Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1893-06-18
BURGLAR sHAWS TIME OUT.
He VIII BE Released Te.Morrow-skefch
OF His Crime and Capture.

BURGLAR SHAWS TIME OUT.
Ho VIII BE Released Te.Morrow-skctch |
OF His Crime and Capture.
Charles Shaw, the notorious burglar !
whose name was once on almost every I'D
in Richmond-whose very mention was
formerly the sensation of the hour-will
be freed from the penitentiary tomorrow:
After serving seven years three weeks ana
four days in the gloomy prison he VIII De
permitted once more to breathe the AIR OF
liberty and to take up his life as he left IL
AZ the grated-iron gates OF the great re-
tormatory. .
If YOU have ever been through the great
shoe-shops OF the penitentlary within the
mast seven years, doubtless you have no.
ticed in the busy cutting-room q tan.
clean-shaven convict with very dark har
and par of piercing gray eyes; Perhaps
il your attention was particularly attract
ed TO him, YOU observed the studious way
IN which ho piled his trade. apparently
forgetful of your supervision and or MS
gloomy surroundings. Perhaps, too, you
noticed that the face Of the criminal, as IL
bent so intently over the work before him;
was a bold. fearless one-indicatiye at
once of courage and intelligence.
NOW INTELLIGENT AND INDUSTRIOUS.
A physioenomist could scarcely read
that face-one second 1t looks honest and
brave. and then; transformed by the merest
light in those keen gray eyes. IL develops
cunning and dishonesty. But withal the
features invariably denote intelligence
and character vigOr and strength Oh
Jean Vatican. For over seven long years,
through the scorching days OF summer
and through the chill. dark hours of WIN
ter the convict has toiled and labored.
Dead 10 the outside world, apparently
Obvious of his odlous environments.
and ostensibly forgetful of HIS felons
earb, this criminal has struggled onwards.
Dou btless the man has wavered at tlmes-
maybe be has often felt that the whirilns
wheels and humming machinery were IN
struments of torture that dragged him
TO the crnve-but he has never murmured.
His hands, almost untouched by me
! free. life-givlng sunshine. have grown
white. while few silver strands have
stolen IN among the black hairs upon his
| head, but his figure is still stalwart and
erect,
| ONCE A DESPERATE CRIMINAL.
Such q man is Charles Shaw to-day
| Written about in the newspapers. dis
| cussed in hotels. cafes. and private houses,
! ami notorious throughout Virginia, no was
! landed in the penitentiary on July 3, 1886:
! B.fore him were eight long years of penal
! seryltude and behind him was desperate
| crimina! record. The prisoner but few
weeks before had been hunted by the po-
lice and citizens like fox pursued oy
hounds. On March 18th Shaw or Morgan
as he was then known, made bis appear
auco in the late Hermann Schmldts
grocery store and asked TO see City d.
| rectory. HIS actions were very suspicious
! and bir. Schmidt. thinking the fellow was
a crook, notified Captain Angle. That
night the police watched tho store most
| I,,k J,snauarpA
signs. On the following night the guard:
| iansr again kept on the qip ulre, ana
| about $3.50 A. NJ. az explosion IN the rear
! of the place was heard The bluecoats-
! Officers Kicker and Sweeney-ran TO the
scene and arrived III time TO see the burglar
| scramble over back fence AMI escape
through an alley.
Examination showed that an attempt
had been made to blow the safo, and tho
rome. in mis- tight. had left his tools be-
| hind.
HE HANDLED HIS PISTOL sKILFCLLY.
On the following day Sergeants BROOKS
and Tomlinson. believing that the burglar
was travelling with a theatrical company
then in Richmond, went to the depot with
! MIR. Wlppermann, Mr.. Schmidts oook-
keeper \ he latter saw the man leap from
the cars and grabbed him.
Sergeant Brooks. who came up at the
same time. caught Shaw by the waist,
whereupOn the desperate drew MS pistol.
shot the officer. and made MS escape. oot-
reant Tomlinson followed in hot pursuit.
firing several shots at the fugitive. VINO
returnsd the Are At one time Aleck,
realizing that he had dangerous man to
deal with. saw tit TO retreat behind a
telegraph pole. and as the crook
bullet buried itself in the wood
he APPRECIATED the wisdom of his
discretion. Citizens furnished the police
man with additional pistols and the chase
continued, with tremendous fusillade
of bullets, but the retreating criminal. as
If protected by fate, managed TO escape.
Later on in the day tho burglar was seen
in Manchester, and Officers Sweeney ana
Wren were put on his trail ana fohowed
the fugitive towards Bon Air. For DAYS ana
days the rogue was hunted and pursued.
Sometimes he managed to elude his pur,
suers and then in q few hours they would
get track OF him again. Several shots
were fired a, Shaw IN the vicinity OF
Coalied, but rs If he bore charmed iite'
he again escaped. Finally. after innumer-
able adventures and lndescribable haru-
ships. he was captured on Belle Isle
whittier he had made his way in his efforts
TO elude the law. Even then he tried tc
escape in boat, but finally surrendered
when he saw himself hemmed In by DIS
pursuers.
SERGEANT BROOKS BADLY WOUNDED.
Sergeant Brooks was dangerously wound
ed by Shaw. The ball, which was larg,
one, entered the right groin and iodgec
near the middle of the left thigh-bone
flls injury was O most painful one and 4
was many weeks before he recovered,
When Shaw was taken 10 the Stat'
prison there we're many wounds on hi
hody-scars he received IN bis mad nlgh
from the Richmond officers and Others
who chased him. o.,
Such ia the history of the man described
above. When he first donned the conyict'
clothes in the penitentiary he was 70 year
old: today he il 32. He was sentenced U
serve a term of eight years but though
, the desperate loved his liberty, he re
, signed himself TO his fate and determined
to make the most of his incarceration
From the beginning Of his confinement II
the grim institution up 10 the present tim
he has been most exemplary prisoner.
HE WAS A GOOD, ISDUsTEIors PBIsoSEE.
HIS good behavior has been tho mean
, of his reducing his stay IN the prison b.
240 days. Never in single instance ma
Shaw violated the strict rules OF the insti
\ tuition. In the shce-sbc9s he has show
himself ever read, md industrious. am
= missed in the cutting-room.. The con
+, vict has frequently worked oVertlm
Y during his incarceration, and as a result o
3 his industry s32.67 are credited to his &C
= count on the prison books. He has col
/ Iected q few little articles in his cell whic
i, will bring him about s. more when sold
thus making HIM the possessor OF abou
!. $40 when he begins life anew tomorrow
: The ex-burglar will be released early /
: the morning. No one appears to kno'
= his plans for the future. as he talks bu
;, little. Doubtless he will leave Richmon
}, immediately, as he has relatives in tn
Northwest. A few days ago no requisite
J, SUPERINTENDENT Lynn to allow one OF tn
!. penitentiary officials to accompany hlr
8 when he left the prison. Asa general thin
Q freed convicts are taken from the institt
!, tion bv policemen. who keep an eye o
o them until they leave the town. Sha
O ,n.da tina reouest of his former "host