The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1894-09-22
TOLD A ssTREAsURE" STORY



Made His Escape From Prison.
One of the most remarkable escapes
of state prison convicts in Massachusetts,
on record occurred under the admins
tration OF Frederick Robinson, who was
warden from 1913 TO ls49.
A convict named William Phillips
alias Porter. had been sentenced to the
penitentiary for nine year,. Tor l..-rglary.
When on trial, he made some T. -narlza-
Bile disclosures to his counsel relative to
a large amount of valuable property
which had been missing for several
years and was secreted in a place known
only to himself, il being the result Of a
successful break which he claimed to
have made while in pursuit Of his ardu-
Gus and hazardous calling.
To Che credit of the gentlemen Of the
legal profession it Is believed that the
lawyer was too shrewd to accept Of this
buried treasure as security for his serv-
ices until it had been produced and de-
handed spot cash for his fee in getting
for his client only nine years lmprison-
ment The ''enterprisi-s burglar did
not DESPAIR of turning his remarkable
secret to account even after he was Sc
curely behind the bars of the jail. Ee
first n aGe q confdant Of the city mar
shall Of Charlestown, but he, good soul,
could profit nothing by it without the
cooperation Of the warden of the pris-
on, who had the prisoner III durance
vile. So the warden was taken into con
hdence, and the convict told to him his
story with 50 much particularly, with
such attention to minute details and
with such apparent frankness and with /
an honesty that was surprising i'll one
who had probably before this never
breathed an honest breath in his life, /
that the warden was charmed with his
ingenuousness and the prospect of secur-
ing a share of the gains.
1t was arranged that the three should 7
90 together 10 Barnstable, where in a
secluded spot, 1t was said, the stolen /
property was buried deep in the ground,
and to be secure against interruption it
was agreed that the digging should be
done in the night There were to be no
witnesses to the proceeding, as that
might prove announcement in case any
inquiry should be made as to the right
they had to retain the property in case T
the owners. should put in claim. Be
sides It would be ,impolite to show any
distrust of the honesty Of the honest fell
low who had dealt so honestly with
them Picks and spades were provided,
and there was IN equal division Of the
spoils One man worked in the pit
while the other two kept watch on the
outside No advantage was taken of the
conviet's loss Of social cast or his help
less condition. He was not required to
do any more work than the others, and
nothing was done to make him feel his
degraded position.
The work went merrily on until quite
a depth was reached, and the poor pris-
oner who had performed his stint was
helped out to make room for one of his
companions, whose turn it was to go
down into the hole. They were assured
that the requisite depth had almost
been reached, and, while one dug, the
other, with the convict, eagerly watch
ed the progress of the work But such
is the perddy Of human nature that
the convict, Phillips, forgetting the
good offices performed for him by his
companions, the warden and the city
marshal-even forgetting the fact that
he had given up the secret Of the treas
ure which he had carried for years
pushed his friend on the outside into the
pit, and abandoning all of his wealth
to them ran nimbly away, never go
much as stopping to say gOodby. 1t was
with much difficulty that they extricat .
ed themselves from the hole, and,
strange to relate, they also abandoned
the wealth SO near at hand So far as
any one knows, 1t still remains in that
retired spot in Barnstable. The two
officials were as reticent about it as the
convict had been, and the only certain
that was given Of the bnci-
dent came from the convict himself, for
he was subsequently recaptured. He
had the audacity to say that it was
only q little joke he played on the