The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-08-02
ANGELS in THE AIR.
Prawda Fancies That They Are ApprO-
aching His Cell.

Barely Missed of Success
Maths August Prawda, who is lying
in Portland Jail awaiting life sentence
for the murderEof Mrs. Meyer, his moth
er-inlaw, in Cum berland, last Novem-
Der, is turning out to be very'sensation-
al prisoner. His latest achievement is a
state of francs or lunacy. in which he
has visions of angels lowering in the air
above him.
The first of the week il was stated
that heshad made an unsuccessful at
tempt to escape. The Illustration of that
attempt, through the promptness of
Turnkey Grover. was a great disappoint-
ment to Prawda. His.plan had been we'll
matured, and was one of the boldest and
best conducted ever tried in the Jail.
When some details of this attempt
were published, Prawda was greatly ex-
cited, on Monday evening showing es-
pecial perturbation of mind.
The.next morning when Turnkey Grov-
er went into the cell, Prawda was lying
on the bed, his eyes open, but giving no
pointed upwards with the fore-hnger OF
his rightEhand, and muttered frequently:
"They are comingi See them therel
Up therel Mother is coming" These
words he would mutter over and over.
Turnkey Grover. believing that he
was in fit or some other abnormal con-
dition, called DR.. Small, the Jail ply
sican. The latter said that the man was
evidently out of his head, probably from
the effects of anxiety.
Prawda kept up his strange actions
all day Tuesday, frequently clutching
his hair with his hands. Tuesday night
he did not sleep, but about o'clock
yesterday morning he fell asleep and
continued for about three hours. After
that he awoke and showed the same con-
dition as on the day before.
Word was sent to his wife, who has re-
manned in Portland since the trial to be
near him, and she saw him about
o'clock yesterday afternoon. She talked
to him and rubbed his hands, but could
make no impression whatever upon him.
Last evening his condition remained
the same He takes very lit tie nourish-
ment, cup full of milk being all that
he had yesterday. This had to be forced
upon him.
The officials at the Jail realize that he
is a very crafty prisoner, capable of al
most any statagem, but they believe
that in this case he is not shamming.
They don't believe it in human power
to counterfeit such symptoms as he is
showing. But he continues locked in
his cell as usual.
The jail officials think that Prawda' S
present state of mind has undou btedly
been caused by his despair at the dis
covery of his attempted escape. This
attempt wassmade Thursday of last week
and was very ingenious attempt. In
fact. it as SO we'll planned and the exc
cution of it was so we'll ordered that had
it not been for the treachery of a fellow
prisoner he would before this have been
at large. EThe principal cells of the Jail
are of stone and iron, built up in the
centre OF a large room. To escape, the
prisoner must first break the iron
door of his cell, go into the oorri-
dor, and from these corridors get out of
doors. AS the windows of the corridor
are high and double barred, and the
doors of solid iron, escape is probably
impossible except by one means. This
means Prawda's ingenuity hit upon. In
the upper corridor is a debtors cell,
which is entered from the corridor by
an iron door. This iron door is kept
locked by paddock. A window, single
barred, opens from the debtors cell to
the Jail yard on the west end, next An
derson street. II Prawda could get open
his own cell door, pass through the CORR
dor undecided, open the paddock, en-
ter the debtors cell and saw off the
bars, he could crawl out the window,
drop 30 feet to the ground by aid of a
blanket, and be away, free as asbird.
All the difficulties were practically
surmounted by Prawda, who had liberty
almost within his grasp when he was
discovered. He began with his cell door.
The locks of these cells are considerably
worn, and it is fact known generally
| by both prisoners and officers that
some of these worn lock can be un-
| locked by skillful picking. It was NOT
supposed that Prawda's cell could be
SO opened; but he found that it could
be. He had already obtained jack
| knife and file, and with these he fash
| toned from spoon handle key which
would fit the paddock ON the debtors
cell. With theIpower to enter that room
thus obtained, his sole remaining task
| was TO saw off the inch-and-a-half iron
| bars of the cell windows. A saw was
necessary for this. There had been in
| the Jail for some time an old nickel
alarm clock. From this Prawda took
the handspring, and with file made
of it very good saw. About a weeks
work at such times as he could dodge
| into the debtors cell, sufficed to saw one
| bar nearly off, Turnkey Grover usually
does is writing after dinner, and Prawda
| took this time for doing the saving.
Mr.. Grover, from hints dropped by
other prisoners, and from his observa-
ton, became suspicious of Prawda and
watched him. Finally, on Thursday of