destroy
Peter Hauck's brewery at Harrison with
dynamite.
Leal was sentenced to a term OF three
years at State Prison. Since his trial he
has been confined in cell No. 4 on the
first corridor of the east side of the jail.
His case has been carried to the Supreme
Court on a writ of error and il probably
will be argued at the next term.
WELL PROVIDED WITH TOOLS.
Leafs cell companion has been Edward
Foley, one OF the men arrested for steal-
ing $4,000 worth of tobacco from
the Bremen Steamship Company.
He was in the call with Leal
Saturday night when Burns, the hall
man. detected the attempt to escape.
Hanley and Burns removed Leal and
Foley to other cells and then searched
cell No. 4. What they learned Rstonished
them considerably. Thirteen fine saws,
two handles TO place them in, one rat-taiI
file and small plug known as r steel
centre. were discovered in the bunk where
Leal slept. The instruments were of the
best make aud finely tempered.
-Four bars Of the cell door had been
sawed through. Each bar was one inch
in diameter. and OF wrought iron. The
aperture made in this way was twelve
inches high, and fourteen inches wide.
The prisoner had tried TO pass out of the
1. A. L. l.
were too large, ana he had given
up the idea. and was at work
saving fifth bar when the
work was detected. It was evidentIy the
intention of Leal to go TO the bathroom at
the south end of the corridor as soon as
he could leave the cell and to cut his way
through the window of that room. Then
all he would have to do would be to drop
seven or eight feet to the Jail yard and
flee.
HOW DID HE GET THE TooLs2
1t is q great mystery at tie Jail how
Leal got possession of his tools. He has
had but very few visitors, the principals
ones being members of the Women's
Christian Temperance Union and his
lawyers. Only about two weeks ago
several memsers of the Temperance
| Union called on Leal and insisted that
| Matron Murray should provide him with
better accommodations and food because
| OF his consumptlve appearance. and this
| the Matron decliued to do.
| Jailer Davis yesterday had talk with
| Leal about his attempt to escape, and the
prisoner said that he obtained the saws
and other tools about six weeks ago, and
that he began the work of saving
| through the iron bars of his cell door
three weeks ago. He said he could net
work al any stated times, but whenever
| he got the chance, he used his
saws industriously. Leal added that
! escape from jail was his only
| hope for life, because his health would
not survive term of three years in State
Prison. He refused to say how he OBJ
| tained the tools. but declared that Foley
had nothing to do with the attempt to
escape. This assertion is not believed at
thajail. ana Foley will in the futnre be
as carefully watched as Leal. Only f9ar
of the saws found in Leafs cell had been
| used.
Leal was arrested on November Is and
convicted In March. He has been in jail
ever since his arrest.