The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1893-05-30
AN ESCAPE FROM PRISON.
The Wonderful Ingenuity of n Peni
tentiary Convict and His Mysterious

The Wonderful Ingenuity of a Peni
tentiary Convict and His Mysterious
Flight.
From the Columbia Journal. 9th inst.
One OF the most ingenious escapes
| ever made from the penitentiary oc.
Cured last night. The authorities are
mvstified, and cannot satisfy their own
minds how 1T occurred. The convict's
name is Albert Jenkins, and as he was
considered a dangerous convict, he was
| confined in cell on the first floor,
where it was thought it would be i'm.
possible for him to escape, but to man
with the ingenuity of jenkins nothing
is seemingly impossible.
The doors of the cells are of iron
and are doubly protected. From the
upper part of the door there projects a
triangular piece of strong iron. When
the cell is closed a long iron bar ex-
tending throughout the length of the
building is drawn in front The door
projecting iron from the door strikes
IT.. This projecting piece is firmly
riveted to the door and it looks impos-
sible for any one without the necessary
tools to break it. In addition to all
this there is a paddock on the door.
Jenkins, by some means, took the
rivets out. There is some evidence
that a file was used to file down the
heads. and it is supposed that this was
his plan of operation. He must have
worked at it for many months, and
very quietly. for none OF the guards or
any of the convicts in the adjoining
cells ever heard him make any noise.
In his cell was found little ball of
coal tar wrapped in an old rag. 1t is
supposed that after filing the heads he
would smear the coal tar on the heads.
so as to prevent the guards from see
ing what he was doing. In the open
ing. where the rivets we're, there
were evidences that tar had been
placed there.
Having COTTON out the rivets there
was still another difficulty, the pad
lock. But jenkins had evidently fixed
that some time ago. The lock. when
closed, will make click as if it had
locked, but. on examination this morn
ing, showed that it would not, although
sounding exactly like it.. The guards
have never examined it. or at least not
recently. and as they closed the door
and clicked the lock they doubtless
thought the prisoner was secure. Hav-
ing fixed both the lock and projecting
iron 1t was an easy matter to open the
door noiselessly.
jenkins had on q ball and chain
Tho piece around his leg had been
broken for some time in preparation
for the escape. To the ordinary OBJ
server, or even to the practiced eye,
nothing was wrong with it. The
prisoner quietly took it off his leg and
left it in his cell. The only tool found
in the cell was small piece of iron
like part Of a blacksmith's tongs, but
to what purpose he put that is not
known.
Jenkins. having gotten out of his
cell, which was in the new prison.
went up stairs to the fifth story and
priced off u small plank in the ceiling.
Two cOnvicts were sleeping near by,
but they say they heard nothing. Now
came the most daring and dangerous
part of the escape. jenkins went
through the ceiling floor to that por-
tion OF it which projects four or five
feet beyond the building. He pulled
up another plank near Where a large
scantling extended from the roof to the
ground. To get through that narrow
hole on to this Scantling would be most
hazardous in broad daylight; to do so
successfully at night is wonderful. But
Jenkins accomplished the feat. He
slid down to the ground. The scant-
ling was covered with threads from his
cotton clothing. A guard in the hos
pital heard a noise in the prison and
summoned other guards. They looked
all around the building and about the
yard but could find nothing. 1t is
probable that Jenkins had reached the
ground and secreted himself before the
guards reached the scene.
Jenkins amazing nerve in climbing
down the scantling is more wonderful
when the fact is considered that he
has curvature of the spine. which
max him cripple. On ordinary oc-
casions he apparently could hardly
walk.
He got out of the walls somehow.
Nobody knows how he did it, When
it was discovered this nor hing that he
had escaped it was not thought possi-
BILE that he could have gotten out of
the walls, for after escaping from the
prison he was still in the yard, sur
rounded by brick walls twenty to thirty
feet high. But he got out. A thor
ough search was made for him by all
the force within the yard. Every nook
and corner was examined. but no Jen-
kins was there. The walls inside and
out were looked over, but there was
nothing to show where the prisoner
scaled them. The penitentiary au-
thorities are therefore convinced that
jenkins has gone.
Superintendent Neal has sent men to
different railroad stations several miles
from the city and has notified the rail
road authorities to keep lookout for
him. The police in this city have
been asked to keep on the lookout as
it is thought that possibly the
may be hidden somewhere in Colum-
bia.
Jenkins has never been made to do
much work owing to his affliction. Col.
Neal only gave him light jobs about
the yard. He was apparently the
meekest and most obedient prisoner in
the whole lot, and to look at him no.
body would suspect him of harming a
baby. But he is about the slickest
negro in the State.
He was first sent up from Edgefield
for five years for housebreaking on
August End, 1892. He escaped. went
to Chester, and was convicted of house
breaking and larceny there and was
sentenced again for five years. having
been received again at the penitentiary
in 1892. He first said that he was u
native of Alabama, but the next time
he came he said he was from Georgia
He then gave his name as Nose Will
liams alias Hershal Curtis He es-
capped from the Georgia chain-gang,
where he was sentenced for twelve
years. He was to have been sent back
there when his sentence expired here.
He is said, also, to have escaped from
hn NIL ,ntl