St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1893-06-10

had whitfield into the sharc Of q rists.
and covered with tho tinfoii from his
cut chewing tobacco.
The escape Of Red Leary. the no.ori'
Gus hank robber. from Ludlow stree,
Jail, where he was held to await ex
tradition rapcrs from Massachusetts
Cor the Northampton bank affair, when
q, SOC. 600 was taken, was sensational
and for some time inexplicable. In.
vestigstion. however. showed that
Leary had had the Assistance of expe.
rienced accompliccs on She outside. Al
noon on the evcntful day. May :, ls7a.
he was visited By his wife. who acted
rs the 'igo-between." Leary's friends
had hired a room in the house next
door to the Jail. and had picked their
way through to q closet at the end oi
tho third tier of cells. the bricks and
mortar being taken ont carefully and
piled in the freplace Of their apart
mcnl
Mrs. Leary notified her husband that
al was ready. and lie crawicd through
the holo to liberty. Leary was al.
lowed the run Of the corridor until
half.past ten o'clock, which was his
time for retiring, so that it was sorac
hours before his escape was dis.
covered lie accordingly had no tr0u-
bic in eluding his pursucrs
BESIDES Red Leary there was another
of the Northampton bank robbie RS who
managed to get out Of Ludlow street
Jail while awaiting cxtradition. Billy
Connors was the name Of this worthy.
and his escape is perhaps the coolest
on record lie contrivcd to secure an
impression of the Jail lock. from which
his friends on the outside made key.
Connors, pulling his hat down over his
eyes. selected q moment when mono Of
the guards was looking and sauntered
out of the building with as much nom
chalancc rs though he were the wal den
himself Once in tic street, his won
derful nerve did not desert him. for.
despite the fact that his absence might
be discovered at any moment, when
pursuit would of course. result, he did
not quicken his pace unt:l he had ar
rived ut the lodgings which had been
secured for him. ConnOrs escaped in
1877 and was not recapturcd until 1881.
William J. Sharkcy is supposed to be
. soldier In the Spanish army at the
present time. He escaped from tho
Tombs November 10. 1871, while under
conviction for the brutal murder of
Robert s Dunn. While awaiting SEN
tencc Of death . stay Of proceedings
was granted Sharkcy now occupies c
unique and decidedly uncnviablc posi-
ton. for he is the only man in the
world who could be legally hanged in
the state of New York, as his convic-
ton occurred years before the electro
cution law had ever been suggested.
Sharkcy was assisted in his escape
by his sweetheart. Maggie Jourdan.
an extremely pretty girl whose dcvo.
tion no repaid wi tn blows and kicks
after she had, at imminent peril to her
self, snatched him from the very shadow
of the gallowa Maggie seemed to be
fascinated by Sharkey. She was in the
habit of visiting him every day. Tho
prison officials were charmed by her
pretty face and quiet manner, and they
sympathizcd d with her In her Efiliction.
She walked into the Tombs on the day
of Sharkey's escape without exciting
suspicion. She wore two complete
suits of womcn's apparel. In her low
er's cell one of these was quickly
taken of by her and put on him.
Sharkey then shaved of his roustache,
and drawing green veil tightly about
his face walked out on to Center street
. free man.
A few moments later Maggie Jour
dan left the building. She had tick
ct, rs also did Sharxey, but Mrs Yves
Allen, sister-in-law Of The Allen, had
none; and this caused an investigation
which rcvcal90 the fact that the choic-
est bird in the gloomy cd cage had
flown. It was also developed that on
her visit the previous day Maggie had
taken an impression in wax of the lock
on the door of her lovers cell. and
when she came to liberatc him shc was
provided with . key which worked per-
fectly. Maggie was arrested for COM
plisity in the escape, but could not be
convicted.
Michael O'Copnor was q worthy
brother of 'Wily" O'Connor, the notori-
ous burglar. In fact he surpassed him
rs an escapcr II not as in operator.
Michael was an exceedingly cnterpris-
ing and pushing individual, and when
he was but twenty six years Of age had
broken out of half dozen prisons. In
December, 1857, he and n companion
robbed . jcwclry store Mt Pittsfseld.
Mass They werc captured at Great
Darlington and carried back to the
scene of the robbery. where they wcro
locked mp in Jail to await trial
O'Connor rirrcd up enc of his
shoes and took out the steel shank.
which hc speedily converted into .
saw. With this primitive tool OCon-
nor sawed on tho bars Of his cell and
let himself down into the Jail yard.
Then this imperturbable SCAMP. elud-
ing the guards, returned and sawed of
the bars Of his ''ral's" cell The pre-
cious pair took the window cords out
and let themselves down into the Jail
yard. whence. they swung themselves
over the high surrounding wall and es-
capped They were afterward captured
In this city.
According % an officer of the Chicago
police force, George Anderson has been
regarded for years as the most expert
jail breaker in the United States. An
derson once escaped from the Sycamore
ml) Jail. That is . building of lime
stone, with walls about two feet thick.
This fellow was there with thirteen